All good things must come to an end!
Going back through and rereading all of my blog posts
for this class, I could definitely see some growth of understanding, and
comfort level with ed tech increasing with each post!
In the beginning, I was a little unsure of what to
expect, and I wondered if this class might be a challenge since I haven’t
worked with too many ed tech tools. One thing I did understand from the start
is that educational technologies MUST be driven by the instructional goal, and
the technology is used to enhance that goal (and not driven by the technology
alone).
After weeks of exploring ed tech tools and learning
the value of them throughout this class, I have formed a main objective or goal
for my future use of ed tech tools in the classroom:
Main objective:
To create meaningful content and an authentic learning environment using
technologies to support instructional goals.
To achieve this main objective, I have outlined
specific tools I would like to use to help enhance my future students’ learning
experiences, as well as outlined the specific objectives of those tools while
using the ISTE student standards as a framework.
Tool: HyperDocs
Objective: To allow teachers to be able to work
one-on-one with their students while the other students are learning through a
HyperDoc lesson. The HyperDoc lessons will be engaging, meaningful, and
relevant. They will in no way be used as “busy work” to keep other students occupied
while the teacher gets significant one-on-one work done with another student. Not
only can HyperDocs be another way to teach kids and another means to deliver
content, but it can almost even act as another teacher to allow us to find that
time to work with struggling students.
Also, HyperDocs is a valuable use of technology for
the students, as it really allows students to be in charge of their own
learning. Tasks can be outlined for the students to allow them to go through
them at their own pace. This accountability can help drive students’ motivation
to learn. With this accountability, a HyperDoc lesson can help fulfill the
first ITSE standard for students of becoming an empowered learner.
HyperDocs can serve as additional information in conjunction
with teacher-led lessons. A HyperDoc lesson can be used as a way to give
students the opportunity to explore a topic first, and then the teacher can
verbally explain it and get into the lesson. This gives students the chance to
get a little sneak peek into a lesson before it is officially taught. They can
form their own questions and wonderings ahead of time. I feel this can create a
really meaningful learning experience, as not only is the teacher going in with
some prior knowledge on the subject, but the students can as well. For
really important lessons, not only can the teacher teach them, but they can
also use HyperDocs to really reinforce the content and points of the lessons
that really need it.
Tool: Quizizz
Objective: Formative Assessment
I chose Quiziz for my formative assessment tool because
overall it is just as beneficial to the student as it is to the teacher. Creating
meaningful formative assessments within this tool is quite simple. The students
can enjoy it and have their attention kept with the fun memes in between the
quiz questions. After answering each question, students can see how they ranked
in real-time with other participants. All of the graphics, sounds, and even
fonts are all really pleasing. The pleasing layout and being able to see rankings
in real-time can truly help to keep the students engaged, and they may not even
realize they are being formatively assessed. For the teacher, the results of
the quiz are reported in real-time, and with the results and overviews
function, a teacher can really get a quick snapshot of students’ individual and
overall strengths and weaknesses. This tool can help students to demonstrate
their learning competency, just like stated in ITSE standard # 1 of the empowered
learner.
Tool: Adobe Spark
Objective: A great tool to use for lessons plans when
a teacher plans to be out. Quite often when a classroom teacher leaves sub
plans, the lesson is not always delivered as the teacher intended, thus,
becomes less meaningful. As educators, we strive to make each and every lesson
meaningful. With Adobe Spark, the teacher can video record herself or audio
record herself presenting a lesson and giving instructions. It can be tough for
students to connect with a substitute; however, they may be able to make a
connection with the lesson when the teacher is not there if they see her and/or
hear her voice. Creating within Adobe Spark was effortless but can certainly be
worth a lot for the students.
Adobe Spark would also be a fun way to make a video to
introduce a new topic to gauge students’ interest before the teacher verbally
starts to explain it. If a student goes into a new topic or lesson with some
prior knowledge of it, it can help them to already feel connected to the new
topic. When there is already a connection formed, this could help the student
to stay interested and pay better attention to the lesson, aiding in creating a
knowledge constructor as in ITSE standard for students #3.
Tool: EdPuzzle/PlayPosit
Objective: Quick way to add more meaning to a lesson
in a pinch. Now a days, classrooms use technologies every day. The goal is to
create a blended learning environment between teacher-lead lessons, as well as
a good mix of ed tech. Tools like EdPuzzle and PlayPosit are a good way to quickly
create lessons to help create that blended learning environment. With the
benefits of using ed tech in the classroom, sometimes we need to be able to
create something meaningful quickly since we may be creating many pieces. These
two tools are useful for that quick creation to ensure ed tech is being used in
the classroom.
Tool: Google Forms
Objective: Pre/Post formative assessment. I can use
Google Forms to create a formative quiz that I can give to students prior to
presenting a lesson, as well as after presenting a lesson. It can be the same
quiz, with the same questions. This will help me to understand what the
students know on a topic before I teach it to them, as well as let me know what
they have learned from the topic after I have taught it to them. I can use this
information to adjust my lesson, reteach a certain area, or know that the
students are ready to move on. Compiling a quiz within Google Forms is very
easy. There are not as many “bells and whistles” as say Quizizz, nor is it
meant to really be as engaging and fun for the students. That’s okay, as the
purpose of this is not really to entertain the students, it is for me to be
able to assess to get results and use the results accordingly. When a teacher
is able to understand where a student is at within a certain topic, this can
help the teacher to then make the right next instructional steps for the
students to help them become innovative designers and computational thinkers
(ITSE standards for students #4 and #5). When a teacher successfully formatively
assesses students, she can be sure she is not moving on too quickly for a
student, to make sure they can in fact master a topic successfully.
Tool: Google Slides/Google Doc
Objective: For students to articulate their own
understanding and ideas. For the teacher to get an idea of what the students
know, as well as for the students to be able to collaborate on assignments.
My intended grade level to teach will be lower
elementary, grades K-3. While using ed tech for these grades can prove to be
easy for them in the sense of them watching videos, reading content, listening
to audio, clicking on answers, or anything pretty basic like that, these younger
grades may not be able to use ed tech in a deeper sense of creation like older
students will be able to do. However, I did still want to choose a tool where
students can still be able to somehow create within and be able to articulate
their understanding of a topic. For this purpose of needing a tool where
younger, less experienced students can create something in, I chose Google Docs
and Google Slides. For a younger student to be able to communicate with me what
they know, they can use a Google Doc as a “brain dump”. They can type words, use
pictures, as well as voice record what they may know. This is simple enough for
younger students but can still provide me with valuable information on what
they know, in their own words. This also gives the students a chance to be the
creator, as opposed to always just being the audience member, so to say. With
Google Slides, students would be able to collaborate and work together building
slides. This can be done with them even sitting across the room from each other!
When students reach a level of being able to collaborate and work together
creating within a tool, not only are they working as a digital citizen (ITSE
standard #2), they are also working as creative communicators (#6) and global
collaborators (#7) with each other!
In conclusion, I will strive to use these tools and
many more when I have my own classroom. I will continue to explore tools that
will help me to meet my instructional needs. I will incorporate blended learning
using verbal lessons as well as ed tech. The technology I use will be there to
support the learning goals!
