What are personal digital assistants? How do you use them in the classroom?
Personal digital assistants can best be described as small computers that can be held in one's hand. There are different varieties of PDA's and some have more functions than others. They can be used in the classroom for their computer-like abilities. Students can make memos for future assignments, but most importantly, PDA's allow students to transfer files in several different ways to eachother and to a computer if necessary. Other useful programs can be downloaded for free or for a small amount of money that can help the student organize his/her work and see it in graph or chart form. Personal organization of important information that can be sent to others or a computer make PDA's seem very useful in the classroom.
Why do we use online survey tools? How does it help us in our classrooms? What are two good rules for writing good surveys in your opinion?
Online surveys are used to collect data about a number of things. They can be used to find out what people's opinions are on almost anything. These surveys are often used in marketing to find out what the public likes and wants more of or what they do not like. Students can create their own surveys, which incorporates many different decision making skills in how to create a good survey and also how to analyze the data they recieve from their survey. I think the two most important rules in writing a survey are avoiding bias and leading questions because the survey taker may not realize it, but the way the question is worded could ultimately affect their answer.
Conclusion:
This may sound silly, but I had heard the term PDA so many times and never understood what they really are. I had no idea until reading a recent article that they could be used in classrooms. PDA's in the classroom seem like a good idea to me because of the amount of organization that is at one's fingertips, and how easily data can be transfered from one person to another. Online surveys are another thing that I had never considered being used in a classroom. It took reading this chapter to realize the amount of higher-level thinking creating a survey requires. Both PDA's and online surveys seem beneifical for students in my opinion.
Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R., & Crismond, D. (2008). Meaningful Learning with
Technology (3rd ed.). Columbus, OH: Pearson.
Aimee,
ReplyDeleteI agree that one of the most important tools on the PDA's is the bluetooth feature that allows everyone to wirelessly share information with one another. It's a great way for students to help each other out and for teachers to receive assignments quickly and efficiently.
Cristy
I like your point, on how PDA's can transfer files to each other or to other computers. The way a survey question is worded, has a huge impact on the survey taker. I have took many surveys where I couldn't understand some of the words that it asked me, so I would just guess at the answer.
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ReplyDeleteI agree we should teach students to analyze data and make their own surveys without bias or leading questions.
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