Arethebene)itsworththetime

invested?

bene)itthelearningofmystudents?

bene)itthefunctionofmyclassroom?

streamlinemyresponsibilities?

‐contributetomycurriculum?‐enrichthecontent?

‐strengthenbestpractices?‐supportmypedagogy?

‐maketheteacher’sjobeasier?‐savetheteachertime?

CreatedbySeanMarieSweeney

http://tech4urcontent.edublogs.org

Priortoimplementingatoolintotheclassroomateachershouldalwaysreflectuponthereasonsfordoingso.Ifthetoolchoosedoesnotshowvalueinexpandingthelearningofstudents,addingtoasmootherfunctionoftheirclassroom,orassisttheteacherwithsimplifyingtheirresponsibilities,thenthetoolshouldnotbeintegratedintotheclassroom.Askyourselfthesequestionsasyouconsidernewtoolstointegrateintoyourclassroom.

Doesthistoolbenefitthelearningofmystudents?

Curriculumandcontentshouldalwaysbeyourfocus.Sureyoufoundacooltechtool,butisitreallyimportanttoeducatingyourstudents?Therearesomanytoolsthatenrichtheeducationalexperienceandsupportthecontentoftheclassroom,thatthereisnoreasontotryandpushacoolgadgetthatdoesn’tbenefitthecurriculumoftheclassroom.Theexamplebelowrepresentshowtechtoolscanbenefitstudentlearning.Example:Thecurriculumfocusisecologyofawatershed.UsingSkypeforavideoconference,theteachercontactsanexpertecologistwhoworkswithwatersheds.Studentscanasktheirindividualquestionsaboutthehabitatofawatershedandareexposedtoaprimaryresourceforlearning.ThenusingE‐Pals,theteacherconnectswithaclassroomonanothercontinentthatisalsostudyingwatersheds.Theclassesdocumentdataoftheirlocalwatershedusingdigitalcameras,thermometers,PascoProbeware,sketches,etc.andposttheirfindingsonWikispaces.comorpresenttotheotherclassusingScribblar.comtosharewhattheylearned.TheclassesthendebatethesimilaritiesanddifferencesandproduceaVenndiagraminWordontheSMARTBoardtorepresentthetwodifferentwatersheds.Thisteacherwasabletotakethelearningbeyondthewallsoftheirclassroomwhilealsoteachingskillsofobservation,datacollection,presenting,research,compareandcontrast,etc.

Doesthistoolbenefitthefunctionofmyclassroom?

Tocreatethebestlearningenvironmentforstudents,educatorsmustconstantlyanalyzethepedagogyoftheirclassroomtoensurethattheyareimplementingbestpracticesforstudentlearning.Whenconsideringtechnologytoolsforintegration,thetoolshouldalwayssupportthefunctionoftheclassroomenvironmentandintheultimatesituationthetoolsintegratedshouldinfactimprovethepracticesoftheclassroom.Example:Amathclassislearningaboutthedifferenttypesofmeasurement.Groupsaresentonascavengerhuntaroundtheschooltotakevariousmeasurements:temperatureoutsideofDoor2,thelengthoftheGrade5hall,etc.EachgroupusesaniPodTouchtoaccesstheGoogleDocFormtheteachercreated,whichnotonlyoutlinesthemeasurementstotake,butalsoprovidesaspottoinputthedatacollected.Uponreturningtotheclassroom,thegroupsclicksubmitontheiPodTouchandwatchtheirdataappearontheGoogleDocSpreadsheetalongwithalltheothergroupsubmitteddatathatisbeingprojectedatthefrontoftheclassroom.Thestudentshaveaseatandtheclassspendstheremainderoftheperiodcomparingtheinformationcollectedanddiscussingreasonsfordifferentresults.Beforehavingaccesstothementionedtechnologies,thisteacherwouldhavewastedtheremainderoftheperiodhavinggroupsshoutouttheirdataasshewrotethemontheboardoronestudentfromeachgroupupattheboardfightingoverspaceandmarkerstowritedowntheirdata.Theuseoftechnologysavedvaluableclasstime,avoidedchaosintheclassroom,keptstudentlearningfocusedonthecontent,andallowedstudentstolearnfromotherstudents’successesandfailuresastheylookedatthedatacollectedbytheclass.

CreatedbySeanMarieSweeney

http://tech4urcontent.edublogs.org

Doesthistoolstreamlinemyresponsibilities?

Theworkofateacherisneverdone.Therealwaysseemstobemorethatcanbedone.Integratingtechnologyintotheclassroomshouldnotaddtothatever‐growinglistofthingstodo.Alotofthetechtoolsthatareusefulintheclassroomalsomakethejoboftheteachereasier,bystreamliningtasksthatwouldnormallybetime‐consumingtasksfortheteacher.Thekeytostreamliningyourtaskswithtechnologyistonotsacrificethelearningorengagementofstudents,soitmustbeabalance.Theuseofintegratingtechnologyisnottakingtheeasywayout,butinsteadbecomingmoreefficientasateacherallowingyoutoenrichthelearningofyourstudents.Example:Givestudentsquickfeedbackontheirlearningandprovideyourselfwithinsightonclassunderstandingbyusingaclicker,onlinepolling,oraquizsystem.Byopeningclasswithoneortwomultiplechoicequestionsaboutthecontentfromtheclassbeforehandyoucangetaquickglimpseofwhatstudentsdidordidnotabsorbfromthepriorlesson.Thesesystemsalsoprovidestudentswithinstantfeedbackonwheretheystandintheclass.Theteacherdoesn’thavetowaituntilafterclasstogothroughone‐by‐oneeachstudent’sansweranddetermineafterthefactthattheclasswasnotpreparedtomoveonwiththecontent.

