Mission Impossible World Geography software provide students who may need extra practice or assistance on particular skills in order to master specific objectives. Mission Impossible World Geography software is mainly a drill and practice resource for students to practice recall and basic information pertaining to geography. It is basically a group of quizzes that are in the form of multiple choice, spatial relationships, identification, and scrambled letter problems. Information that students are quizzed upon consist of cities, capitals, states/provinces, bodies of water, deserts, mountains and famous sites. The software uses random questioning in order to ensure that students can not memorize the answers. If a student answers the question correctly, he or she advances in the mission to retrieve important information that would ultimately save the world from global warming.
I would recommend this software to an elementary teacher to integrate into his or her classroom. This particular software is a way to provide students with interactive computer-based training on geographical sites, facts, and information. In addition, it provides students the opportunity to enhance their knowledge with tutorials before they engage in the mission. The tutorials also helps students that may struggle along the way. It gives them a quick review of the information they need in order to complete the mission and advance in the game.
When a student looses interest in a particular topic or activity, they tend to become disruptive or not perform well when tested on the material. Incorporating Mission Impossible World Geography software into a lesson plan would enable the students to explore outside of the textbook which can sometimes bore students. Furthermore, students are able to work at their pace and achieve great success through actively taking control of their learning by advancing in the mission.
Although there are several positives to integrating Mission Impossible World Geography software into a lesson plan for use in the classroom, it does have it drawbacks. The program does not track students' progress or areas where they may have difficulty. Logs are only recorded for students who have high achievement levels and success in the mission. When a students answers incorrectly, the spy will either have minor setback or completely fail in the mission. This could discourage students from trying to progress in the mission. In addition, students who may already struggle may become even more frustrated in the process. Another negative fact about the software is that it does not provide students with the correct answer when they answer incorrectly which is necessary. Furthermore, the program does not allow students to save a mission to come back to at a later time, therefore, their work is lost.
I would recommend using Mission Impossible World Geography software as an additional activity instead of being a major part of a lesson plan. As long as it used for review, the game would be beneficial to the students with visual and auditory learning styles. It allows for students to hear the information and have a visual recall upon the future. The software is not a great resource for teachers who are looking for feedback based upon the knowledge of the students because the software does not keep track of the progress. For this software to be considered a major part of the lesson, it would need to have a better reporting system of the students' progress, give explanatory feedback when the answers are incorrect, and allow students to save their work to continue at a later date.
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Mission impossible world geography. Retrieved January 16, 2010 from Learning Services US website: http://www.learningservesus.com/home/ls2/page_2146_115/mission_possible_world_geography.html
Although Mission Impossible software may not be the best source of technology, it still adds that spice most children thrive on today regarding computers and technology. It's an alternative to the textbook or the traditional lecture. Kids desperately want to move away from this and get right into the heart of the lesson. Technology certainly does this for them and it encourages motivation and keeps them engaged. This software, although it has its pros and cons, it can still provide an added bonus of learning geography at some level, especially with elementary students.
There really is something to be said when children are actively learning. According to Edgar Dale's Cone of Learning, it is through the actual "doing" that we remember best.
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agexed/sae/ppt1/sld012.htm
As we introduce more technology into our classrooms, we can engage students to do so much more prior to higher education. Imagine a high school graduating class of web-site designers, program installers, electronic game designers, innovators for the future! Our eduactional system needs to change drastically by tapping into the imagination of students. They need to more hands on, doing experiments, presentations, delivering proposals, quite simply...doing what we do in the work place but at the appropriate level. But first, our school system needs updating. We desperately need to get away from the industrialized model of teaching. This was sufficient for past decades but our world has changed greatly. We need to encourage innovation, invention, creative intelligence, performance-based learning. Standardized testing needs serious revamping, too. These tests only expose one type of intelligence and we have ignored the creative intelligence, which is every bit as significant. The industrial revolution is over and the educational system that supported this movement is still being used today in a modern, technological environment.
http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
Michelle, I agree with you on the fact that standardized testing does not promote creativity or what some call "thinking outside the box." According to Nitko and Brookhart (2008), most standardized tests limit the ability of the teachers to develop lessons that are current or even relevant to the students or today's demands in the work force. Gabler and Schroeder (2003)explain that the use of technology within the classroom promotes critical thinking and creativity.
From my experience, my students are more willing to participate in a class activity or group assignment when they implement some form of technology into the completion of the project. I have used garageband software to allow student to create their own music to a poem they wrote for class. It is interesting to discover what they come up with, and it is a way for me to stress the importance of rhythm, an objective that that they are tested upon at the end of the year. So, it one lesson I'm able to make the information interesting and grab their attention as well as meeting the state objectives that are required for them to demonstrate a knowledge of at the end of the school year.
Another form of technology that I have used with my classes is for them to design a website for Julius Caesar. They have to pretend that they are the conspirators and trying to recruit more people for their cause. This meets the state objectives of persuasion and argument. I had some students that modernized the play by creating a rap song, using garageband.com, to try and stress the theme of the play and gain more recruits. Again, this helped students to become familiar with the play and the content.
I think that is what is most important, creating a way for students to express their knowledge of the subject through any means possible. I think technology allows for students to accomplish their goals and meet the requirements more effectively.
Gabler, I. & Schroeder, M. (2003). Constructivist methods for the secondary classroom. Pearson Education, Inc.: Boston.
Nitko, M. & Brookhart, S. (2008) Educational assessment of students. Pearson Education, Inc.: Upper Saddle River, NJ.
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