I've had previous experiences with simulators as a student and when i used them, i didn't even realise i was learning which I'm not sure is a good or a bad thing. I think that if i can find suitable and professionally made simulators for students to use i will definitely utilise them for some lessons throughout the term, To keep the students engaged and interested in learning. The site provided about gizmos may prove useful when teaching biology.
Digital Tool: Google Earth
Google Earth was always a cool program i found quite useful. However I never imagined it as being an education tool though. From the looks of things, it is a fantastic resource for teachers and students as it enables students to see images from different parts of the earth with the ability to overlay streets/roads with latitude and longitude. One use for biology outlined was the ability to track routes of chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe Forest. It is now possible to overlay what you see with different filters, such as the national geographic filter and geospatial filter.
Digital Tool: Google Maps
Google maps again was a tool i had experience with and never realised its potential as a learning tool for teachers to use. One use I found that would be useful if i were to teach Earth science is the ability to track and see where recent earthquakes have occurred. http://earthquakes.tafoni.net/
Digital Tool: Google Documents for Collaboration
"Google Docs is a free, web-based word processor, spreadsheet and presentation tool that allows you to create and edit documents from anywhere and collaborate with multiple people at the same time." Google Docs Tutorial https://docs.google.com/present/view?skipauth=true&id=ddnctvgt_170cbskvf68
The documents students create are saved and can be accessed online using a computer with an internet connection. It can be used as a collaborative tool perfect for group assignments. Students can work together on the same document, eliminating the need for back and forth emails, students can also work on their documents from both school and at home. Google docs would be a perfect way to assess students as there are no software version requirements and their work can be viewed at any time by the teacher, so the teacher will always know the progress of each student. After a student invites the teacher to their document, they can review, comment and grade their work.
Digital Tool: Online Concept Mapping
Concept mapping is a valuable tool that allows students to create an understanding of a topic themselves. I used bubble.us to create a brainstorming map on some of the uses of Google documents
Bubble.us was by far the easiest and quickest online tool i've ever used, this literally took me 2 minutes to sign up, create and export and upload this image !
Text 2 Mind Map was just a little bit slower then bubble.us however i think that it was more aesthetically pleasing. I find mind maps to be more useful then just normal brainstorming as they allow elaboartion. This was what i ended up with usieng Text 2 Mind Map
Digital Tool: Zooburst for interactive digital storybooks
I read the interactive Zooburst story book on the fortune telling dragon, i can see the benefit in using this at a primary school level, however it would not serve me much purpose as a high school teacher unless i had some students who found it hard to read or concentrate in a literacy class. however i would have to make sure the stories they read have the roper spelling of words, as the dragon story had some inherent spelling errors.
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