Virtual Games

over the years I have been very wishy washy in regards to virtual games for children. I need to remind myself that there are different kinds of games out there and some are very educational. It is one thing to use a virtual game that helps with spelling or other areas of educational development compared to the video games that have you shooting and killing people/animals/aliens. I think that too many kids sit in front of their PS3 and shoot/kill in the virtual world that they are not realizing the difference between the technology and real life.

Where I work I do not have computers or any technology in my classroom. there are times that I really enjoy that and other times when I wish I had a computer for them to work on. Seeing the types of educational virtual games available I do think that they can be helpful for some students, especially those that have a hard time listening or paying attention to some one just talk. This is a way for them to become more interactive with their educational development. I feel that if it takes a virtual game to help a child understand or learn something then that is an option we need to have available for them. After all we as teacher will do anything we can to help better a students chance to learn.

Augmented Reality

While watching some of the youtube videos I was quite shocked at the 3D forms off the computer screen. The entire time I was watching the youtube video I could not help but think about how useful that could be in the automotive world or in advertising. Doing augmented reality in a preschool classroom is a very difficult task. I would love to see this put to use in a geography class though. To show the difference in other countries and how their land is either similar or different. There is so much that you can do with with technology. It does not surprise me that over the years we have come up with something like augmented reality.