Sunday, March 29, 2015

Blog Post 3: Technology Implementation Strategies

One of the first points the article discusses is the important use of the internet in the classroom, particularly if the textbook is outdated. Students hearing the use of vocabulary in context via an online video or animation helps students to both understand the meaning and concept much easier than if merely reading in a textbook. The article discusses that students not only understood material easier but were able to functionally use high-level terms and vocabulary that they otherwise would not have been able to use nearly as quickly under regular circumstances. Then, students are asked to share helpful websites with each other as they are doing online activities, making it a more active experience that allows them to cogitate on the material more than silent reading.

A second point discusses the use of video podcasts in the classroom. The author discusses having her students record video lesson reviews to post up on the class website. These can be accessed easily, allowing for students who have missed class for whatever reason to access them to stay caught up. It’s also a much more fun experience since they are being taught by peers rather than by the teacher.

A third point discusses motivation and how students need more social interaction. Many students these days lose that physical social interaction due to constantly being on computers or video games, even with technology-based lessons. However, using presentation technology, students are more likely to do research to build their presentations, as they want them to be as good and entertaining as they can for their peers. Presentations become fun, and students become motivated and engaged.

One way to incorporate technology into instruction is the dramatized podcast. Podcasts dramas (or serials) are becoming quite popular these days, harkening back to the days of radio serials. In an English/Literature classroom, students could write out scripts that serialize fiction into a podcast drama. For example, a class focusing on Romeo and Juliet could tell the entire story as a news report podcast, or another class might take an Edgar Allan Poe short story and do a dramatic reading and add music and sound effects to the background.

Another way of incorporating technology into instruction is to use organizational tools such as Timeglider to help fully understand the flow or connections of a story or time period. For example, Timeglider could be used in a history class for students to understand the timeline of a time period; it can also be used in an English class for students to document the timeline of a story and its sequence of events. This would be especially useful in a story like The Odyssey, where many events happen over the course of many years.

References


Boles, S.R. (2011). Using technology in the classroom. Science Scope, 34(9), 39-43.