My name is Kimberly Henson and I am a Literacy Education (K-12) major. I graduated from St. Joseph’s College with my B.A. in Child Study. This is my third semester at Dowling College and plan on graduating in the Winter 2004 semester. This is my second year working with special education students in the Sachem Central School District. I work in a 7^th grade, 12:1:1 classroom.

I chose the rain forest as my teaching topic because I am interested in tropical rain forests and because it is part of the 7^th grade curriculum. The students really enjoy learning about the rain forest, so I thought it would be an interesting topic to do a Power Point presentation on.

Today, technology can be used in so many ways, i.e., research encyclopedia, dictionary, etc. Hence, technology is a wonderful tool to use in the classroom for all subject areas. When first researching this topic, I was unaware of all the information that I could retrieve from the internet. On the internet, typing in rain forest brought me to numerous websites, some child-based and some adult-based. Searching through the numerous websites was very interesting and informative. Not only are websites available about the rain forest, but many other sources as well.

Electronic books can be very useful in creating a better understanding of the rain forest for students. The ECTLP (Early Childhood Technology Literacy Program) site contains a series of electronic books created in Power Point that can be easily downloaded for classroom use. The complete website for ECTLP is the following http://www.mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/. If students have access to computers in the school, this information could be very useful.

Discussion boards can also be used by the students to raise concerns about the rain forest or respond to particular questions and issues discussed in class. It is because of time restrictions that the instructor should get the class involved with discussion boards outside the classroom. Participation in a discussion board can be given as homework (since most students have computers at home). Of course, the teachers must provide the classroom with a discussion board site and a set of rules in order to make sure the discussion is kept under control. Also, teachers are capable of creating their very own discussion board on aol.com or msn.com. In this case, teachers that create a discussion board will allow only his or her students access to the board.

The discussion board at Greenpeace International can also provide a good setting to ask questions, raise concerns, and give options regarding the rain forest. The website for Greenpeace International is http://www.greenpeace.org/international_en/. Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund can also give the students a series of articles and surveys about the conditions and problems connected with the rain forest. The World Wildlife Fund website is http://www.worldwildlife.org/. National Geographic Kids Magazine can also provide the students with interesting articles and great images of the rain forest. This website is http://www.nationalgeographic.com/kids/. This information can very easily be downloaded and printed for the class if necessary.

Although technology is very important, it is also useful for the teacher to provide more “conservative” forms of technology in the classroom. Videos and books can be very useful if we get the students to appreciate them. Some films can be assigned as homework as well. This can make the activity something the whole family can be involved in.

However, we do not want our students to spend all their time watching the computer or television screen either. Other types of activities should be promoted, such as trips to Central Park-New York City, the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, the American Museum of Natural History, or the Bronx Zoo. Teachers must want their students to experience what they learn. That is why the above mentioned are all great ways students can experience what they are being taught. Technology should always complement that.

As an educator, one way in which I would teach this topic is through an internet research project, for seven school days. Each day there would be a new topic that the students would research and gather information. By the six and seventh day, each student would present their reports to the rest of the class. The way in which this research project would go is as follows:

Monday: Research what the definition of a rain forest is. Collect all useful websites pertaining to what a rain forest is and print it. Only use websites for this assignment.

Tuesday: Research the four layers of the rain forest. Collect all information on each layer and print it. Include pictures, websites, and books as references.

Wednesday: Research the animals and people of the rain forest. How do they live, what do they eat, etc. Include pictures and websites as your citations. Make sure to print all information obtained.

Thursday and Friday: Research deforestation of the rain forest. Describe what it means and gather percentages of the loss of rain forests due to it. Include pictures and facts. Engage in a discussion in one of the discussion boards about deforestation.

Monday and Tuesday: The students will collect all the data they have collected and type up their reports. When finished, students will present their reports to the class.

Overall, technology is a valuable tool for teaching in the classroom as well as outside the classroom. Almost everything can be obtained via the internet. This in turn makes researching easier and fun. I feel the classroom teacher should use technology in many ways. The teacher should use VHS, DVD, CD-ROM’S, the internet, and so on in the lessons being taught. Technology opens the doors to many facets of education. It provides the students with hands-on experience and better prepares the students for the “real world.” Since computers are used for so many different things, students should leave high school with a well-rounded background in the usage of technology.

However, there could be a negative side to technology, especially the internet. More and more research is obtained through the internet, which in turn means there is less usage of books. I feel books are not being used as much since the internet has become more the way of researching. The combination of the computer and books is the best way to research a topic. Books have been around much longer than the computer and contain a lot of valuable information.

Some challenges in using technology in the classroom are not being able to properly operate the piece of equipment. The educator must know how to use the VCR, books on tape, DVD players, the computer, etc. in order for the students to fully benefit from it.

Today, I plan most of my lessons around technology. Having to teach myself and attend seminars on how to operate certain pieces of equipment has made me a knowledgeable teacher of technology. I use the internet mostly, but also use videotapes, DVD discs, books on tape, etc. in my classroom on a regular basis. In addition, since I now know how to create a Power Point presentation I will use Power Point as much as possible. Power Point is such an interesting way to present a topic and the students will gain knowledge outside the basic lecture lesson. In my opinion, I believe using all of these technologies has enhanced my students’ learning and makes learning fun and interesting.

References

Sweeney, Jimmy and Barr, Letisha. ECTLP Free (Early Childhood Technology

Literacy Program). 2000. Retrieved October 21, 2003, from

http://mcps.k12.md.us/curriculum/littlekids/

Adida, Ben. OpenAcs Community. ArsDigita Corportation. Greenpeace.com.

2001. Retrieved October 21, 2003, from

http://greenpeace.org/international_en/

James, Shelley Santora. World Wildlife Fund. 2003. Retrieved October 23,

2003, from http://www.worldwildlife.org/

Ottinger, John. Nation Geographic Society. 2003. Retrieved October 24, 2003,

from http://nationalgeographic.com/ng/kids