Welcome to Mrs. Donovan's English Class Blog. I will be using this blog to keep the communication lines open about our fundraising ideas, goals, and progress. Our first mission is an opportunity for you to get INVOLVED to better your child's education. Our PTA has asked each class to create fundraising ideas so that we may purchase NEW COMPUTERS, COMPUTER SOFTWARE, and DIGITAL EQUIPMENT for our students' use.
We know that our world is changing at a faster pace than ever. We need to upgrade our educational tools to keep up with the ever changing job force. We are not even sure which jobs we are preparing our children for, but we do know that many of these jobs will not be the same ones in which we were educated.
Please consider these many reasons as to WHY WE NEED UPGRADED TECHNOLOGY:
- Self-paced learning: Students have the ability to progress at their own level.
- Research & Application: By researching the information on their own, students learn through real life applications instead of being fed the information. "Students who see the application of what they are studying as authentic and real world are motivated by the application to their daily lives" (Roblyer & Doering 2010).
- Self-Expression: Students choose their tool that fits their style; PowerPoint presentation, film a video, create a website, record a podcast, compose digital music, etc...
- Collaboration: 21st century jobs require the ability to collaborate. Microsoft Office Live allows us to collaborate anytime!
- Global Relations: Video conferencing and establishing an understanding for other cultures
- Go Green!: Less textbooks and paper consumption.
- Unlimited Information: Every newspaper, book, article, research document is literally at their fingertips.
- Digital Portfolios: Portfolios show your child's projects and progress made throughout the year
We are raising funds for 2 items specifically. The first is a Flip Video Camera.
Here is a link to check it out: FLIP VIDEO CAMERA
We would use the camera for presentations, documenting information, narrating field trips, recording classroom broadcasts, and even an use as an assessment tool. I would really love to create a silent film with the students much like the videos posted below.
Our other classroom wish is 10-15 I Pads for the classroom. There are so many useful educational applications. Not only will students have an unlimited access to books, but they can also take notes. This is a great skill to help prepare them for college. In addition, we can use them for our presentations. There are Shakespeare aps, journal aps, practice placements test aps, and so much more!
They provide an unlimited use: Check out the info for the I Pad
For more information about the advantages of technology in the classroom, please take a few minutes to watch the videos that I have posted below. They will open your eyes to how quickly our world is really changing. Also take a few seconds to complete the poll on the right side, "Technology You Will Use This Week" and think about how different your week may look without all this technology. I decided to use a blog as our central communication hub for these fundraising ideas. Please share your ideas below in the "comment" box. I am looking forward to hearing your creative thoughts on how we can work together to make this dream a reality.
DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an educational technology course at National University. It is not a real fundraising blog.
Roblyer, M. D. & Doering A.H. (2010). Educational Technology into Teaching. Boston: Allyn & Bacon/Pearson.
