Compare and Contrast Ideas: My Congress

My Congress is an iPad app that allows students to access up to date information on both locally and nationally elected government officials.

My Congress provides the opportunity for students to access news, videos, Open Congress profiles, and even the twitter feeds of their elected officials.  Such information will provide meaningful insight into the hot button issues affecting this country today such as global warming, the distribution of wealth, and the state of education reform.  Perhaps the coolest feature of the My Congress app is that it enables students to write to their chosen official.  This would provide a great opportunity for students to express their opinions and beliefs on certain major issues and how they think each situation can be improved.  This app also provides students with the opportunity to compare political tendencies and ideologies that have characterized congress throughout history with those that characterize it today.  What kind of legislation, if any, has been passed in the past to reform education in America and how is current legislation or proposed legislation the same or different?  There are, of course, some limitations when it comes to using this app in the classroom.  When it comes to political figures, information is often times skewed in whatever direction advances that figure's political beliefs or stances.  As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to discern truths from untruths.  

The My Congress app is free on the iPad!

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mycongress/id364897048?mt=8

History of Technology in Social Studies

I did my Powtoon on the introduction of educational television into American classrooms. Educational television is so critical for social studies, specifically, because it enables to travel through time and space to witness some of the most significant events in world history.

https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/emPef06tZ6X/sase518/

Share Ideas and Opinions: TED Talks

TED Talks provide some of the world's leading experts in their respective fields the opportunity to share their research, ideas, and opinions.  Speakers range from doctors investigating the causes of depression in animals to education theorists discussing the directions of educational reform.  These talks not only to provide us with new and exciting information, but also serve to challenge our preconceptions of the way things are.

Anyone with a computer or smart phone has access to TED Talks.  Viewing is free and can be done on either YouTube or at https://www.ted.com/talks.

TED Talks are a great example of sharing ideas and opinions because they allow unique insight into the minds and works of some of the world brightest and most innovative.  As a teacher I would use these videos to demonstrate several things, one of which is the fact that different subjects can be highly interrelated.  In fact, there is a TED Talk by a mathematician who, along with the famous Harvard cognitive psychologist, Steven Pinker, is attempting to explain historical trends through the use of mathematics.  I think a lot of times students have difficulty seeing the utility of one subject or another.  This video demonstrates that even if they're not interested in math as a stand alone subject, they can use it to better understand a subject they love, history.  These talks inspire great things among the people who watch them.  They keep us informed, challenge our beliefs, and force us to grow intellectually.

The only limitation of TED Talks is that they're likely only appropriate for secondary students (mainly high school).  Much of the information presented would likely go over the head of anyone younger.