Going on Wordle.net was fun for me. It was a great to see a new tool of turning learning into something meaningful. What is wordle you ask ? Wordle is a tool for creating “word clouds” that high light the subject you want to focus on. In my case my wordle was on stuff that deal with computers and what we covered in this class. The words come from text that you provide. This type of assignment can turn into a fun activity for your students. They can create reviews, what they know about the subject, test questions. Then at the click of a button the students have created a work of art that the teacher can display around the classroom. The word clouds can be saved, printed, and be used for multiple ways of assessment. I will for sure use this in my classroom for students of all levels of computer knowledge. It can be easily explained and modeled to the students. This is also a great way for students to show off their knowledge of a subject.
MIT Courseware is an online site that allows students to view undergrad and graduate course without having to be registered to the university. The site provides the viewer with full length lectures, exams, and videos all for FREE. This gives the public access to a free college education and the opportunity to be well educated and the price of making time to do the assignments and listen to the lectures and take the exams. The drawback I see to this would be this education that the public getting recognized by the work field as a true degree. Virtual learning is on the raise so I don’t see a problem with it unless the job you are processing does not take this online degree. I also do not like the fact that I spent well over 100k for my education and the next generation can get it for free. However MIT Courseware can be used as prep for High School Juniors and Seniors to how college life is going to be. Courseware is a good online learning tool and their can no longer be the excess I cannot afford an education. I would promote MIT Courseware to my low income students to not let price keep you from going to school. I think MIT is a good thing for the right person. Someone like me would like the traditional way of going to class and listening to the professor in person. MIT will benefit many students who live off I phones and IPODS to listen to lectures as the run or go about their day. In the end each person will decide what is a better fit for them and go with that to pursue their higher level of education.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMNWtUs7KoU
Vernica,
ReplyDeleteI think we sometimes forget that you are also in the class because your name is at the bottom of our blog lists. I don't because it is after mine. I think that wordle would be good for use as a tool that students can make a fun paragraph out of something they have learned about. It would be nice to hang them up around the room, they would be very colorful. Open courseware would be a good research tool for high school students to use to find out more about subjects they are studying. It would also be good for teachers in Proffessional Growth, they could watch the videos and take the test and be able to be more knowledgeable about a subject they want to learn about.
The Course Ware is really amazing when you think about it. The word FREE jumped out at me in your blog. The society that we live in today is so greedy that it is amazing to me that such a prestigious school would make this information available to the public for free. The really great thing is that even if you attend another school you can view MIT Course Ware and get additional information and understanding about the subject matter for free. Even a tutor is going to charge at least twenty dollars an hour. Think it is great that MIT thought it was more important to do a public service than to make money.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you both Wordle and MIT can be very beneficial in the classroom if they are utilized in the right way. MIT was a great discover, I had know idea that Ivy League schools offered open courseware to the public for free. I think MIT is a great site for those who are interesting furthering their education. My only drawback is that individuals do not get any recognition. However, the possibilities are endless teachers can use open courseware as additional teaching tool or learning aid.
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