IPT 287 - Science Technology

My favorite science technology that we explored was the microscope. It was shocking to me that the microscope was only $80, and that made me very excited because it helped me to see that it really isn't such a huge financial burden to buy fun technology tools to supplement my teaching. I had a lot of fun looking at various things from outside under the microscope because it made me really excited about learning about the world around me. I think that this would be a great tool for me to use with my future students because it will help me to get them excited about science. Also, it would be very easy to do a lesson with the microscope like what we did in class because all we did was go outside and collect samples of whatever we could find. By allowing my students to go outside and pick up samples of things they would want to look at, this would be a great way to use their natural curiosity to learn more about their environment. Also, this would be a very inexpensive way to have a meaningful science lesson.

IPT 287 - TPACK

Before this week's class, I had no idea what TPACK was. TPACK stands for Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge. This represents various areas of knowledge that are especially important for teachers to have when they are teaching in order to make their lessons most effective for their students. I think that it will be especially helpful to me to recognize the importance of tying technological knowledge in with my knowledge in other areas because it will help me to make my lessons much more interesting, and I will be able to reach my students much more easily. I think it will be very useful to understand TPACK as a teacher because it will help me to concentrate on improving my teaching skills and knowledge so that I will best be able to help my students learn.