The biggest thing I learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology is to make sure that you have a solid plan for implementation. Before you try a new strategy or tool, it is important that you have seriously considered the methods, learning, and outcomes that will come from using the technology. Without doing that, there is bound to be issues that will limit your intended goals of learning.
Integrating web-based technologies really helped me to evaluate the proper use of technology. I thought a lot about the theme of "change with a difference" when using technology. Even though some technology might be exciting and fun for the students, it is important to make sure that the technology use is effective in the learning process. Regardless of how interesting the technology might be, it is important that we keep our focus on the educational improvements they can bring to the classroom.
I would say that I met my own personal goals for learning about technology integration. I have begun implementing web 2.0 technologies in my classroom for next year. Before this course, I would have probably not formulated a plan like the TechQuest to actually bring them into my teaching. So with that, I believe I met what I set out to do for learning about integrating technology.
The next goal that I have is to begin to implement podcasts into my teaching. I am hoping that I can reach that goal by getting a wireless microphone so that I can record classroom lessons so that I can stream them in a daily podcast. For me, this will not only continue my goals of using technology, but also give my students a chance to review lessons or stay tuned in at any time, regardless of if they are in the classroom physically or not.
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Bringing It All Together
What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?
The biggest thing that I believe I learned about using effective teaching strategies, is that you have to take into account your audience. Regardless of what teaching strategies I might try to use when integrating the technology, I have to think about what my students' knowledge of the technology is. Whether I am trying to bring a new web-based activity or a PowerPoint lesson into the classroom, it doesn't help my teaching at all without making sure that all my students can actually operate and use the technology effectively.
How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?
After creating a WebQuest, a blog, a wiki, and a self-sufficient PowerPoint lesson, it really gave me an idea of how powerful integrating web-based technologies can be. It gives students a chance to work in a medium that they are for the most part very comfortable with, plus gets them learning at the same time. It makes me realize that if we want to better educate our students, we need to bring more of this technology into our classrooms to better present the information, as well as get the students to become more involved in their own education.
How have you met your personal goals for learning about technology integration?
I would say that I have met the short term personal goals that I wanted to achieve for technology integration in this course. One goal I had established in CEP 810 was to get a better knowledge and working with PowerPoint, which I believe I have accomplished by integrating the StAIR project into my students final exam review. Another large goal that I had was to create a better, easier to work with web page, which I also believe was accomplished by a few assignments in this course. By creating a web page, as well as using that knowledge to create a WebQuest, I think I reached the goals about how I could integrate these ideas into my classroom.
Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for teaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?
After completing this course, I really want to bring blogs and wikis into my teaching. I am hoping to have my students work off a classroom blog where they can comment and post their thoughts and questions on the material that we go over in class. Similarly, I am looking to bring the knowledge of using a wiki into my classroom, as well. I am hoping to create a class wiki where the students can edit the wiki and create a chapter review for each chapter as we go through them. From there, we will end up creating a full semester worth of material that they could ultimately use as an additional resource to study for final exams. I am also hoping to learn about more technologies that would also continue to get students more involved and excited about learning.
The biggest thing that I believe I learned about using effective teaching strategies, is that you have to take into account your audience. Regardless of what teaching strategies I might try to use when integrating the technology, I have to think about what my students' knowledge of the technology is. Whether I am trying to bring a new web-based activity or a PowerPoint lesson into the classroom, it doesn't help my teaching at all without making sure that all my students can actually operate and use the technology effectively.
How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?
After creating a WebQuest, a blog, a wiki, and a self-sufficient PowerPoint lesson, it really gave me an idea of how powerful integrating web-based technologies can be. It gives students a chance to work in a medium that they are for the most part very comfortable with, plus gets them learning at the same time. It makes me realize that if we want to better educate our students, we need to bring more of this technology into our classrooms to better present the information, as well as get the students to become more involved in their own education.
How have you met your personal goals for learning about technology integration?
I would say that I have met the short term personal goals that I wanted to achieve for technology integration in this course. One goal I had established in CEP 810 was to get a better knowledge and working with PowerPoint, which I believe I have accomplished by integrating the StAIR project into my students final exam review. Another large goal that I had was to create a better, easier to work with web page, which I also believe was accomplished by a few assignments in this course. By creating a web page, as well as using that knowledge to create a WebQuest, I think I reached the goals about how I could integrate these ideas into my classroom.
Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for teaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?
After completing this course, I really want to bring blogs and wikis into my teaching. I am hoping to have my students work off a classroom blog where they can comment and post their thoughts and questions on the material that we go over in class. Similarly, I am looking to bring the knowledge of using a wiki into my classroom, as well. I am hoping to create a class wiki where the students can edit the wiki and create a chapter review for each chapter as we go through them. From there, we will end up creating a full semester worth of material that they could ultimately use as an additional resource to study for final exams. I am also hoping to learn about more technologies that would also continue to get students more involved and excited about learning.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Computer-Based Instructional Objects
There are a few additional things that need to be taken into consideration when having students work independently on some computer-based instructional objects (CBIOs). The main thing is you have to taken into consideration the students' comfort level with the technology you are using. Many students are pretty tech-savvy, but how many really know how to navigate through a PowerPoint presentation when their options are limited in navigation? Many students can fly through web pages with ease, but how many really know how to USEFULLY search the internet for information. I think these are big things to take into consideration because we can never assume (because we all know what assuming does...) that our students know how to use the technology just because they are a 21st century learner. If you are using the internet, it is also a good idea to make sure that none of the links you provided students can be browsed through to get to any inappropriate material.
As for some WebQuests, I found this one involving math in video/board games, as well as thh entertainment industry that I thought would really grab students attention. Not to mention, it answers the age old question, "When are we ever going to need this?" I think it really makes the students realize how important their math skills really are in the world. That and it also gives them a chance to put their knowledge to work by playing a few math games at the end.
The URL is http://questgarden.com/102/36/1/100426171111/index.htm.
As for some WebQuests, I found this one involving math in video/board games, as well as thh entertainment industry that I thought would really grab students attention. Not to mention, it answers the age old question, "When are we ever going to need this?" I think it really makes the students realize how important their math skills really are in the world. That and it also gives them a chance to put their knowledge to work by playing a few math games at the end.
The URL is http://questgarden.com/102/36/1/100426171111/index.htm.
Another WebQuest I liked was this particular one because it has a good idea behind getting students prepared for the ACT. With more and more of teaching being data driven and a lot of that data is based off ACT scores, I think this WebQuest does a lot to help students prepare without overloading them on a single topic. It allows students to focus on a single idea, then has the rest of the students "teach" each other the topics which they did not research.
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