C4T final

The teacher I was assigned to Eric Langhorst from Liberty Missouri. He is an eighth grade history teacher who is very passionate in improving history through technology. He really uses technology in his classroom to help his students learn. His blog is full or videos, slideshows, podcasts, and other examples of lessons of how technology is helpful in the classroom. It's interesting because he doesn't really focus on the classroom, he focuses on just the subject history. He discusses how much more we can learn about history through social networks with other people around the world. Which I think would be really interesting to hear or read other countries point of views on history such as wars.
The first post I commented on was a slideshow on how social networking can benefit learning history in the classroom . Social Media and history classroom is a really great slide show that is very detailed on the many different ways to use social networking to enrich the curriculum. He uses social medias as examples such as; twitter, posts, flickr, youtube, and skype. Twitter is a way to get responses you never thought you would get in under 144 characters, with people around the world. Posts are great for direct messages, replies, discover great articles, share links, and ask people questions. Flickr is really great for history to be able to look up pictures in history. Youtube is great for the classroom to be able to look up videos and lesson plans that other teachers have created. Skype is also a great social tool for the whole classroom, because you can contribute and collaborate as a classroom. He had a quote on there "Facebook is for the people you once know, twitter is for the people you want to know" I thought that was interesting, because it is true you normally look up people on facebook that you have known in your past. Twitter is all about discovering new people and following people that you have never met and probably never will meet(celebrities).

The next post I viewed was Not your dads history class. This was another slide show of how technology can be useful in the classroom. He starts it off by asking the question, Why use technology in the history classroom? His answer was "It had the potential to make history more personal for your students. His slide show has four major points; communication, collaboration, content, and creation.Communication can start with google apps, help students, setup shop, and getting help from the experts.  Collaboration can start out by twitter, creating PLN's, debate, skype, be social, dream, tours, and the best practice is to share with other people. Content is to invite others into the classroom who have been through war and demonstrate how to use technology in the classroom. That way the content is appropriate for the students. Creation is when the students come into play...it's time for lights, camera, action. Let the students create and imagine how every they want!

I really encourage everyone to look at his blog, especially if your intersted in history. It gives great examples of how technology can and should be used in the classroom.