Activity 7: The value of available resources

My school may not have a wide variety of resources but it has sufficient to enhance teaching and learning. At my school we have access to laptops, projector, printer, document camera and stereo system.
 Our laptops make it easy for us access data from all over the world through internet search. We can use the few laptops, along with the few projectors to project data for the whole class. The laptops and projectors can be used for lessons and to demonstrate skills to students.
We can use the few document cameras to project information from text that might not be available to the students. We can also use the document cameras to project data that was not available in digital form to classes.This will ensure that all students have access to data. The document cameras can be moved easily so teachers do not necessary need to go to the computer labs to use them.
The stereo system helps students to not only listen but it can be connected to the laptops while images are projected so students can hear as well as see what is happening on the projector. The few printers helps to make worksheets, handouts etc. available to students who might not have laptops of their own.

6C: The Value of Spreadsheets for Social Studies teaching

Spreadsheets are frequently use in the teaching and learning of Social Studies. Data from surveys are generally put into graphs, charts and tables using spreadsheet by educators to help students analyze data from the survey, draw conclusions and make recommendations based on the survey.
Educators also use spreadsheets to record students marks and keep track of students marks.
Social Studies students are also expected to construct charts, graphs and tables from their own survey. Form  5 students are expected to do a research project as part of their school based assessment for their external exam. Students can use the spreadsheet to tally data from the research. If done correctly this can ensure accuracy.They are also expected to construct graphs, charts and table from  the data collected. These diagrams are generally checked for accuracy.The spreadsheet will help in this regard. Students are also expected to do their own analysis of the data presented, draw conclusions and make recommendations

6B: The Value of Office Software for the Social Studies Teacher

Like the teacher in the article ' Teaching History with Technology', I have found that incorporating office software in the classroom has great value for teaching and learning. Some of the  office software that are available for teaching and learning are Microsoft Word, Excel, Power Point and Publisher.
Microsoft Word can be used in the classroom to assist students with the writing and editing of their letters, essays etc, for keeping notes, to do worksheet and assessment exercises.
Students can use Excel for the drawing of their graphs, charts and tables to demonstrate data from their surveys for their research projects.
 Social Studies students and teachers generally have to make presentations. Power Point can make presentations more manageable and appealing to the audience.
Publisher is another office software that students and teachers have at their disposal. This they can be  used to create family tree, brochures, bookmarks and newsletters.

Module 5: Activity 5A Exploring Websites Resources

This course has helped me to discover  sites that I did not know exist before, sites that I find to be useful for the teaching and learning of Social Studies. Many of these sites are more content based but I have found a few like: http://caribbean.notesmaster.com/notes/syllabus/viewer and http://www.caribbeanelections.com/education/oecs.asp. to be very useful. They contain notes, syllabus ,lesson plans resource for teachers, activities and have suggestions for related links and other resource materials. I have found that some even have connection to social networks such as facebook and twitter. I have also found that many useful websites are free.
I have found though that sites in Social Studies for upper secondary students are limited. Although I found useful sites for Social Studies I have found that those that are Caribbean specific are limited.
The evaluation criteria helps me to be more selective about the ones that are most suitable to include in my lessons. My counterpart in Social Studies is very happy when I share them with him. He has been finding them very useful too.

6A: The value of using ICT to promote writing in Social Studies

Social Studies students are expected to do a lot of writing. They must write notes and are often expected to write essays. I have found that writing has always been a problem for Social Studies students. They struggle in areas such as expression and paragraphing. ICT can be very valuable  for Social Studies students.
 Many Social Studies students do not even know how to begin their essays. Teachers can develop worksheets that give a plan or outline that students can use as a guide when writing their essays. With practice students will be able to create their own outline for their writing.
Exercises such as the 'example jumbled text ' can help students to organize ideas. Students often have very good ideas for their writings but these ideas are sometimes all over the place. An exercise like this will help students to place their ideas in the appropriate paragraphs. Students will learn how to group their ideas.
ICT worksheets will not help students place their ideas in the appropriate paragraphs but will also help them to place their ideas in the correct order in the paragraphs.

Activity 3: Reviewing Educational Software

This activity was quite enlightening. I realized that you just cannot select and use a educational software because it is  available or because others are using it. Like websites you need to carefully review and evaluate educational software before you select them for use in the classroom. You need to look at factors such as the purpose and layout of the software. Is it easy to install and navigate? Is the language clear and easy to understand? What about cost? Would the users be able to afford it? I was pleased to be able to gain information on how to evaluate software. This put me be in a better position to select and recommend useful software to educators.

Activity: Experiencing Educational Software

I must admit that I do not often use educational software in my teaching but this course has reminded me how useful they can be to teaching and learning. Many of them can be used by both students and teachers in the classroom as they are age and ability appropriate and can also be easy to navigate. They can make learning easier and help students to master skills that they are struggling to develop. They can also make learning more exciting. Some are not difficult to obtain since they are free to down load from the internet.
I realize that they should not be used sorely as a teaching tool but should be used when they can enhance and support teaching. Many students already love using the computer(I know those  at my school love do), therefore it will be useful to have them use educational software to help them develop and master skills that they need to. I will be recommending some of those I have seen posted in this programme to my teachers.