"It's In The Game." Irish Sports Daily.Com. 2010. Irish Sports Daily. 4 March. 2010
http://www.irishsportsdaily.com/football/2045-its-in-the-game
I decided to use this article, because it had a direct correlation with me as a football coach. This article discusses XOS PlayAction Simulator, a product of XOS Digital, Inc. This simulator is a virtual training tool for football players. It plays just like a video game, such as Madden or NCAA Football. The thing that makes this simulator unique is that it has been modified from the game to a more realistic version of football. The main reason it is a good simulator is because a team can load their offense onto the game and a player can run his own offense and help him not only learn the plays, but how they are supposed to look and what he should be looking for when he runs those plays. The simulator can also allow the coaches t create a list of the plays they would like to run and the types of defenses he wants them to run against. It really is the best thing for learning outside of actual practice. A couple of paragraphs really stuck out with how much this program can do:
“We go so far as to give coaches, when they’re scripting the session, to specify who can and cannot catch a ball,” Tsai said. “For example, on a given play against a certain defense, if my read is to the X receiver, and I throw to the Z, we can actually force an incompletion, interception or whatever, to ensure that wrong receiver doesn’t get the ball. That’s just another mechanism to provide feedback for the player.”
“The main benefit there is, your starting quarterback, he’s going to get most of the reps on the practice field,” Tsai said. “But your second-stringers and the younger guys, that can just sit and observe and watch film, they’ve got a way now, where they can train and go through that decision-making process in a virtual environment.”
This coaching tool is a really impressive piece of technology. I knew that you could play a video game and put in your own playbook to help your players learn the offense, but the aspect of it that I did not know and that is so impressive is the fact that you can script the plays and defenses and have a certain look to a certain offensive play. It is also amazing that the technology can understand when a player made the wrong read and throw and force the negative outcome to occur as a result.
If this technology isn't efficient, effective, and engaging I don't know what is. This allows coaches to virtually get in extra practice time. This is the next closest thing to actually physically running plays. It allows players who may not get as much work on the field to stay prepared. It can also allow players who are hurt to still get in practice. It can also prepare a player for an upcoming game, because they can run their plays and put in the opponents defenses to work against. It is efficient, because it won't take as much time as a normal practice would and you do not have to get all pads on and what not. It is effective, because it simulates almost exactly what a player will see on the field. This simulator is probably more engaging then it is anything else, because the players like to play it. To them is seems just like they are playing a video game.
Overall, this simulator would be ideal to have as a couch. I would definitely love to have it for my players, the only problem is I am sure it costs a boatload of money. This is probably why only a handful of schools have it, and those schools are the major division one Universities.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Reading Selection # 5
Panturu, Stan. "The Informative-Formative Valneces of Multimedia Technologies in the Intercultural Education Framework." Univeristy of Ploiesti Bulletin, Educational Sciences Series LXII 19-24.
The reason I chose this article was because it not only dealt with educational technology, but because I am also in a multi-cultural class and this article deals with iintercultural eduction. The article first discusses the mission of education in a multicultural world. The article's short version of the mission for a intercultural school is "to provide equal educational condition for all children, taking into account their physical, cultural, national and religious diversity. The article then goes into discussing the role of the school as a unit for modern learning as well as the pragmatics of intercultural education. The article then goes into the integration of multimedia technology in the intercultural education. The author discusses challenges such as generating an adequate environment for learning, but then discusses the methodology of integrating the multimedia. The article says that an educational program where the new technologies are used involves certain logical, physiological and pedagogical stages. The author also states that "by using the new information technology, the learning process is enriched, involving transformational learning, effective teaching (adequate to students needs), effective learning, improving and diversifying the methodological repertoire."
I think the biggest thing I learned from this article was how technology relates to the learners, and how it effects the education and how it can work in a multicultural classroom. I did not necessarily learn any new technological tools to use in my classroom or with my players. Since I did not get any new technological ideas out of this article I will not be able to take those directly and use them with my students or players. I will be able to take some of what I learned in this article, however, and use at as a base thought process when it comes to multicultural education and the integrating of technology in the classroom. This article has given me a base core of knowledge as to what should be the mission in intercultural classrooms and how technology can apply itself and make in an impact in these classrooms.
