Elluminate Brainstorming

Although Elluminate Live is a great instructional tool, I would have to take several factors into consideration if I plan to use if to conduct a lesson. I would have to consider the accessibility of the hardware by my students as well as whether the demographics of my enrollment would benefit from the program's purpose. I have a considerable number of hands on learners who signed up for my class just to have a chance to learn in that manner. Actually being able to touch the materials and tools increases their chances of retaining the knowledge of the program. I would also have to consider my learning environment. Because my classroom is a huge industrial type environment, it would be difficult to introduce the hardware and software into that type of environment. Although Media Center time could be set aside to conduct the lesson, I believe you begin to comprise the purpose of the CTE classes.

Elluminate Live could be used to introduce individual subject areas at the very beginning of the lesson. In the case of construction safety, employability skills and communication skills, Elluminate Live could be used to present PowerPoint presentations discussing those subject matters versus having the students read from the book. But I have found in my subject area in particular, that once you have made the transition from lecture instruction to demonstration instruction, that it becomes difficult to settle the students back into a lecture mindset. Once I make that transition, I have chosen to use more of a cooperative learning approach in combination with the demonstration instruction to introduce another subject matter. I beleive Elluminate can best be used in my classroom at the very beginning of the school year.