Chapter 8 and 9

Teachers act as designers on and regular bases when the design lessons both with technology and when working with general lesson formats.  When teachers develop their abilities to design well and work well in their own designing structures, they begin to instruct better allowing for their students to learn on a higher level. 

Model car design is a lesson in which students design a model car.  This instructional can be used on multiple levels and allows for the teaching of technology application, but also with scientific and mathmaticial applications.  This allows student to interact with their lesson and manipulate different aspects not only of the design but in some formats the utilization as well.

Digital Storytelling is a genius way to tell processes, with the use of lots of visual aids and attention keeping devices.  This works would work well for instructionals on chemical, and biological pathways that are easily to learn visually and follow an almost story like porcess.

Math is a very challengine subject for many students and many benifit from the aid of visual assistants at understanding mathimatical concepts.  The use of graphing calculators in these is very benificial and is easy implemented in almost all schools due to the general presence of calcs.  As well simply allowing students to tinker with data sheets is also proven to be most beneficial.

It is possible for students to learn intirely from television, especially in cases of highly visual learning situations.  For instance in the application of sport plays or results from chemical or phyical actions.  However video instruction can be beneficial in almost all appllicatoins.

References: 

Jonassens, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M.,Grismond, D. (2008).  Meaningful
           learning with technology. Columbus: Pearson, Merrill Prentice Hall.

Gee principles (CH. 3)

Gee's three prinicples that i feel would be most important for educating are active, criticial learning principle, "psychosocial moratorium" principle, discovery principle. These are important for students to be excited about their own learning, one of the easiest but most challenging ways for this to take place is through allowing the students to discover things for themselves.  This allows even the most stubborn people to learn on the own terms. As well immersion is one my most stongly supported learning principles with the criticial learning model reflects well.  Part of this immersed discovery learning experience can be forced into reflection in an interesting way is through trial and error ("Psycosocial Moratorium" principle).

I would create a simulation of acceleration.  This would be handy with technology allowing me to set or adjust parameters for the study for my students.  As well as allowing me to make them able to modify certain feilds.  Such as allowing them to see the effects of wind resistance or tire rolling resistance in a car rolling down a slope.  A car with lower moving resistances would be able to accelerate at a greater rate than one which has them.

In conclusion i feel that Gee's principles are great though maybe overly simple.  They do provide a great reference to be sure that multiple ways of introducing material to students are tried and applied in the classroom.  As well technology applications used in this way to show effects and events the students can manipulate make such studies much easier to perform in the classroom as well as allowing student to manipulate more aspects of them.

References

Jonassens, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M.,Grismond, D. (2008).  Meaningful

           learning with technology. Columbus: Pearson, Merrill Prentice Hall.