You can

7 Things You Should Know about

Robots in the Classroom!

Technology has changed so vastly all across the world. Some things are brand new and others become obsolete. People learn from the many new technological advances that grace our presence day to day. I found one that was so fascinating. It’s a robot that teaches children. South Korea has robots in the classroom!!! Yujin Robotics (the name of the company producing them) has been demonstrating “Robosem” (a telepresence enabled bot) that can teach basic lessons or allow a remote human instructor to teleconference into a class.  Yujin’s bot focus on teaching English to kindergarten students. They chose English to be one of the dominating subjects for the robots to teach because its cuts down on South Korea having to import many foreign tutors. 

Robosem pairs a large LCD display with teleconference accessories (camera, mic, speakers, etc) All of these accessories are put inside a approachable frame which children are attracted to. The robot comes fully loaded with lesson plans or it can be operated remotely as a telerobot for live instruction via its monitor.

South Korea is really ahead of the United States when it comes the technological advances. Their goal is to ultimately be able to integrate robotics into their education system. They are expecting many others countries to adopt the technologies that are developed for the educational goals. South Korea plans to place a robot in every kindergarten class in 2013.

I found this article really interesting and I want to know your thoughts about this. Do you think robots would be a good asset to our educational system in the U. S.? If so what would be good subjects for the robots to teach. Do you think students could learn from the robots? Just write you thoughts I’m interested to know!

Heres to link to the article if you wanted to look more in depth about the Robots.

http://singularityhub.com/2011/02/26/another-robot-enters-korean-classrooms-as-automated-teaching-advances/

Cell Phones in the Classroom: Good or Bad?

It’s hard to walk into a classroom and find even one student who does NOT have a personal cell phone today. More specifically, it would be hard to find a single student who doesn’t text message on a daily basis.

http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/

Schools around the world are turning these devices into something that was banned from the classroom to a tool used to enhance learning in the classroom. Although the schools around the United States are being to use cell phones in their classrooms, schools in the United Kingdom and Asia have been using them a classroom tools for years now (Rapp, 2011).

One way cell phones can be utilized for good in the classroom is to have students participate in polls dealing with topics being studied in class. Polleverywhere.com is one site teachers can use to have students use their cell phones to participate in polling. It’s a different way for students to express their thoughts on topics and ideas. Once students enter their answer for the question/statement and all of them are sent to the poll site itself, a graph will display all of the results so not only does it get students engaged in the classroom activity, it also provides a visual view of their own and their peers answers. If there are less than 30 students in a class, polleverywhere can be used for free. If there are 31-249 students, it costs $15 a month, and for 250 or more students its $65 a month. When you think about it, if a professor is going to use this tool at least a couple of times of month, it will cost less to use polleverywhere rather than have each student purchase their own personal clicker.

Here are some of the uses that polleverywhere.com provides.

To learn more about polleverywhere, visit http://www.polleverywhere.com/.

I have had a chance to use to use my cell phone to vote and use polleverywhere.com and it definitely is a good change-up to class participation. I don’t think it should replace other engaging class activities, such as discussions, but I think it is a useful tool that can be used every so often. I also agree overall that since cell phones, and texting in particular, are so popular that it can be used in other ways to enhance class participation and learning.

The big problem with trying to use cell phones as classroom tools is trying to make sure that they are only used for class use, and not to text friends, go on the Internet, etc. I think that it might be a more useful and appropriate tool for college students, rather than high schools students for example, since maturity level is higher and college students are held to a higher level as far as classroom conduct. Of course this is all relative, and nothing can be completely controlled.

What do you think about cell phones in the classroom? Should they be used in place of devices like clickers? Is there a certain grade level that would be more appropriate for students to use their phones in class? Do you have any suggestions on how teachers/professors can help regulate the use of cell phone for class purposes only?

References:

Rapp, D. (2011). Lift the cell phone ban. Scholastic Inc. http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3751073.

http://www.cellphonesinlearning.com/

http://www.polleverywhere.com/

“It’s a computer in a pen!”

Did you know there is a smart pen that can record what you write and hear? It can even read notes aloud and play back audio recordings. Here’s how it works: you just write with your Livescribe pen on special notepads like a normal pen. It has ink and the notes looks like regular notes except this pen also gives the option of recording a conversations while you write. These notepads have minuscule dots on them that a camera on the pen reads and keeps track of where the pen goes on the paper. You can connect your pen to your computer via a USB port, then view your notes and listen to your recordings using the software that comes with the pen. Through this software it is possible to combine different notes into one record, thus customizing notes. It becomes very easy to search for key words in notes with the software. Notes can even be shared through email, Google docs, Facebook or Evernote. "Pencasts" can also be viewed using the “Livescribe Desktop” software. Pencasts are interactive notes and recordings played back on a computer. And of course, like every other smart technology out there, you can purchase apps for the smart pen. Wikipedia, language translation, calculator, a piano app and a poker game are some of the apps that can be downloaded onto the pen. A very useful app is the one that transcribes handwritten notes into typed notes.

This pen is great for both audio and visual learners. Students can more accurately capture lectures and class discussions by taking their own notes and recording the discussion at the same time. If a student has ADD this could help organize their notes. This would especially help if an ADD student is technology focused but cannot bring a computer to class to take notes with because computers offer too many distractions. Important information can be easily recalled by drawing a star and clicking on it later as well.

Would you ever use one of these smart pens? Is this a tool that schools should look into purchasing for their students? Or just for the students with specials needs, like learning disorders?

See the company’s website for more info: http://www.livescribe.com/en-us/?gclid=CJarmePvrKwCFcjb4Aod9D_DHg

This is a NY Times review of the Livescribe Echo pen: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/19/a-college-student-reviews-a-smartpen/

Second Life in Education

Second Life is a free online virtual world that was created by Linden Lab in 2003. It is the leading 3D virtual world filled with user-created content and interactive experiences. In Second Life, “residents” can interact with other residents, explore various locations around the world, enjoy the arts, experience the sciences, and can create communities in which to learn and live virtually. Most important, however, is Second Life’s involvement in education.

Second Life combats the economic pressures from budget cuts and rising costs of education by offering a virtual classroom setting. Hundreds of colleges and institutions are including virtual learning components into their curriculum. Some are even hosting entire courses in virtual worlds like Second Life. Students can work together, the space is always available, and the geographic location is not a limiting factor. Furthermore, Second Life offers the opportunity for virtual field trips. For example, anatomy students can go inside virtual organs, art history students can examine a virtual Sistine Chapel in great detail, anthropology students could examine the culture and environment of both current and historic communities, and so much more.

Second Life is based on a social networking platform, and therefore, students are more inclined to become engaged. The virtual world also requires participation. If a student leaves his or her computer, the avatar will slump into a sleep after a period of inactivity. It is a powerful simulation and modeling tool that can also create bridges between universities and institutions. This bridge will allow for a community of learners. Also, the accommodation of both synchronous and asynchronous learning makes differences in time zones and people not a limiting factor.

The global impact of both reaching students and green design is leading to a new world of education. James Madison University has joined the effort, and more information on their involvement can be found at the following web addresses.

JMU SL Website: http://www.jmu.edu/secondlife/jmusl.html

JMU Public Affairs: http://www.jmu.edu/news/madisonscholar/SecondLife.shtml

CFI Website: http://www.jmu.edu/cfi/events/specialevents/10-11/secondlife/

Create an avatar today, and begin exploring!

SL Website: http://secondlife.com/?gclid=CMX0yPO9mKwCFcp65QodUQUUOg