The reason I chose this article was because it not only dealt with educational technology, but because I am also in a multi-cultural class and this article deals with iintercultural eduction. The article first discusses the mission of education in a multicultural world. The article's short version of the mission for a intercultural school is "to provide equal educational condition for all children, taking into account their physical, cultural, national and religious diversity. The article then goes into discussing the role of the school as a unit for modern learning as well as the pragmatics of intercultural education. The article then goes into the integration of multimedia technology in the intercultural education. The author discusses challenges such as generating an adequate environment for learning, but then discusses the methodology of integrating the multimedia. The article says that an educational program where the new technologies are used involves certain logical, physiological and pedagogical stages. The author also states that "by using the new information technology, the learning process is enriched, involving transformational learning, effective teaching (adequate to students needs), effective learning, improving and diversifying the methodological repertoire."
I think the biggest thing I learned from this article was how technology relates to the learners, and how it effects the education and how it can work in a multicultural classroom. I did not necessarily learn any new technological tools to use in my classroom or with my players. Since I did not get any new technological ideas out of this article I will not be able to take those directly and use them with my students or players. I will be able to take some of what I learned in this article, however, and use at as a base thought process when it comes to multicultural education and the integrating of technology in the classroom. This article has given me a base core of knowledge as to what should be the mission in intercultural classrooms and how technology can apply itself and make in an impact in these classrooms.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Reading Selection # 4
Johnson, Laurence F. Alan Levine, Rachel S. Smith and Keene Haywood. Key Emerging Technologies for Postsecondary Education. Austin, TX: Horizon Report, 2010.
This article was written to discuss the up and coming technologies in the field of education for post secondary education. It brings up not only the key emerging technologies, but also the key trends in education that are requiring these updates in technology. The first trend is that "the abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators in sense-making coaching, and credentialing." The second trend is that "people expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever they want to." The third trend is that "the technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support are decentralized." The final trend is that "the work of students is increasingly seen as collaborative by nature, and there is more cross-campus collaboration between departments.
The article goes on to discuss some of the critical challenges of new technologies then goes into the new emerging technologies. The first technology is Mobile Computing. This is definitely a technology that can be taken advantage of, because almost everybody on a college campus now-a-days has a mobile device, or smart phone. The second emerging technology is Open Content. This involves placing academic content online and freely available for their students. The third emerging technology is electronic books. This makes sense, because they are becoming so popular with the public, and it would save students tons of money. The fourth emerging technology is simple augmented reality, which refers to the shift that has made augmented reality accessible to almost anybody. The last two emerging technologies are gesture-based computing and visual data analysis.
The first few emerging technologies I already knew about, but the last couple were totally new to me. I did not really know anything about simple augmented reality, gesture-based computing, or visual data analysis. This article has opened me up a little bit more to some new technologies in the education world. Learning about these new technologies will cause me to probably look into them a little more, and keep an eye out for them, and to possibly put a few of them into use as long as the technology is available to me.
This article was written to discuss the up and coming technologies in the field of education for post secondary education. It brings up not only the key emerging technologies, but also the key trends in education that are requiring these updates in technology. The first trend is that "the abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators in sense-making coaching, and credentialing." The second trend is that "people expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever they want to." The third trend is that "the technologies we use are increasingly cloud-based, and our notions of IT support are decentralized." The final trend is that "the work of students is increasingly seen as collaborative by nature, and there is more cross-campus collaboration between departments.
The article goes on to discuss some of the critical challenges of new technologies then goes into the new emerging technologies. The first technology is Mobile Computing. This is definitely a technology that can be taken advantage of, because almost everybody on a college campus now-a-days has a mobile device, or smart phone. The second emerging technology is Open Content. This involves placing academic content online and freely available for their students. The third emerging technology is electronic books. This makes sense, because they are becoming so popular with the public, and it would save students tons of money. The fourth emerging technology is simple augmented reality, which refers to the shift that has made augmented reality accessible to almost anybody. The last two emerging technologies are gesture-based computing and visual data analysis.
The first few emerging technologies I already knew about, but the last couple were totally new to me. I did not really know anything about simple augmented reality, gesture-based computing, or visual data analysis. This article has opened me up a little bit more to some new technologies in the education world. Learning about these new technologies will cause me to probably look into them a little more, and keep an eye out for them, and to possibly put a few of them into use as long as the technology is available to me.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Reading Selection # 3
Huang, Chuanbo. "On the Misunderstanding of the Integration between Literature Curriculum Teaching and Modern Educational Technology." Asian Social Sciences, (2010) 6, 167-169.
The third article I have read is also a very fitting article written on the connection between education and technology. The basis of the article is the misunderstandings that teachers have about integrating technology into their classroom. I agree with the the theory that technology is not always used properly in a classroom. In fact if not used correctly technology can hinder a student's ability to learn.