Arethebenefitsworththetimeinvested?

Youwillfindthatmanytechtoolshaveseveralbenefitsforbeingintegratedintotheclassroom,butwhatateacherhastobeawareofistheamountoftimeittakestopreparethattoolforuseintheclassroom.Thebenefitsfortheclassroomshouldalwaysbeworththetimeinvestedinpreparingthattoolforuseintheclassroom.Youwillalsowanttobecognizantoftheclasstime.Example:Foryoungerstudentsitmaytakeateacherthebetterpartofaneveningtosetupablogforeachindividualstudent,whichisasignificantinvestmentoftime,butconsiderthatthestudentsareabletousethistoolfortheentireschoolyear.Thetwohoursthatisspentwiththeinitialsetupwillcomebacktotheteacherastheyareabletoquicklyaccessstudentworkonlineforfeedbackandstudentsareabletocollaborateandlearnfromoneanotherviatheirbloggingnetworks.Thereisalsolessworking/learningdowntime,becausetheteachernolongerhastocollect“Writer’sNotebooks”toassessprogress.Theteacherandparentscanhaveconstantaccesstothechild’sworktoprovidefeedbackandpositivereinforcement,whilethechildstillhasaccesstocreateandwrite.Butthenicestperkofallisthatyoudon’thavetolugaround25studentnotebooksorworryaboutloosingpapers.Itisallhostedonthewebforyoutoaccessanywhereintheworld.

CreatedbySeanMarieSweeney http://tech4urcontent.edublogs.org

Applywhatyouknowtothefollowingscenarios:

Scenario1:

AteacherhearsaboutacooltechtoolcalledWordle.netandwantstouseitintheclass.Herideaistotakethetwentyfeedbackpapersthatshegotfromherstudentonthefirstdayofschoolandtypeinonebyonetheadjectivesthatherstudentsusedtodescribetheirsummer.ShewillthenshowtheimagethatWordle.netgeneratesbasedonthewordsenteredtosharewhattheclasshadtosayabouttheirsummer.Let’saskthequestions:Doesthisbenefitstudentlearning?Notreally,thereisnomentionofcontentconnection.Itdoesprovidefeedbackonanearlieractivity,buttheactivitywasfortheteachertogettoknowthestudents.Itwasn’timportanttothecontent.Itcouldpossiblyrepresentadiscussionofadjectivesusedbytheclass,butisthatthefocusoftheactivity?Doesthisbenefitthefunctionoftheclassroom?Onecouldargueitassistswithbuildingcommunityoftheclassroombyvisuallyrepresentingthecommonwordchoicebetweentheclassmates,whichisimportantforstudentstoseeinordertofeelconnectedtotheclassroomcommunity.Iscommonwordchoiceabondingpointthough?Doesthistoolstreamlineteacherresponsibilities?Notreally,ateachersittingdowntotypeinallofthewordssubmittedbytheclassisgoingtotakeabitoftimeandforitonlytobeusedforamomentinclassdoesnotseemlikeaneffectiveuseoftime.Arethebenefitsworththetimeinvested?Wellwekindofalreadyansweredthisabove.Ifateacherspent30minutespreppingevery2minutesofclass,theywouldneverhavetimetoteach.Surewegetthebenefitofthevisualhelpbuildcommunitywithinourclassroom,butcouldtherebefasterandeasierwaytodothiswithoutsacrificingthetimeoftheteacher?Absolutely!Inclasscalloutafewofthecommonadjectivesusedandhavestudentsstandupwhentheiradjectiveisannounced.Thekidsareinvolvedandtheystillgetthevisualrepresentationoftheircommonthoughtsaboutsummer.Theywillprobablyevenenjoythisactivitymorethanjustlookingatagraphic.

Scenario2:AteacherwantstoteachalessononWordChoiceinwriting.SheasksherstudentstocopyatypedpieceofwritingfromtheirWriter’sNotebookandpasteitintotheWordle.netsite.Wordle.netthengeneratesavisualoftheirwritingpiece.Itshowsthewordstheyusemostinthelargestfontandthewordstheyusedlessinsmallerfont.ShethenhasstudentsuseanonlinethesaurustofindsynonymstoimprovetheirWordChoiceintheirwritingandthefindtoolinWordtolocateandreplacetheover‐usedwords.Askthequestions.Isthisanexampleofgoodintegration?

CreatedbySeanMarieSweeney

http://tech4urcontent.edublogs.org