Goal: To maximize student learning in a limited school year
Technology should be used to:
1. Increase the participation of students in the lesson.
2. Allow students to learn at their own pace.
3. Enable active collaboration between students.
4. Allow students to verify their background knowledge.
5. Collect and analyze data accurately and precisely.
6. Make objective conclusions in the post-experimental period.
7. Deepen the understanding of the content.
8. Provide alternate means of student learning.
9. Constructively criticize one’s own knowledge as well as review peers’ understanding.
10. Differentiate instruction, with a special emphasis on EAL learners.
11. Evaluate teacher’s performance in the classroom.
The following are some of the ways in which the teachers could provide innovative learning opportunities for their students.
- Teachers should design SMART Board lessons using ‘Notebook’ software.
- Teachers should lead twitter discussions on the SMART Board and students will respond and view their peers’ views on a given topic/question.
- Students should be allowed to Skype to brainstorm ideas for a science experiment.
- Students should be allowed to blog to criticize their own understanding of a concept.
- Students should be allowed to develop an online inventory that lists all their favorite learning tools, such as concept maps, puzzles, flowcharts etc.
- Students should be allowed to take online surveys to evaluate their teacher’s performance.
10 comments:
Interesting ideas on how to implement technology. I have a smartboard in my classroom but have NO idea how to use it. It is hung high on the wall and is used as a screen for my projector.
Have you tried the Twitter or Skype approach? Do your students have Twitter and Skype accounts?
Thank you, Andrea. You can use the SMART Board effectively if you could install the 'Notebook' software on your p.c. I hope the IT teacher can offer you some help there. There are also some 'smart' videos on YouTube and also at www.blossomlearning.com. Well, my students have been using Skype for over a couple of years now. Recently, my eighth graders have used it to plan their science fair projects. Some of them do have Twitter accounts and we haven't tweeted yet in class. That will be one of my tech goals for the fall.
I enjoyed reading your guidelines and implementation plan. I was wondering if you could explain a little more about how students used Skype to plan their science fair projects. Thanks!
Thank you for your comments, Taylor. Well, my eighth graders worked in pairs for their science fair project and they had a Skype chat to brainstorm ideas for their research questions. They have then talked about writing the abstract. Some of them even analyzed data using Skype and finally, they have rehearsed their project presentation. As a result, we didn't have to spend much of our class time on the science fair project.
Vee, I really like your Skype idea. Having students collaborate on a project using Skype is wonderful. They can get together without having to get ride to someone's home or worry about being out too late. I would think parents would be very supportive of this.
Absolutely, Carol. I have also read that teachers' are using Skype chat to create virtual field trips for their students' without leaving their classrooms, and it's free.
Wait, did you say IT Teacher? Ahahahahaha. Yeah we don't have one of those. I figured out how to hook up the SmartBoard and download the necessary drivers onto my personal laptop. They were all donated from another school that was upgrading to Promethian boards. So we have 7 SB's but only mine is operational. I loaded the Notebook software but found it neither very useful or intuitive. I tend to learn best by doing, and since no one else in my building has used one, this has been a lot of trial and error on my part. I have primarily used the SB to have students work out problems on the board and make notes more interactive. It would be nice to figure out some better ways to utilize this next year.
I agree with your technology ideas entirely. I am often amazed with the expertise with which students of today use their electronic gadgets. I am taking this course mainly to be in sync with today`s world.As educators we should ensure the optimum and sensible use of technology by students. We do use smartboard in our school.
I like #8: to provide an alternate means of student learning. One of the greatest benefits of using technology is that it makes learning fun for the kids.
Thank you, Jayanthi and Danielle. By sharing our technology experiences, I hope we all could try something new this fall, which could also be pedagogically worthwhile for all our students.
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