The memorable points of the article were the three main points discussed in the article. The first point discussed how "modern educational technology can well displace the traditional teaching way of blackboard and chalk." The article just goes more in depth on this point by describing how videos have became a substitute for reading aloud in class, and having the teacher read aloud. The author discussed that more pictures may not draw more interest and attract their attention and that it can hinder a student from thinking or using their imagination. Another point the author brought up was that an emphasis in media can sometimes marginalize the teacher. The teacher almost becomes the "mouse" and does not realize their their own function. A third point is that teachers may use technology to find lesson plans and materials instead of preparing and accumulating more knowledge on certain topics.
I do not think I learned anything substantial in this article. If anything it just reaffirmed my feelings on education and technology. I am a big believer in using technology in education, but you have to know how to use it. If you use technology the wrong way it can have the opposite affect that you had intended on it having.
What I can take from this article that will make my classrooms more effective, efficient, and engaging is the idea that I do not want to over use technology. I need to make sure I carefully plan my technology lesson plans as much as I plan my lessons without technology.
The third article I have read is also a very fitting article written on the connection between education and technology. The basis of the article is the misunderstandings that teachers have about integrating technology into their classroom. I agree with the the theory that technology is not always used properly in a classroom. In fact if not used correctly technology can hinder a student's ability to learn.
The memorable points of the article were the three main points discussed in the article. The first point discussed how "modern educational technology can well displace the traditional teaching way of blackboard and chalk." The article just goes more in depth on this point by describing how videos have became a substitute for reading aloud in class, and having the teacher read aloud. The author discussed that more pictures may not draw more interest and attract their attention and that it can hinder a student from thinking or using their imagination. Another point the author brought up was that an emphasis in media can sometimes marginalize the teacher. The teacher almost becomes the "mouse" and does not realize their their own function. A third point is that teachers may use technology to find lesson plans and materials instead of preparing and accumulating more knowledge on certain topics.
I do not think I learned anything substantial in this article. If anything it just reaffirmed my feelings on education and technology. I am a big believer in using technology in education, but you have to know how to use it. If you use technology the wrong way it can have the opposite affect that you had intended on it having.
What I can take from this article that will make my classrooms more effective, efficient, and engaging is the idea that I do not want to over use technology. I need to make sure I carefully plan my technology lesson plans as much as I plan my lessons without technology.
Reading Selection # 2
Colombo, Michael W. and Paul D. Colombo. "Using Blogs to Improve Differentiated Instruction." Phi Delta Kappan 89 (2007): 60-63.
My second article selection was entitled Using Blogs to Improve Differentiated Instruction. As soon as I read the title of the article I knew it was one I needed to read. Blogging can be a beneficial technology in a class room, and I am sure that is one of the main reasons we are blogging our article reflections. By blogging our responses it gives us an idea of how to set up and maintain a blog. I wanted to read this article to see what other ways I could use a blog to benefit my class.
The most memorable part of the article for me was the examples it gave of a teacher and how she used her blog. They gave descriptions of how blogs can be used to reinforce strategies, introduce new topics and concepts, review important class points, review for tests, and provide enrichment. It then went into details about how the teacher, Ms. Daniel's used her blog. She used it to post discussion questions in which students could respond to, study guides that outline key points, and also included links for advanced material for those students who wanted to explore more on the topic.
I don't know if I learned any specifics on blogs themselves, but I definitely got an idea of how to use them in a classroom. I guess I knew that blogs did not have to be all writing and that they often have audio and video files that go with them, I just never thought about using them in a class. It did give me the idea that teachers could set up blogs and post the information students need for homework test and quizzes. Teachers could also post links for even more information on a specific topic if students wanted to get more in depth on a certain topic.
What i learned about blogging definitely could make my class more efficient, effective, and engaging. It would give my students a chance to use technology to find new resources and to learn in different ways. As long as all my students had access to a computer. I could use a blog to reach all my learning styles. I could post information in writing, audio or video to appeal to all my learners. I could also give assignments and study guides to help my students keep up in the class. If the students had access to the Internet at home it could also give their parents a chance to stay involved with the students school work. Blogging possibilities are almost endless, and although a lot of work, could be very beneficial to your students.
My second article selection was entitled Using Blogs to Improve Differentiated Instruction. As soon as I read the title of the article I knew it was one I needed to read. Blogging can be a beneficial technology in a class room, and I am sure that is one of the main reasons we are blogging our article reflections. By blogging our responses it gives us an idea of how to set up and maintain a blog. I wanted to read this article to see what other ways I could use a blog to benefit my class.
