XO computers

I have been observing at Epic Elementary School this summer for a class. For my class, I have to observe the difference between an urban school and a suburban school based on economic and community differences. While there I have noticed that the school's resources is not quite where it should be. I have taken note of many things that need to be updated. One thing I have noticed and am quite proud of for the school is the fact that their students use XO computers.
Many of you might have heard of this the same way I did. I have seen commercials where this place sends laptops to children around the world in countries that are underdeveloped. But come to find out, they can also be provided to schools in America through grants. Epic got a grant last year to purchase these laptops for each child Kindergarten through Fifth grade. The children use the computers in class and at home for personal use. They get to keep the computer forever.
While I was observing at Epic the teachers used the computers to upload activities and games for their students. XO has this software so that teachers can upload whatever academic topic they may be studying and the computer will turn it into an activity for the students to do. The teachers said they used this in the classroom and out of the classroom as homework.The students love using the computers so it is a fun way for them to review.
The computers also have wireless capabilities, so that if the user is somewhere that gets wifi, the students can get online to do research or just surf the web. This is a great thing for schools such as Epic that do not have the ability on their own to provide such computers for their students.
I looked up the information for this blog from www.laptop.org. This organization is something I want to get involved in because I have seen first hand the impact it has on a classroom.

first technology post

This is my first post required for my Educational Technology class.



I choose to talk about how using youtube as a resource to access videos for your class. Prior to being at UAB, I had not seen youtube used for an educational purpose. Now, most of my classes use the site to pull up and show videos that pertain to the topic we are talking about in class.
The site is practically dummy proof. You don't have to login or sign up to use youtube. All you have to do is go to youtube.com and search for whatever topic you are looking for. The search engine will pull up several pages of options for the user to sort through and find the video they are looking for. There are videos for all ages on the site and will be usable in our class rooms.

Not Sure

I'm sort of new to this whole blogging thing. I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I had to create this site for my education and technology class.

I guess I could tell you about myself. I'm pretty much an open book, what you see is what you get for the most part. I'm an energetic, friendly, out-going person. I love people and community. I am currently at UAB to finish my school in education. I am driven to finish as soon as possible in order to get into a class room and teach. Just this spring I started back to school after two years off and have found it an incredible adjustment to get back into the swing of things. I am taking 18 hours this summer in order to load up as much as possible and finish sooner. Uab doesn't seem to want to get me out as fast I'd like, but I know I will get there soon enough.
Until I'm done with school I will be randomly babysitting in order to help pay some bills. Sounds exciting doesn't it. I'll bet you're jealous...


I suppose you should be looking forward to more posts as the weeks go by. Maybe I'll get the hang of this blogg thing.