Chapter 9 Visualizing with Technologies

In this chapter it talks about technologies that help people visualize what they are thinking when they don't have much artistic ability. It focuses on five types of visualization tools: scientific, mathematical, digital cameras/phones, video and video modeling feedback. For the science part I can really see how this can help students. For example when models are created to represent things that can't normally me seen or when they are created for space concepts, such as my Scratch model of the moon phases. these visualizations are very important to teach concepts that can not physically be held in your hand. The book mentions that students learn a lot more when they are involved hands on with creating the models. Creating maps is another tool that is helpful for students to visualize the learning process. There are many sites that the book lists that are helpful for creating maps. Google Earth is a cool tool that is mentioned that I have used before. Google maps is another thing that I use often when I am going somewhere. I like most of the tools that Google offered. They are pretty user friendly and I think that students would not have much trouble using these tools to explore. I think that Mathematical tools are very important for students to visualize as well. Technology tools have helped me understand math, especially geometrical shapes and planes. I am sure that many students will benefit from the ideas mentioned in the book about using technology as manipulatives for math to make the learning more meaningful to them. I had never thought before of the graphing calculators as really being a helpful tool, but I did use mine often to visualize the graphical information in my textbooks. My favorite topic from this chapter is the visualization with digital cameras and mobile phones. These are probably the ones that I am most familiar with since I am always taking pictures and sending them either from my phone or by uploading them and emailing them to people mostly family. I know for a fact that video is fun for children and easy for them to create. My son has a camcorder and he makes the funniest videos all of the time. I need to teach him how to edit them and create title pages and such like I did for my digital booktalk. That was fairly easy and I am sure that students will love watching themselves on screen. This chapter has taught me much more than what I already knew about visualizing with technology. I will definitely use these techniques in my future classroom since I know from experience that students love using these tools and that they keep them engaged and assist with their learning.