Technology can be a tricky thing...as I rewrite this blog for the third time after Internet Explorer crashed. This is a prime example on why teachers should not rely on technology to base their lessons on. While technology is great for engaging students and creative lessons, teachers need to remember that technology is fallible. As the author of this article points out, teachers should use technology only when appropriate and helpful to the lesson being taught. The lesson should not revolve around the technology; the technology should only be there to assist the teacher in conveying a message or getting the students to interact with the material. The choice in what technology to use should also be taken into consideration based on the type of lesson, the content of the lesson, and the students. If students are simply going to become frustrated with the piece of technology, they will be dissuaded from using it in the future. One must also find a piece of technology that is appropriate for the lesson so that the students will be able to apply it in future lesson and classes and know the real purpose of using a specific piece of technology with a specific idea. The author shows this in her continua. These show how a teacher can adjust technology based on their specific class and lesson needs. Dr. Harris also describes how we can assess our students using summative and formal assessments, but does not really show how to do that using technology or assessing a student’s progress through technology. Although I must say that it could make assessment easier by simply having students email the answer to an essay, and also make a greener classroom, it would be hard to require any form of assessment where technology simply because students may not have access to the technology. In specifically social studies Dr. Harris and Dr. Hofer, they provide many different pieces of technology that are specific to the type of lesson you will be teaching. I really like the idea of using podcasts to present material on a subject or to have a student create a podcast on a topic they have been researching. I also like the idea of having a web-diary of sorts for students to respond to how the class is going or to respond to specific assignments.
The use of technology in the classroom has to match the purpose of the lesson and a great deal of planning needs to go into technology-enhanced activities. I think it's better to design a lesson and then add some technological aspect afterward. There are so many different criteria to take into consideration that I have come to believe that technology is better used occasionally, purposefully, and effectively.
I also never really considered what it means to say that a lesson plan is "technology-enhanced" as opposed to "technology-integrated". I'm still not sure if I can recognize the difference.
When it comes to my methods course, we don't really discuss how to integrate technology into our lesson plans. It's limited mostly to using videos as a way of getting the attention of our students or introducing a concept. We've done phone-conferencing and will have our professor conduct a lesson via video chat in a few weeks, but we don't learn how we can use these things in our own lessons.
Looking at the Social Studies ATS list I found a lot of the technologies that we have covered in Dr. Hofer's class, but others were completely new (like Timeliner and Bubbleshare). I might have to play around with some of them to see if they are things I would want to potentially integrate into lessons. I think that technologies that allow students to be physically active and mentally engaged work best for history classes which often get a bad reputation for being boring or irrelevant.
Reading the article made me aware of the importance of making sure the technology fits the lesson. I think I have been looking at this process from the other side, trying to figure out what technology I can include then creating the lesson. I see why that does not make an effective lesson, but it is hard for me to create a lesson and include technology. My lack of resource awareness makes it hard to comfortably add in technology. It usually seems forced in my lessons. The article has changed my mindset, so technology does not seem as scary. Looking at it as an addition instead of a requirement makes it less intimidating.
The steps given are similar to my methods course. You figure out what you are teaching, who you are teaching, and build the lesson around your educational beliefs. We are not explicitly discussing the use of technology in the course. This is probably, because we are getting a whole class on the topic. Before reading the section on the English Language Arts, I have been skeptical about including technology. I was not sure how to use it effectively in my classroom. I am still a little wary, but the article showed me some possibilities.
The main trend I see in English classrooms are blogs and wikis. Teachers are trying to get the students to write and share their opinions with their classmates. I see the benefits, but I am worried that not much besides the writing tools are out there. I want some interactive websites where students can see literature happening. Whether those types of sites exist, I am not sure for English. I want to use technology to bring the words off the page and get students invested in the reading.
I really appreciated this article because it backed up my general feeling about using technology and what my methods instructor has been teaching. I have seen teachers in my practicum who feel pressure to incorporate technology into their lesson plans. Due to this pressure they begin by looking at technology, which have produced not so great results in my opinion. I like thinking of using technology as a support and not the base of the lesson itself.
The activity types were math were also very helpful. It was helpful to see how the authors subdivided activity types of math. I also will use it as a resource to match a technology to an activity type.
One question I had was what the difference between the produce and create activity types is. I see a small difference, but I guess I need further explanation.
I thought the readings for this week were particularly valuable. I have always been surprised to hear that technology should not be the driving force behind a lesson, but it makes a lot of sense. I'm actually really glad to be hearing and reading that though. Talking about integrating a form of technology to use in a lesson, to enhance the lesson rather than make the lesson, is a grand concept to me. In my experience as a student, this has sometimes not been the case unfortunately.
The Tech Integration article for science was particularly helpful to me since I will be teaching Earth Science and my CT has a SMART Board. The example in the text showed me how to integrate technology with a lesson, rather than just telling me it can be done, and using a concrete example is always the best thing to do for my learning. I also think I may go back and use parts of the solar system lesson for my own classroom either in the spring or next year if I have a SMART Board.
Listing the activity types with the possible technologies to use was even more helpful to me. I didn't know what a lot of the technologies were, but as I am planning for the year, I can go back to this article, knowing what I want to accomplish, and try to incorporate one or more of the technologies listed for that objective.
I think everything I have read correlates with what I've learned in my methods class. Using different types of technologies to accomplish parts of lessons will help students become engaged, explore and hopefully explain concepts (some of the 5E strategies).
