Many teachers have embraced technology and seen the wonderful ways it can help you be productive. It seems like forever now we have been using word processors, spreadsheets, and databases to help us with so many important tasks. I can’t imagine now a life without them! Word processors are used with teachers to produce documents that can be easily modified to fit their needs time and time again. Students are able to use word processors to write and consistently revise their writing. Teachers and students can also easily share their documents. Spreadsheets can be used by teachers for grade books and concrete number representations or by students for mathematics concepts and formulas. Databases can be used for pertinent student information for teachers or teaching research, organization, and study skills to students using the databases. These three tools help educators be more productive and give the students tools to “learn with.”
Besides these three basic software tools there are so many other software tools for teacher and student support not to mention help with productivity. Material generators can give teachers worksheets, puzzles, study guides, tests, IEPs, and rubrics to use in their classrooms. Data collection and analysis tools like electronic grade books, online testing systems, and student response systems like Qwizdom Interactive Learning systems can also save time and allows teachers the ability to track student progress. Graphic tools such as Kid Pix which is used in elementary schools, allows students the ability to draw/paint which develops visual-verbal literacy and can also show their creative side. High school students may use Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Flash. Software like Graph Club is also helpful for students to make charts and graphs from data they enter. Planning and organizing software like Oncourse Lesson planning allows teachers to enter lesson plans with matching standards. Programs like Inspiration assist students in thinking through and mapping out concepts or projects. Research and Reference tools like Encarta an online encyclopedia ,World Atlas.com, and Dictionary.com give students access to many different references. There are also tools to support specific content areas like computer-assisted design (CAD) systems that allow students to create drawings of objects or places. Music Editors help students create compositions. Music sequencers help students with the entire process of composition. GPS (global positioning systems ) assist in geography lessons and graphing calculators can be used in mathematics and science experiments. Did I mention these all help with productivity!
Internet curriculum projects are created and can be used with multimedia and hypermedia. These projects are meant to be used to cover many different content areas. These are projects that students can create themselves or complete them online using different design tools. Presentation software like Microsoft Power Point, Open Office, or Apple Keynote can be used for book reports, tutorials, student-created presentations. Video Production and Editing Systems like Final Cut Pro, Apple’s iMovie, and Adobe Premier Pro can all be used to show demonstrations of procedures by teachers or students, video lectures, portfolios, decision-making/problem solving simulations, and visual literacy demonstrations. Hypermedia Development software is another tool for creating internet curriculum projects. Adobe Flash can be used for creating animations, websites, and interactive story books. Virtual Environments and Immersion tools like Second Life, an online virtual world where students can collaborate with others to build communities and even sell things using an avatar they created. Quick Time from Apple can be used to show students a virtual field trip. Last, there are the Web 2.0 tools. Blogs are used as interactive websites where people publish commentaries or opinions Wikis are used as an online community of collaboration where different students can give input into a topic. Podcasts are audio files that are like broadcasts or interviews. E-portfolios are websites created by students to showcase their work. Social networking sites like Facebook build communities of networked friends. Video and photo sharing communities like You Tube can give students a means of uploading and sharing their videos from projects they have completed. All these tools can assist with implementing standards-based engaged learning curriculum projects.
Other means of Engaged Learning takes place with web-based lessons and projects. Students can learn so many things through projects going on all over the world. This is a way for them to collaborate through electronic pen pals, mentoring, virtual field trips, publishing, group product development, problem-based learning, and social action projects which can all read higher LoTi levels. A great place to find Internet or web-based projects is at http://edtechleader.net/nextstep/. One project that was a LoTi level 6 was called Down the Drain. It was intended to allow students from different parts of the country to share what they know about their water usage and this was based on their household members. Students were to come up with a hypothesis of whether they use more or less water than other students from around the world and why? Next students determine the average amount of water someone in their household uses. Then, they will report their data and compare it to others in different parts of the country or even the world. They will publish their data on this site. They can even ask an expert questions when needed. They will then analyze and explain their results. This is very interactive, meaningful and hands-on. Another great internet based learning project I found was Let’s Build A City in the Solar System it was found at http://chalk.richmond.edu/education/projects/webquests/space/. Students take on the role of traveling to space in a group and finding the best place for their city Alpha. Students have to develop a PowerPoint presentation to discuss their findings, a newspaper article explaining their trip and persuading others to go live there. Each group member takes on a different role as a journalist, colony expert, geologist, photographer, and astrologist. I feel this project would be on a LoTi level 5 because the students have to do the research and justify their reasoning and create a meaningful presentation to do so. You should check this project out, it’s neat and fun!
I really liked "Down the Drain". I love that it allows students to collaborate with other students from different countries about how they use water. I think it would lead to an interesting discussion on why which country uses the most/least water!
ReplyDeleteA 21st century classroom is exciting to be a part of. It's almost overwhelming to think about everything we, as teachers, have available. I am grateful for projects created like Down the Drain and Let's Build a A City. There is no need to reinvent the wheel and we can challenge our students to participate at a LoTi level 5 or 6. Though you are not teaching at the moment, do you plan to share the website, The Next Step, with colleagues?
ReplyDeleteI really liked the project about the city in space. It seems like a great way to get kids involved each having important roles. I also like the fact that so many subjects are tied into it, like the newspaper article. I also liked the Quizdom website. It is a great way to really find out the needs of each students. It also allows them to discretely ask questions, which would definitely help students that may be embarrassed to speak up.
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