Digital Blog Post C

    The first topic I would like to reflect on is Simulation Games. I personally believe that simulation games are one of the best uses of technology in the classroom.  Simulation games can be used in a variety of different ways. One of my favorite uses for simulation games is in history. There are many games currently available that allow players to explore history either the way it happened or by changing elements to see different possible outcomes. These games make subjects that students often find boring and unrelatable fun and interesting. The down side to simulation games, mainly in history, is that they are not entirely accurate and students must be taught to see the difference between the game and what actually happened.

   
    The second topic I would like to reflect on is the topic of conducting effective searching with students. More often then not high school and college students use google to look for educational information and will only use the top five websites they see. Students are very rarely taught how to evaluate the website for quality. After reflecting on this I determined that students are not taught how to evaluate websites because of a lack of communication among teachers. Elementary teachers say kids are too young while middle school teachers say it is the technology teachers job while the technology teacher says it is the english teachers job and by high school they're already expected to know how to do it. However, in all of this arguing, no one is actually teaching students how to evaluate websites.  The truth is, all teachers should stress this subject in all grades, even in college.

    The third topic I would like to reflect on is the use of Search Education. When I first read about the website in the book I believed it was a part of google used to assist teachers with find lesson plans and activities for all subjects. I checked out the website and found that instead of having all subjects, Search Education provided education on how to teach students to search the internet properly. Search Education has the possibility to be one of the best teaching resources I have come across. With Search Education you can select the specific area and level you are looking for and google will provide you with a great lesson plan for it. Search Education also offers daily challenges for students and even has lessons for teachers so that all teachers can master internet searches before teacher their students.


References:

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.

 Paxton, S. (2016, February 21). Simulation Games. Retrieved February 21, 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjKWRU7ww8A 

 Search Education – Google. (n.d.). Retrieved February 21, 2016, from http://www.google.com/intl/enus/insidesearch/searcheducation/index.html