Mrs. Cassidy's First Graders and Skype Interview with Mrs. Cassidy
Mrs. Cassidy has her first grade class using technology every day. This is amazing! These very young kids are using blogs, skype, and wikis. It is so impressive because there are a lot of older people in the world that have no clue on how to use them and quite a few that have ever heard of them. By using these sites it is helping the students learn to read and write and improve their grammatical skills. The most useful form of technology he students are using is probably the blogs. By using the blogs it allows their parents to see their work and give them praise. The praise they receive boosts their confidence and urges them to do more and keep advancing and improving their skills.
Another tool that is very cool is Skype. Skype lets you interact with other people that are as near as the next room or as far as across the world. I mean how many first grade students can say that they chatted with a person on the other side of the world through a video chat on the internet. I wish I could have had that opportunity as a child.
One of the biggest problems ,other than communication with the students, would have to be getting the parents to go along with teaching their young children how to use technology. The problem that I think that we would encounter is that a lot of parents are used to the old school way of teaching straight out of the text books and not the new school technology. This could be an easy fix if I could get the parents to help out with their child at home and then they could learn along with them. I think that once they saw how useful and how much it got every child involved they would be all for it. Just because it's new doesn't mean that it is bad because the world is ever evolving and we must kep up with the times or we will be left in the dust.
Christy,
ReplyDeleteWell said!
It is impressive that children are learning to use such things as blogs, skype, and wikis! I bet Dr. Strange will be excited when he sees this post because all the kids in your picture are using Mac's instead of PC computers! They look like they're learning to be "Mac people".
I think you make a great point that "By using the blogs it allows their parents to see their work and give them praise". This should be a point that you use as a counter-argument when the parents want to complain about using blogs or wikis. Kids don't really take their work home to pin up on the fridge anymore! And it's almost better because that parent can see just how great their kid's work is when people from all across the world comment to give them props also.
Good job!
Carly
"I wish I could have had that opportunity as a child." Make sure your students DO have that opportunity!
ReplyDeleteAwesome job Christy! I feel a lot of adults and college students haven't used a blog. To have a first grade class utilize a blog is wonderful. I strive to have a technology friendly environment as Mrs. Cassidy has.
ReplyDelete