ELECTRONIC ATLASES

PLEASE VIEW VIDEO FOR INTRODUCTION

For many years we have searched the atlas books and scrutinized the globe with our magnifying glass, but with time and technology comes the invention of Electronic Atlases.

Electronic atlases are software support tool that is used for:

• Research espeacially in Geography.
• References
• Exploring such as hiking and travelling.

It can also be used by:

• Students
• Teachers
• Parents
• Travellers
• Professionals example meterologist, Journalist etc.

Electronic atlases can be used in the classroom by allowing students to view countries, mountains, rivers, oceans, and special territories around the world in a real life setting. Most of our students in Trinidad and Tobago may not have had the opportunity to travel to other countries, electronic atlases brings that experience to them. Students can use a sample product such as http://www.worldatlas.com/ to explore these places of interest and research. It is simple to use, just highlight the country of your choice, and it's location, name in English, local language, capital, national products and population appears at your finger tips.

There are many benefits of Electronic Atlases in education:

• CD-Rom Versions of these atlases are available.
• It's colour, text and mapping is very appealing to the eye which encourages motivation and enhances instruction in the classroom.
• They are interactive so students can explore, navigate and discover facts, which incorporates the constructivist approach of teaching.
• Some atlases even play national songs on request.
• Some sites also help teach geographic concepts by showing distance between points example http://www.mapquest.com/.
• It caters for different learning modalities such as visual, audio and kinestetic.
• Cost to use this software support tool is cheap.

There are minor hiccups of electronic atlases in Trinidad and Tobago Classrooms not all schools have fully equipped and functional computers to access this particular software. This serve as a major disadvantage for our students.

REFERENCES

Roblyer, M.D. (2006).Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching 4th Ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Higher Education.ver, New Jersey: Pearson Higher Education.

Hyperlink and sample screen Retrieved on March, 14, 2010. From http://www.worldatlas.com/

Hyperlink, Retrieved March, 14, 2010. From http://www.mapquest.com/

WORKSHEET AND PUZZLE GENERATORS

AUDIO RECORDED

Why not make teaching and learning exciting, easy and fun by using worksheet and puzzle generators? This is a software support tool that allows teachers, parents, professionals and students to produce exercises and games for student skill practice and can also be used for entertainment. This can be used for all subject areas such as Mathematics, Science, Vocabulary, and Social Studies just to name a few.

Worksheet Generators : Help teachers create practice exercises and test. This software support tool allow teachers to create worksheets that is relevant to their topic without having to search. These worksheets can be available with pictures and text inorder to reach students whose learning style is visual. After teaching a lesson, teachers can incorporate these worksheets by giving students to do, in order to assess their understanding of the lesson taught.






Puzzle Generator : Format and create crosswords, word search puzzles and similar game- like activities. This software support tool enhances spelling and language skills. It encourages individuals to think creatively and critically in order to enhance problem solving skills. There are puzzle activities that can be used from early childhood to adults. Teachers can adapt this strategy into their lesson plans by giving puzzles at the end of their lessons, for home work and as additional activities in the classroom. Students will enjoy these activities and be asking for more.

How does it work?

It prompts the teacher to enter questions and content of various types. The software then automatically formats the information into a puzzle or worksheet. The solutions are also automatically generated which make correction easier. Here are some examples that can be used to access sample products:

http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/crossword

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/

Advantages

- Easy to create and access.
- A variety of activities (crosswords, word search, etc.) which makes learning exciting and motivating for students.
-This software can be used for revision and testing.
-Depending on your topic there is existing content which makes it easy for you to select and saves you time on entering new information.
- Answers are also available at the end of puzzles and worksheets.

Disadvantages

-This software does not allow you to create large puzzles and worksheets.
- In some worksheets or puzzles generators deleting existing content for editing is not applicable. This may be an issue as most of these generators are foreign based, resulting in some of the content being culturally irrelevant to the students of Trinidad and Tobago.

References

Roblyer, M.D. (2006).Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching 4th Ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Higher Education.

Electronic Encyclopedias

No more of those heavy, dusty books at the library that is used for research and reference. With technology of the future we can access information easy,quick and affordable, with the click of a mouse. Electronic encyclopedias is the driving seat for vision 20/20.

Electronic encyclopedias is a software support tool that is used for research and reference. Electronic encyclopedias allow individuals to search for just about anything, such as politics, history, math, health, religion you just name it they have it. It can be used by students, teachers, and professionals.

These electronic encyclopedias have several strengths over books. It is reliable, consistent, easily accessible and is always up to date with current events. Users can search to locate one specific item or all references on a given topic. Instructors of the highest calibre can share their knowledge across the borders, allowing students to view at minimum cost. Although electronic encyclopedias may not be accessible to some it is still the number one source for information.


Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) and Encyclopedia Britanica (http://www.britannica.com/) are examples of electronic encyclopedia. These encyclopedias also provide effective teaching methodologies via integrated audio and video resources.

The following are youtube video links showing the application of electronic encyclopedias:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPBo4F_Cer0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qONnacvtCo&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY8otRh1QPc