Matt

media type="custom" key="4379259" This kid needs some further information before he can actually create anything!

media type="custom" key="4378945" As you can see, the majority of my K-12 experience found basic remembering and understanding, but not much more. There was very little time for creation, even in a block scheduling situation (90 minute periods, with only four classes a day per semester). And, even if there was any time for creating, it obviously was not deep in any way, as I don't remember any of it. I don't remember doing any evaluating of any kind - that was //clearly// meant for the teachers, and not the students.

media type="custom" key="4419397" I chose to discuss this aspect of technology being used in a formal education setting because I find that social networking can be useful in a classroom. It gives students the opportunity to correspond with people from all over the world that have the ability to provide insights that students may not have ever thought of from a real world setting. I believe it is the closest students can come to getting an "informal education" in a formal education setting.

I chose to look into different aspects of Discovery Education can be utilized in my future classroom.
 * 10/21 Reflection**

1) The lesson plan library. There is nothing worse than being stuck for a lesson plan idea, especially in a classroom full of students who have seen all the tricks before, and may need something new to get them interested in something they may not particularly be interested in. The page is broken down by subject area, which is helpful in preventing wasting time searching through things that may not apply to you. That said, it may be worthwhile to DE to break it down further by grade level, as some unneeded options may be removed from the list to save some time.

2) The curriculum standards search. This goes hand-in-hand with many of the other uses for the site. Instead of having to navigate through the complicated (and not very user-friendly) PA State Standard page, this page allows users to simply choose their state, grade level, and subject and get the standards just through one click. It's so much easier! I have no idea why PA doesn't do it this way.

3) The videos. Obviously, this is a decent chunk of the information on the page, but it's so useful that it can't be overlooked. The search options, again, make it almost too easy to use. And, unlike public sites like YouTube, the information is guaranteed to be educational and useful in a classroom setting.

4) The quiz builder. Sometimes, a quiz is needed in a pinch to check for understanding. And - let's be honest - sometimes, you just don't have the time to create something yourself. That's where this comes in handy. There's over 2,000 quizzes to choose from, and I'm relatively sure that Discovery Education isn't going to let just any old quiz slip through the cracks onto their page. It's guaranteed to be quality stuff.

5) The interactive atlas. When reading literature, students may not know where the locations of some of the events in their texts happened. With this atlas, it's easy to show them not only where these places are, but also some information on their background. This helps to make the lesson more complete, and in this age of standarized testing and NCLB, connect to other subjects to cover more information in a short period of time.