In an article I recently had the opportunity to read on the Education World website, I was able to learn of several recent advances in educational technology that allow teachers the opportunity to engage more students in learning. More and more teachers are turning to the field of technology to enhance their teaching styles.
Elementary to High School teachers use a variety of new technological teaching tools, but none quite as important as the SMART boards. The SMART boards make the learning interactive for the students. Students have the ability to hear, read, and touch the SMART board on their way to mastering any topic. Teachers can save and share their lesson plans with teachers in their own schools and all over the worlds. The sharing of SMART board lessons allow for teachers to not only potentially improve their own teaching, but to also improve the teaching of other teachers all over the world. The SMART board is not the only new piece of technology however. Teachers in many different grades use the technologies that best suits their own students.
Many elementary school teachers use Kidspiration and Inspiration as educational tools in their classrooms. The programs are easy to use and allow the students an alternative way to learn and organize information. It can be useful for character studies, book/movie comparisons, history lesson, grammar lessons, current events, and a variety of other uses. The software also works easily with the SMART board software to allow teachers to project the creations from Kidspiration/Inspiration on the big screen. Teachers also reference the use of iMovie as a great technological reference for the lower to middle grades. The students use the program to make different types of movies, depending the subject, in small groups. By allowing the students the opportunity to film their own movie, they are further engaged in their learning. The Flip Video Cams would work well with this. Many new advances in technology will work well in any classroom if the teacher knows the best possible ways to implement them.
It is important for all grade school teachers to inform their students in the basic skills of Word, Excel, and Power Point. All three of these programs can be used beneficially in any grade. Many may believe that smaller children could not handle some of these programs, but students will surprise you. Even if it is just introducing them to the basics, it will benefit them. Students often use Excel for mathematics courses, Word to type English papers in, and Power Point to create a variety of presentations in a range of classes. Teachers also use all three of these tools almost daily and should be proficient in each of them.
The technological field concerning education is growing every day. Teachers and students are becoming better connected through fields such as email programs and software such as Blackboard CourseWeb. Schools that are fortunate enough to have the funds to have any of the programs mentioned in this blog post should consider themselves lucky. We are in a technological world and teaching has benefited from it. Teachers can use technology to engage their students in learning in ways that they could not before. The Education World Tech Team is a great resource for staying up-to-date on the newest technological resources for teachers.
Other programs mentioned in the article are: Skype, Wikispaces, Bloglines (you choose the information you want to read!), and FunBrain (interactive game site). You can find more information on these items and read the entire ariticle at http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech234.shtml
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Open-Ended Response Systems
Technology is continuing to improve the field of education. The idea of an open-ended response system has the ability to enhance any classroom lecture, but with many ideas within technology, it has its ups and downs. An open-ended response system is an electronic forum in which students have the ability to enter text responses during a class lecture or discussion. Students can enter their text responses in a variety of different ways which include using mobile phones, laptops, or ipads. Their responses are then shown up on a projected image in front of the entire class during the lecture or it can be viewed on the laptops/ipads/mobile phones that each individual student has. Wi-Fi is often needed for this to work however. The open-ended response system has a variety of positive and negative aspects that go along with it.
The idea of an electronic forum is not a new one as teachers have been using "clickers" in class for such things as attendance or quizzes. The open-ended response system has the capability to add much more to a classroom lecture however. During the lecture students will be able to post questions, sometimes anonymously depending the program, for the class to view and vote on. Whichever questions receive the most votes the teacher can take the time to go over with the class. With the ability to post anonymously, this will encourage some of the more shy students to participate in the lecture as well as give all students a chance to post. Sometimes during a lecture it is hard to find the right time to ask a particular question. This difficulty could leave a lot of good questions left unasked. The system is not only beneficial during a class lecture however. Even after the lecture, the teacher can view the transcripts from that particular class period to review all posts by students to assess their learning during the lecture. If it appears that the students did not understand one concept particularly well, the teacher can go back and review that concept during the next class. The teacher will also be able to see from the transcripts which students were participating in the lecture/class discussion. (Even if the posts were anonymous only the teacher will be able to see who posted what). Even during a lecture that may be longer than a students' attention span, the open-ended response system could keep the students engaged in what is being discussed. It also has the potential to have the opposite effect however.
Currently the open-ended response system is mainly used within companies as well as several colleges and universities. Therefore, the current audience for this system is 18 years and up. That does not mean it cannot be used with younger people however. It just has yet to be done. I could see where younger students could be distracted by such a system. Or where a school system does not have the financial support to buy such a system as well as laptops or ipads to use it on with some type of Wi-Fi included. Both companies and colleges probably have that financial support. This does not mean that it cannot be done however. If the system has be proven effective, schools would take a chance on them. It is very important for each individual teacher to find the most effective ways to use the program however. I would think that the program could not be used in any grades lower than middle school. I would also think that it would be most beneficial in subjects such as history and English, as these topics could provide the most interesting lectures for the students. The open-ended response system definitely has some flaws that would have to be worked out by each individual school system.
Overall, I find the idea of a open-ended response system very interesting. I feel like in certain settings it could be very beneficial for the students AND the teacher. I do, however, feel as if there are a variety factors that could deter some schools from investing in the system. The system does have great upside however. I would support a trial experiment with the system to see how students respond. As with many new technological ideas dealing with education, if it is used correctly the results could be great!
More information can be found at http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7068.pdf
The idea of an electronic forum is not a new one as teachers have been using "clickers" in class for such things as attendance or quizzes. The open-ended response system has the capability to add much more to a classroom lecture however. During the lecture students will be able to post questions, sometimes anonymously depending the program, for the class to view and vote on. Whichever questions receive the most votes the teacher can take the time to go over with the class. With the ability to post anonymously, this will encourage some of the more shy students to participate in the lecture as well as give all students a chance to post. Sometimes during a lecture it is hard to find the right time to ask a particular question. This difficulty could leave a lot of good questions left unasked. The system is not only beneficial during a class lecture however. Even after the lecture, the teacher can view the transcripts from that particular class period to review all posts by students to assess their learning during the lecture. If it appears that the students did not understand one concept particularly well, the teacher can go back and review that concept during the next class. The teacher will also be able to see from the transcripts which students were participating in the lecture/class discussion. (Even if the posts were anonymous only the teacher will be able to see who posted what). Even during a lecture that may be longer than a students' attention span, the open-ended response system could keep the students engaged in what is being discussed. It also has the potential to have the opposite effect however.
Currently the open-ended response system is mainly used within companies as well as several colleges and universities. Therefore, the current audience for this system is 18 years and up. That does not mean it cannot be used with younger people however. It just has yet to be done. I could see where younger students could be distracted by such a system. Or where a school system does not have the financial support to buy such a system as well as laptops or ipads to use it on with some type of Wi-Fi included. Both companies and colleges probably have that financial support. This does not mean that it cannot be done however. If the system has be proven effective, schools would take a chance on them. It is very important for each individual teacher to find the most effective ways to use the program however. I would think that the program could not be used in any grades lower than middle school. I would also think that it would be most beneficial in subjects such as history and English, as these topics could provide the most interesting lectures for the students. The open-ended response system definitely has some flaws that would have to be worked out by each individual school system.
Overall, I find the idea of a open-ended response system very interesting. I feel like in certain settings it could be very beneficial for the students AND the teacher. I do, however, feel as if there are a variety factors that could deter some schools from investing in the system. The system does have great upside however. I would support a trial experiment with the system to see how students respond. As with many new technological ideas dealing with education, if it is used correctly the results could be great!
More information can be found at http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7068.pdf
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