Summary for C4T 1

The first blog I read by Jen Deyenberg was about a video game on WII called Endless Ocean 2: Blue World (Adventures of the Deep in the UK). She talked about how she uses this video game to help teach her 5th grade class about the wetlands. She says how the game can be used to study measurements, ecosystems, food web, history, and a comparison of freshwater vs. saltwater. The game doesn’t use real locations, but the places used are real in that the animals, context, and ecosystem fit with the Aegean Sea. One thing I learned from her blog was that she noted polar bears and penguins do not live together and this is a common misconception. She explains how the game portrays this and it is a great game to use in the classroom environment.

The second blog I read by Jen Deyenberg was very interesting. It was titled Using Twitter in the Classroom. She talked about how she uses Twitter in the classroom. This seems crazy because everyone believes Twitter is just something you follow famous people on, which is exactly what I use my Twitter for. She has been able to connect with teachers all over the world through Twitter. Once she met the teachers on Twitter, they were able to connect their classrooms through Skype. She says Twitter “created an audience for their projects”. Because I only used Twitter to follow famous people, I’m glad to know I can use it for more practical things. I really enjoyed reading Ms. Jen Deyenberg’s blogs!