Google Earth
Gamification
With the introduction of technology into adolescents' lives, there is less time available for children to spend reading. According to the authors, in age groups from 5 to 17, more time is spent reading material of all sorts online rather than reading from books (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 103). Being as though children are spending so much time reading online, it might be time for students to switch from a plethora of heavy books and textbooks to an e-reader. e-Readers are devices similar to tablets that can display e-books, digital copies of a (usually) tangible book (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 104). Personally, I love e-readers. My mother has one, and since she bought one, her reading has increased. She has told me how much easier it makes reading once you have all the books you could want on one single device. I think it would be great to advocate student boards to increase the use of e-readers in classrooms. Not only would it be less for a student to carry (no more freshman turtles with their gigantic backpack "homes" full of textbooks!), it might even encourage reading for fun in students.
Google Earth is a tool that allows viewers to see pictures of nearly everywhere on Earth from the monitor of their computer, phone, tablet, laptop, and more (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 166). The main reason I chose this topic was that it hold a very entertaining part in my high school life: Global Studies with Mr. Grinstead. Not only was this teacher goofy, dramatic, and caring, he made sure his students had fun while they were learning. Every few weeks, each class would hold a competition between groups divided among the class, and we would play "The Google Earth Challenge." Teams would choose other groups and ask them to try and pinpoint various exotic and unusual locations in a short amount of time using Google Earth. After that, each student would mark down the location on a packet that displayed many maps of regions on Earth. I learned so much about geography and how that affected societies at large, and I believe it was due to having so much interest in this game and software. I think that Google Earth is a fun and engaging tool that should be used in more classrooms. Even in a science class, teachers could show students latitude and longitude, and a location's coordinates affect on climate.
The final concept I would like to look at is Gamification. Described by the authors as a way to introduce gaming like qualities into situations that would not normally be considered appropriate for games (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 169). Gamification sounds interesting and beneficial in theory, but it may not work with all classrooms and with certain students. In a gamification method that pits teams or individual against each other, students who are not necessarily competitive or outgoing may not be suited well to the competitive environment. Additionally, tougher subjects such as advance math subjects may cause a trivia-like game to last longer and be less beneficial to students than a typical review day. However, I do see the benefits of gamification. Like stated previously, my teacher would have me and my classmates participate in "The Google Earth Challenge," which can be seen as a style of gamification. Although I would describe myself as a quieter and less competitive individual, I enjoyed those classes a lot and learned from the game, so it was an effective method of gamification. Therefore, I think that in the right environment with students willing to participate, gamification could surely increase engagement and involvement with learning in classrooms.
Resources
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Steuber, S. (2016, February 19). Google Earth Saves the Day! Created with http://www.bitstripsforschools.com/
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