Hi, I'm Sasha and I'm from Australia, I should probably say G'day to keep up with the sterotype! I'm currently on an exchange with CSUSM for one semester with the study abroad program.
I'm from the University of Newcastle http://www.newcastle.edu.au studying a Bachelor or Teaching (secondary) Bachelor of Arts. For those who don't know what secondary education is in Australia it is classified as high school ranging from years 7-12. I'm majoring in History specifically Ancient History as an elective for year 11 and 12 students with minors in Sociology and Religion which allows me to teach the subjects society and culture and studies of religion which are also electives for 11 and 12 students.
The classes I'm taking at CSUSM this semester are two education (364, 422) subjects and two sociology subjects (311, 313) so far in all they all seem really interesting and I'm excited to get a look at the way teachers are taught in America compared to how teachers are educated and trained in Australia. Eventually after finishing my degree in Australia and getting some experience I would like to work overseas as a teacher and I'm hoping my semester abroad will aid this goal.
Being on exchange, I've found I use technology a lot! I use it to skype family and friends back home and stay in touch with them, to connect with new friends in America-I even managed to get an American number for my 'mobile' or cell phones as I've found the Americans like to say. I use technology to find information such as timetables, locations of shops, gyms and even just to google some of the things I'm not sure of if we don't have back 'down-under'. Technology allows me to document my trip via videos and photos, my instagram app is definitely getting a work out of all the exciting things I've manage to find, see and do in America so far plus it helps to make all the people back home jealous of this crazy adventure I'm on.
I've seen technology used in some interesting ways in schools in Australia, I can't speak for American schools since I haven't been to any but hopefully you'll be interested in learning all about technology and how teachers utilse (utilize you Americans with your Z's) this to aid in the education of students. A smart board is one of the most popular and new types of technology currently being used in Australia. It's not just for school students but also for university students. A smart board is a giant computer with touch screen around the size of a of the projector screen but its interactive. The teacher has control of it as well as students being able to come up and use it to match up mixed tiles for an exercise or write there name with a touch screen pen, double tap for games. The smartboards in Australia can also be used to play videos, movies, go on the internet but it is all done in one hence the name Smartboard.
I have already covered this a little but from this class I really want to gain an insight in how to utilize technology in the classroom in an exciting and innovative way. As well as seeing the ways in which America use technology to help educate students.
Something I would like you to know about myself is that I don't have a pet kangaroo.
