Ramble #5
Another great week has come and gone!
I absolutely love this video! As a potential science teacher myself, I am inspired by how passionate this teacher is about the subject matter he is teaching. He also pulls in the real world to hammer home theoretical concepts. I strongly believe in this practice.
This week I started working on my ePortfolio. So far, so good! In class on Tuesday we were shown a really neat application known as "Kahoot". It allows teachers to make fun, competitive, and educationally valid games for their students.
I really enjoyed the competitiveness that is built into the application. After every round of play the app displays the game leaders as well as the highest climbing individual for that particular round. It really created a buzz in the room when we were playing it. Everyone wanted to know: who were the top 5 players after each round? Would "Tels" keep her 1st place position or would she lose it. It was engaging and lots of fun!
Although the game isn't exactly the best way to introduce new information it would serve well to review information in a fun way. I imagine using this in a science class as a way to review key terms before a unit test or quiz. It would get students thinking about key terminology in a tremendously engaging way, which is always the goal of the teacher.
For all the good of the application, I think it might have a problem as well. As stated earlier the game is grounded in competitiveness. Using this with younger grades could result in conflict within the class. Younger kids have a tendency to get very competitive and as such "Kahoot" could upset kids when they lose. I can hear it now... "Shut up Billy! My phone didn't load as quick as yours! I actually won..." I think the use of this application would be totally class dependent. Teachers know their students well and would know whether or not their class could handle a game of "Kahoot".
Until next week,
Justin
This week I started working on my ePortfolio. So far, so good! In class on Tuesday we were shown a really neat application known as "Kahoot". It allows teachers to make fun, competitive, and educationally valid games for their students.
I really enjoyed the competitiveness that is built into the application. After every round of play the app displays the game leaders as well as the highest climbing individual for that particular round. It really created a buzz in the room when we were playing it. Everyone wanted to know: who were the top 5 players after each round? Would "Tels" keep her 1st place position or would she lose it. It was engaging and lots of fun!
Although the game isn't exactly the best way to introduce new information it would serve well to review information in a fun way. I imagine using this in a science class as a way to review key terms before a unit test or quiz. It would get students thinking about key terminology in a tremendously engaging way, which is always the goal of the teacher.
For all the good of the application, I think it might have a problem as well. As stated earlier the game is grounded in competitiveness. Using this with younger grades could result in conflict within the class. Younger kids have a tendency to get very competitive and as such "Kahoot" could upset kids when they lose. I can hear it now... "Shut up Billy! My phone didn't load as quick as yours! I actually won..." I think the use of this application would be totally class dependent. Teachers know their students well and would know whether or not their class could handle a game of "Kahoot".
Until next week,
Justin
good comment - context is important!
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