Week 3 Assignment

          What I found most interesting about these videos, were that they really do challenge students to become better learners. Using Inspiration, allows students to have it all at their finger tips. Instead of having different programs for the maps and diagrams, it's already there and ready to go. One thing that really stuck out to me, was it didn't matter if you had a windows computer or a mac, because it would work with both. After you finish your work, it automatically transferred all the information onto a Google doc or Microsoft Office Word document. I would use Inspiration in the classroom because its main focus is on creating, communicating, and achieving more. It uses maps, diagrams, and presentation manager to help students advance their knowledge and understanding. It is easy to use, and students are able to jump start on projects. Webspiration Classroom helps students writing and thinking skills. It also helps students evaluate and synthesize information, improve performance, and helps students write effectively. There is also collaboration with the teacher and student, and the teacher is able to give feedback and insight into the students work. You can use Webspiration anywhere there is Internet because its a 24/7 service and assignments are automatically saved and always secure.

         After reading chapter 6 and thinking about different writing techniques, I think that creative writing techniques would flow well with the Inspiration and Webspiration. Also, collaborative learning would be very useful because it give the students the ability to receive feedback from their teachers and other students. Through using Webspiration classroom, students can do group projects, and are able to share documents which allows them to give responses to different students. I can always remember in my English classes, when we had to get one classmate to review our paper. Technology tools like the Inspiration, allows teachers to see their students work at any time, and they can post their feedback and insight to help the student along the way.  In my speech classes, I always had to give a speech and presentation on a certain skill, or teach the rest of the class something new. I had to do lots of research, so I knew what I was talking about, but I never felt fully confident in what I was speaking about. Once I did my presentation and students asked questions at the end, I wasn't hesitant to answer them because I knew what they were about. I think this happens in a lot of students cases.

          Using Inspiration and Webspiration Classroom, would be beneficial to use in a educational setting. It not only furthers students knowledge and understanding, but helps their writing and thinking skills.When I become a teacher, I will probably look into using these techniques.  I think in today's society, that we need to adapt to this new form of learning. These teaching techniques are very easy to learn, and I think through repetition, it can be a success in every teachers classroom.
        

Inspiration Software. (2011). Inspiration videos and webcasts for using visual learning in your classroom.

         [Video file]. Retrieved from  http://www.inspiration.com/videos/Inspiration

Inspiration software. (2011). Webspiration classroom service improve writing and thinking skills.

        [Video file].  Retrieved from http://www.inspiration.com/webspirationclassroom


Jonassen, D., Howland, J., Marra, R. M. & Grismond, D. (2008)
         Pearson, Merrill/Prentice Hall, 3rd edition