THE NEXT STEP

These next two chapters are the backbone of incorporating technology in the classroom. We move from basic computer applications to integrating technology across the curriculum. Chapter five opens up with a great example of a English teacher who decides to take a major literary school project and rather than reduce it he wants to expand it and make it even more meaningful for the students. He decides o use a desk to publishing program to create an even bigger project. He goes thou six phases. The first two phases is to assess his technological pedagogical content knowledge and determine the advantage if any. The third stage is to decide on objectives and assessments. Phases four and five were to design an integration strategy and then prepare the instructional environment. His final phase was to evaluate and then revise it for the future. These phase would be a very good outline for any teacher to fallow wishing to implement a change in their instructional techniques.
The chapter provided a great list of software tools and broke them into categories. the six categories that were outlined in the text were material generators, data collection and analysis tools, graphic tools, planning and organizing tools, research and reference tools, content area tools.
Managerial generators are desktop publishing software, test generators, worksheets and puzzle generators, iep generators,  graphic document makers and pdf and form maker.
Data collection and analysis tools are electronic grade books, statistical packages, student management systems, online and computer based testing systems.
Graphic tools are draw/paint programs, image editing software, charting/graphing software, clip art, animation, sound  and font collections
Planning and organizing tools are outlining and concept mapping software, lesson planning software, scheduling and time management tools
Research and reference tools are electronic encyclopedias, electronic atlases and mapping tools, electronic dictionaries and thesauruses.
Content area tools are Cad systems, midi tools, music editors and sequencers, reading tools.







The chapter goes into a great deal of description of the various programs and how they work. This text is actually an very good resource to keep for reference as a classroom teacher is looking for ideas as to how to incorporate technology into his or her classroom.
As I read this chapter and reflect on my current school assignment i was amazed at how many of these programs we are actually using right now. Our student information system is Power School, we sue Discovery Education Assessment, Lesson Plan Programs along with a great deal many others. We no longer have a traditional year book rather we have a DVD. It contain hundreds of pictures and all in color along with video. The cost of the year book went down to 25.00 dollars.






I found Chapter Six to be the most exciting to far that I have read. When looking a multimedia vs. hypermedia I get relay excited about hypermedia. I feel that multimedia is limited in how the presentation is made. It defiantly makes learning fun and more effective but we can bring so much more to the student by linking the world the lesson. In the  past it would not be unusual to see a student with a stack of books, journals and other resources all around him as he was trying to navigate a certain subject. If a student wanted to study the Civil War he might need a book of maps and resource on military capabilities and populations  and the list could go on and on. Today that student could have a report that not only would hyperlink him to all the resources he would need but it could also take him to a modern day documentary on the civil war.Think of how much more effective the his study time will be.

This chapter focused on six kinds of hypermedia: commercial, presentation, video production and editing, design and development, virtual reality and web 2.0. The chapter breaks down mutimedia design and offers suggestions ranging from design to content and evaluation.

I feel our class is tied very closely to this chapter as it started discussions on blogs, social networks, and wikis. This should be a very exciting time to be a classrrom teacher as we now have so many different types of resouces available to inspire and motivate all  students. As an administrator the last thing I want to see today when I do a teacher evaluation is the sage on stage. I am sadden to report that when I do classroom observaations that is exactly what I see the majority of the time.