Virtual Reality

I think that virtual reality can really help in education today. One its taking something students enjoy in gaming and turning it into educational purposes. It also can give them a real life situation that they can get meaning from and also learn from it.

We already know it can help in flight simulators helping pilots learn how to fly. It also is successful teaching students how to drive. One Of the main fields though that it can help is in the medical field. At first it was said that virtual reality would never be able to be used in the medical field. However, it has shown to be effective in certain areas and is now being used more frequently. This can give medical students a 3D image that can effectively help them learn.

It also would be great for virtual reality field trips, ones that students would never be able to go on otherwise. In addition, it can be used for math and science. There are critics out there though that don't agree with virtual reality in education. They say students can't effectively learn from it. Overall, I feel that it gives students motivation in your classroom to learn because they enjoy using it and get a lot of meaning out of it.

What Teachers Will Need To Know

In the next five years teachers will slowly need to learn how to teach online classes. In our school this week they offered to all staff the possibility of teaching online classes for extra pay. We have a total of 75 students who are taking strictly online courses. I also think teachers are going to have to learn a vast amount of new technology. With the world evolving around new technology, students will need to learn it to succeed when entering the work force and higher education. If they don't switch to it, their students will be way behind compared to the other students who have learned it and used it. This will give them a huge advantage.

In addition, I think all teachers will have to learn how to develop and maintain Web pages for educational purposes. By doing this it will give students a huge advantage. If they miss school they know what their assignment is. If they forget what their homeworkwas, they can look it up on the Web site. Furthermore, it will give parents a huge advantage looking over their child to make sure they are keeping up with their work. Also their are ways for parents to be able see their childs grades. This would also be benificial so if their child is struggling they can help them or get them help.

I also think teachers will have to be trained to adabt to use video and podcast in their lessons.

Hypermedia

The most important thing about using the Web, is students and teachers must know whether a site is reliable or not. Many of my students come into the media center and want the fastest and easiest information they can find. Whether this information is right or wrong they take the first resource they come across. They one need to find out who wrote the source and then determine whether it was written as an opinion or for educational purposes. They also need to look for grammer and typo mistakes. In addition, they should check the copyright date to see if the information they have come across is current. Another important aspect, is to check the site for advertisements. You should also check the site to see where the author abtained their information and see if the site has been checked over by a qualified educator to make sure the information is correct. All this can help students and teachers determine whether or not a site is realiable.

To make sure teachers and students know this information, I would first teach a class on finding quality information to the teachers. I would also teach this class to 7th grade English classes, so I cover all the students coming into the school each year. I would also put up posters in the media center that would covers the basics of finding quality information on the Web.