Personal+Digital+Assistant

By Kevin Curtis

Introduction
According to the National Council for the Social Studies, the “primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens” (Crowe, 2006, p. 4). As multimedia and technological tools become more accessible in Western society, it is absolutely imperative that teachers carefully consider the digital native students whom they are charged with the responsibility of educating. As digital immigrants, Educators need to be fully aware of students who can easily manipulate technological tools like Personal Digital Assistants and Virtual Field Trips. (21st Century Schools, 2009). To become and remain informed citizens, students must have access to information and they must be able to understand and evaluate the accessed information as well. This can begin and continue in all levels of the classroom through the use of multimedia technology. Teachers can measure an increase in student motivation through the successful implementation of multimedia tools like Personal Digital Assistants, which enhance instruction and make learning a more engaging experience.

Virtual Tours
Another powerful tool is the use of Virtual Field Trips (VFTs). Teachers can assign students Virtual Field Trips on pre-determined Websites so students can reap a more realistic feel for historical events and material (Planet in Action, 2009). Students can explore fascinating Websites like those provided by The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (Smithsonian Institute, 2009) and Google (GoogleEarth, 2009) to engage themselves in panoramic history. Virtual Field Trips provide students with access to required core material without the drudgery of read and respond learning. In addition, Virtual Tours like AR Sights Augmented (2009) can bring in-the-round images of natural and man-made wonders to the desk of the learner. This is an amazing tool that will augment any lesson with holographic images. Each VFT activity is important for learners as they engage themselves in learning why history is important to them on a more personal level. With that in mind and the sheer fascinating nature of the tours, history teachers would be wise to use VFTs as an integral part of their lesson plans as they provide learners with the opportunity to see history unfold before their very eyes while helping them become responsible and informed citizens.

Virtual Field Trips (VFT) provides students the opportunity to view incredible 3-D images and learn about the history of the world and science as well as many cross-curriculum tours. The ease of navigating through VFT’s is one of its best features as students can stop and view a topic of interest. Many VFT’s go beyond the scope of any one class, yet are fully invested in both past and current events. Virtual Tours will fascinate the learner and capture the attention of viewers of any age. VFT’s allow students to fly around the world and tour historical cities as well as natural wonders of the world. Many sites give students the opportunity to play games as they increase their knowledge and experience around the globe.

In addition, Virtual Tours can bring in-the-round images of natural and man-made wonders to the desk of the learner. This is an amazing tool that will augment any lesson with holographic images. Each VFT activity is important for learners, especially those at all levels of understanding, to explore and research answers to common questions, with particular attention to the question of “When will I ever use this (sic)?” So with that in mind and because of the sheer fascinating nature of the tours, teachers would be wise to use VFTs as an integral part of their lesson plans. The tours will answer the age-old questions of “why is (insert curriculum) important,” and “when will I ever use this in my life?” Finally, the VFT’s provide learners, usually at no cost, with the opportunity to see academia unfold before their very eyes as well as how it is helping them become responsible and informed citizens.

Personal Digital Assistants
Personal Digital Assistant devices are widely used by the up and coming digital native students. PDA’s are hand-held, multi-tasking devices that can be used by teachers to both send and receive assignments. A fundamental principle of learning is through experiences. In using PDAs, students can instantly obtain information the teacher deems important and then subsequently the student can demonstrate a certain level of mastery. Students can use PDAs for receiving assignments while having the ability to report back to the teacher. As young students are becoming more and more reliable on PDAs for their basic communication needs, teacher’s can use the opportunity to encourage students to use those same PDAs to read needed Web based material, record assignments due dates either by voice or touch screen, and even download and upload tests and assignments, to name a few (Wohlwend, 2009). Students will be more likely to read assignments on their PDA’s as well as watch academic video as well as record and replay Teacher presentations and lesson plans. PDA’s are the perfect complement to Simulations, Virtual Tours, Podcasts, E-Assessments and Audience Response Systems. Teachers who use PDA’s as instructional and assessment tools will likely experience an increase in academic activity from their students as the 21st century classroom becomes a reality.

Conclusion
The use of PDAs and Virtual Field Trips improves the collaborative community that needs to be developed as teachers find ways to connect core material to current event situations. PDAs allow learning to occur in a best-practice manner as both teacher and students have a mutual high level of respect not only for each other’s generational perspective, but also for the need to use tools familiar to both (Dearnley, McKnight and Morris, 2004). Virtual Field Trips are an engaging tool to teach additional material to the new digital learner. The Virtual Tour provides a more real-to-life experience for the learner as well as supplementing core material teachers will find engaging for students. The use of Personal Digital Assistants and Virtual Field Trips also give students a more cutting-edge delivery system for reporting and receiving assignments. Because of the digital native nature of young learners, teachers would be wise to use VFTs and PDAs in their classrooms (Anyanwu, 2003). As they do, teachers will discover an increase in student activity and performance for assignments and tests. As a whole, teachers who use these multimedia tools will foster a more collaborative environment that provides students the opportunity to discover historical information and how that information relates to them and their environment (Edutopia, 2009).

References
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Crowe, A. (2006). Technology, citizenship, and the Social Studies classroom: Education for democracy in a technological age. //International Journal of Social Education, 21//(1), 111-121. Retrieved March 20th, 2011 from http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/3a /f2/23.pdf

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Edutopia. “Ten top tips for teaching with new media.” Retrieved March 21, 2011 from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">GoogleEarth. “Land on the moon in Google earth.” Retrieved on March 20, 2011 from [|http://earth.google].com/moon

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Planetinaction. “It’s Your Playground.” Retrieved on March 22, 2011 from [|http://planetinaction.com]

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Ray, B.B., McFadden, A., Patterson, S., & Wright, V. (2001). Personal digital assistants in the middle school classroom: Lesson in Hand. Retrieved March 19, 2011 from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Robbins, M. (2008, October). Virtual field trips in the elementary classroom. Retrieved March 20, 2011 from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Smithsonian Institution. “Panoramic Virtual Tour.” Retrieved on March 20, 2011 from []

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 200%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Wohlwend, K. (2009). Early adopters: Playing new literacy’s and pretending new technologies in print-centric classrooms. //Journal of Early Childhood Literacy, 9(2), 115 – 13.// Retrieved March 22, 2011 from []