The most memorable part of the article for me was the examples it gave of a teacher and how she used her blog. They gave descriptions of how blogs can be used to reinforce strategies, introduce new topics and concepts, review important class points, review for tests, and provide enrichment. It then went into details about how the teacher, Ms. Daniel's used her blog. She used it to post discussion questions in which students could respond to, study guides that outline key points, and also included links for advanced material for those students who wanted to explore more on the topic.
I don't know if I learned any specifics on blogs themselves, but I definitely got an idea of how to use them in a classroom. I guess I knew that blogs did not have to be all writing and that they often have audio and video files that go with them, I just never thought about using them in a class. It did give me the idea that teachers could set up blogs and post the information students need for homework test and quizzes. Teachers could also post links for even more information on a specific topic if students wanted to get more in depth on a certain topic.
What i learned about blogging definitely could make my class more efficient, effective, and engaging. It would give my students a chance to use technology to find new resources and to learn in different ways. As long as all my students had access to a computer. I could use a blog to reach all my learning styles. I could post information in writing, audio or video to appeal to all my learners. I could also give assignments and study guides to help my students keep up in the class. If the students had access to the Internet at home it could also give their parents a chance to stay involved with the students school work. Blogging possibilities are almost endless, and although a lot of work, could be very beneficial to your students.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Reading Selection #1
Shriner, Daniel A Clark, Melissa Nail, Bethanne M Schlee, and Rebecca Libler. "Social Studies Instruction: Changing Teacher Confidence in Classrooms Enhanced by Technology." The Social Studies 101 (2010): 37-45.
Being that my discipline is social studies this article was a perfect read for me. It was a study based on enhancing technology use by social study teachers, but it really gave me a lot of ideas and insight on technology as it relates to social studies in a classroom. I had some ideas on ways to use technology in classrooms but this opened up my eyes to a few new things.
The main points of the study was to discuss how social studies teachers tend not to use as much technology based instruction in their social studies classroom. The study was then conducted as a workshop to also help show the teachers new and exciting ways technology can be a part of a social studies classroom. The people hosting the workshop went through several examples of technology based lessons that apply for social studies.
The aspect of the study I like the most was the introduction of different techniques of how to use technology for social studies. Social Studies and history in general is a subject that involves a lot of imagination to really try and get a good feeling for the topic that you are covering. It is often hard to really see and understand what things were like for the people or places you are studying. One technique I liked was the Virtual Field Trips. The workshop discussed how teachers can go about finding virtual field trips online, and also how they can create their own using PowerPoint's or similar tools. They also discussed how they can have their students put together virtual field trips by taking their own pictures, uploading them to the computer and sharing them with their classmates.
This article did not necessarily teach me specifics of how to make my class room more efficient, effective, and engaging, but it gave ideas on how I can do that. the article discusses the workshops and the topics and ideas discussed. These discussion have given me ideas, but the article is not nearly as effective as it would have been for me to actually have attended the workshop itself. I have and idea on the strategies but not the complete now how as to go ahead and proceed with them right now.
Being that my discipline is social studies this article was a perfect read for me. It was a study based on enhancing technology use by social study teachers, but it really gave me a lot of ideas and insight on technology as it relates to social studies in a classroom. I had some ideas on ways to use technology in classrooms but this opened up my eyes to a few new things.
The main points of the study was to discuss how social studies teachers tend not to use as much technology based instruction in their social studies classroom. The study was then conducted as a workshop to also help show the teachers new and exciting ways technology can be a part of a social studies classroom. The people hosting the workshop went through several examples of technology based lessons that apply for social studies.
The aspect of the study I like the most was the introduction of different techniques of how to use technology for social studies. Social Studies and history in general is a subject that involves a lot of imagination to really try and get a good feeling for the topic that you are covering. It is often hard to really see and understand what things were like for the people or places you are studying. One technique I liked was the Virtual Field Trips. The workshop discussed how teachers can go about finding virtual field trips online, and also how they can create their own using PowerPoint's or similar tools. They also discussed how they can have their students put together virtual field trips by taking their own pictures, uploading them to the computer and sharing them with their classmates.
This article did not necessarily teach me specifics of how to make my class room more efficient, effective, and engaging, but it gave ideas on how I can do that. the article discusses the workshops and the topics and ideas discussed. These discussion have given me ideas, but the article is not nearly as effective as it would have been for me to actually have attended the workshop itself. I have and idea on the strategies but not the complete now how as to go ahead and proceed with them right now.
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