Problem Scenario #1

I think the most valuable thing the students will take away from this lesson is truly understanding the effects of their pollution on the environment. It can become easy when reading directly from the textbook to forget that what we are reading about is directly affecting where we live and not just the area mentioned in the textbook. I believe by allowing the children to use computers, they are able to explore not only the area in which they live in, but areas around the world, taking into consideration factors such as climate or population and seeing how pollution is dependent on those as well as resource depletion. For this project, I believe Amy should facilitate for her class to choose certain regions of the world to explore. She could go so far as to link her classroom to another class around the world. They could explore what the current situation is in their classrooms, schools, and communities is as far as pollution is concerned. Then, they could give each other options on how to fix it or programs which may work for their schools and communities. These could be communicated on programs such as skype and twitter, and students could also use programs such as glogster to create posters and presentations to show how they are doing the programs and what could be done differently, etc.
I chose to use these technologies because I believe each one provides a unique way for students to express individuality in projects, as well as communicate simply and effectively to people in other areas and in their classrooms. Using Twitter, the students could post in real time what projects they were doing and where it was located at. They could give minute by minute postings on how well the projects were going and if any of their efforts in trying to fix pollution and resource depletion was working. They could also easily share with others at their school ways in which they could get involved or how they can help make the project an even greater success. Using Skype, students could communicate with other classrooms around the world or around the country who are interested in doing the same project. They could share ideas, share what worked or didn't work, or even show the other class their project in action as it is really happening. I also think Glogster would be effective for the students to use because they could show other schools or their own schools and community how this project worked through these online posters and links. I believe it truly helps with involvement when people can see their efforts or money is truly going to something that will better not only them individually but the community and future generations as a whole. I believe the most important part of the lesson is for children to understand how much of an impact they have on the environment. By seeing or being in contact with people around the world or the country may make them realize even more that if we all work together and do our part, which we can see with the use of technology, things can change for the better like they want. It also teaches the children how the processes are also interrelated.