Technology can be a tricky thing...as I rewrite this blog for the third time after Internet Explorer crashed. This is a prime example on why teachers should not rely on technology to base their lessons on. While technology is great for engaging students and creative lessons, teachers need to remember that technology is fallible. As the author of this article points out, teachers should use technology only when appropriate and helpful to the lesson being taught. The lesson should not revolve around the technology; the technology should only be there to assist the teacher in conveying a message or getting the students to interact with the material. The choice in what technology to use should also be taken into consideration based on the type of lesson, the content of the lesson, and the students. If students are simply going to become frustrated with the piece of technology, they will be dissuaded from using it in the future.
ReplyDeleteOne must also find a piece of technology that is appropriate for the lesson so that the students will be able to apply it in future lesson and classes and know the real purpose of using a specific piece of technology with a specific idea. The author shows this in her continua. These show how a teacher can adjust technology based on their specific class and lesson needs. Dr. Harris also describes how we can assess our students using summative and formal assessments, but does not really show how to do that using technology or assessing a student’s progress through technology. Although I must say that it could make assessment easier by simply having students email the answer to an essay, and also make a greener classroom, it would be hard to require any form of assessment where technology simply because students may not have access to the technology.
In specifically social studies Dr. Harris and Dr. Hofer, they provide many different pieces of technology that are specific to the type of lesson you will be teaching. I really like the idea of using podcasts to present material on a subject or to have a student create a podcast on a topic they have been researching. I also like the idea of having a web-diary of sorts for students to respond to how the class is going or to respond to specific assignments.
The use of technology in the classroom has to match the purpose of the lesson and a great deal of planning needs to go into technology-enhanced activities. I think it's better to design a lesson and then add some technological aspect afterward. There are so many different criteria to take into consideration that I have come to believe that technology is better used occasionally, purposefully, and effectively.
ReplyDeleteI also never really considered what it means to say that a lesson plan is "technology-enhanced" as opposed to "technology-integrated". I'm still not sure if I can recognize the difference.
When it comes to my methods course, we don't really discuss how to integrate technology into our lesson plans. It's limited mostly to using videos as a way of getting the attention of our students or introducing a concept. We've done phone-conferencing and will have our professor conduct a lesson via video chat in a few weeks, but we don't learn how we can use these things in our own lessons.
Looking at the Social Studies ATS list I found a lot of the technologies that we have covered in Dr. Hofer's class, but others were completely new (like Timeliner and Bubbleshare). I might have to play around with some of them to see if they are things I would want to potentially integrate into lessons. I think that technologies that allow students to be physically active and mentally engaged work best for history classes which often get a bad reputation for being boring or irrelevant.
Reading the article made me aware of the importance of making sure the technology fits the lesson. I think I have been looking at this process from the other side, trying to figure out what technology I can include then creating the lesson. I see why that does not make an effective lesson, but it is hard for me to create a lesson and include technology. My lack of resource awareness makes it hard to comfortably add in technology. It usually seems forced in my lessons. The article has changed my mindset, so technology does not seem as scary. Looking at it as an addition instead of a requirement makes it less intimidating.
ReplyDeleteThe steps given are similar to my methods course. You figure out what you are teaching, who you are teaching, and build the lesson around your educational beliefs. We are not explicitly discussing the use of technology in the course. This is probably, because we are getting a whole class on the topic. Before reading the section on the English Language Arts, I have been skeptical about including technology. I was not sure how to use it effectively in my classroom. I am still a little wary, but the article showed me some possibilities.
The main trend I see in English classrooms are blogs and wikis. Teachers are trying to get the students to write and share their opinions with their classmates. I see the benefits, but I am worried that not much besides the writing tools are out there. I want some interactive websites where students can see literature happening. Whether those types of sites exist, I am not sure for English. I want to use technology to bring the words off the page and get students invested in the reading.
I really appreciated this article because it backed up my general feeling about using technology and what my methods instructor has been teaching. I have seen teachers in my practicum who feel pressure to incorporate technology into their lesson plans. Due to this pressure they begin by looking at technology, which have produced not so great results in my opinion. I like thinking of using technology as a support and not the base of the lesson itself.
ReplyDeleteThe activity types were math were also very helpful. It was helpful to see how the authors subdivided activity types of math. I also will use it as a resource to match a technology to an activity type.
One question I had was what the difference between the produce and create activity types is. I see a small difference, but I guess I need further explanation.
I thought the readings for this week were particularly valuable. I have always been surprised to hear that technology should not be the driving force behind a lesson, but it makes a lot of sense. I'm actually really glad to be hearing and reading that though. Talking about integrating a form of technology to use in a lesson, to enhance the lesson rather than make the lesson, is a grand concept to me. In my experience as a student, this has sometimes not been the case unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteThe Tech Integration article for science was particularly helpful to me since I will be teaching Earth Science and my CT has a SMART Board. The example in the text showed me how to integrate technology with a lesson, rather than just telling me it can be done, and using a concrete example is always the best thing to do for my learning. I also think I may go back and use parts of the solar system lesson for my own classroom either in the spring or next year if I have a SMART Board.
Listing the activity types with the possible technologies to use was even more helpful to me. I didn't know what a lot of the technologies were, but as I am planning for the year, I can go back to this article, knowing what I want to accomplish, and try to incorporate one or more of the technologies listed for that objective.
I think everything I have read correlates with what I've learned in my methods class. Using different types of technologies to accomplish parts of lessons will help students become engaged, explore and hopefully explain concepts (some of the 5E strategies).