Reaction to Chapter 3 & Its Presentation

This week I had to present Chapter three to the class. I really, really like this chapter and all the ways it showed technology/ games in the classroom. The simulations, quests, games, etc. were all interesting and the ways they can help in the classroom. I always knew that they could be helpful but I never knew there were so many programs and so many ways they could help. Quest Atlantis peeked my interest and when I went to look at the things it offered I was fascinated. I saw how it encompasses history, science, math, language arts, and just about every other area that can be focused on in school. One way I would like to use this in my lesson is to get ideas to do within my classroom and also i would LOVE for my students to become apart of this quest. The ten principles were there to explain the different things to look for in an educational game but it taught me that games ACTUALLY CAN offer these things. I didn't know that such advantages were available in games. Things like SimCalc, SimCity, and BioBlast are all things used to teach specific concepts. I would use these things for students that may be struggling in SPECIFIC areas instead of using something like Quest Atlantis to explore everything at once. After this chapter I actually became interested in changing my College of Education specialization to Education Technology. I am not interested in becoming an Ed. Tech. teacher but I feel that with this background I may be able to offer my students more in a classroom setting since there is such a shift towards technology. This chapter helped me realize how much of a role technology plays in education now and how much it will in the future.
*B.C.*