Topic: Your initial thoughts about using the Internet to enhance the teaching and the learning process. (I have a lot of initial thoughts...enjoy! :) )
Internet in the classroom can be a very powerful tool that can fuel and stimulate learning for our “new age” children. As we all know, our computer savvy children crave the use of technology in the classroom. It is our job, as educators, to provide children with all types of ways to learn (differentiated instruction). Using the Internet in the classroom is a way to differentiate your instruction, motivate and engage learners.
In order to provide our children with the proper tools and knowledge to navigate throughout the Internet it is important for educators to know what they are doing while using the Internet and technology. Through my research and reading (blogs and chapters 1-2) I learned that there are many resources for educators to take advantage of. All it takes is one person to do a little bit of research and world of technology information is at your fingertips. Classroom 2.0 is a great site for educators to join so that they can learn more in our world of technology in the classroom. It is a bit like what we are doing as a class (class blog), but on a larger scale. It includes people from all of the world communicating and sharing ideas about how to incorporate technology into the classroom through blogging. It also provides opportunities for teachers to see live broadcasts with chats, audios, and desktop sharing. I even got an email for an event this Saturday. I will list it below for anyone that is interested in attending. I will also include the link for anyone that wants to join Classroom 2.0. Similar to Classroom 2.0 is The Future of Education. This is another helpful resource for teachers seeking information and that are interested in. The site provides information on Podcasts, recordings, and events. Both resources listed above are something that can easily be incorporated into our “tool bag”. After reviewing the information that these sites provide I came to the realization that this is such a critical area that teachers need to invest their time in. I’m sure that I speak for many of you and for myself, that I have sat through many Act 48 meetings wondering why I was there to begin with. Although, we will probably not get the chance to have a live broadcast from Classroom 2.0 as our Act 48 meeting, this is still something that we should strive to visit and embrace. As educators, we realize the importance of education and therefore understand the implications of continuing to learn ourselves. It is our duty and job to learn what are children are learning and doing.
The Internet and technology can be a great way to differentiate your instruction in the classroom. Throughout my research I found a great article on differentiating instruction using technology ">Article The article, written by Lady Dolandolan and Maria Mercado has a specific section on using the internet to differentiate instruction (bottom of page 1). Using online books, websites (starfall and unitedstreaming), or online generated graphic organizers are all very effective ways to differentiate instruction while using the Internet. I have used unitedsteaming.com in my classroom for several years. It is a great source for showing videos and examples of things that you are teaching. They have a wide variety of information on their site. It is important for children to see information presented in a variety of ways, not just one. Can you remember when we were in school? I remember being excited when I was learning something in a way that fit my learning style the best. Isn’t that how we want our kids to feel when we teach? Similar to the Classroom 2.0, they have a Student 2.0, which is a place for student to go to speak with other students or mentors. I love this idea to have students involved with other people around the world. This might be something that students would do on their own, rather than the classroom. All of these are ways to make the learning environment more conducive to our savvy tech kids.
Most teachers and even some students automatically consider the Internet as a resource tool. Of course we all know that the Internet can be a valuable resource. Interestingly enough, my 6th grade class is completing a research project on a disability of their choice. We have been using Nettrekker.com as our search engine (great site for kids doing research). I decided to take this as an opportunity for a teaching moment and as a chance to implement some of the activities provided from the reading (Chapter 1). We visited the website: ">Robots Students first questioned if there were really robots back in the times of the photos, which then brought to light the URL information. Students were able to understand that not all information on the Internet is valid and helpful. It is their job to look through the information with a watchful eye to see what is useful and valid.
Although all of this information is great and interesting to learn about, we all know that not everyone has these capabilities in their classroom. I come from a very fortunate district where the Internet is constantly working, nothing is blocked, and teachers are given technology every day to use. Strangely enough, we do not have a lot of classes or opportunities to learn more about using the Internet and technology in the classroom. So the question is, how do we change people? How do we make people believe that this is the way of the future for our children? If the administrators do not buy into this, how will the teachers buy into it? I am about 1 in 30 people in my school that tries almost every day to incorporate technology and Internet into my lessons. This is a scary thought. My kids even talk about how they are excited when we do something new using the Internet or technology; they know that barely any teachers use this to their advantage. I guess with the knowledge comes power. I will continue to educate myself and gain the power that I need to help influence my school and other teachers.
If you're interested, this is the event that is occurring tomorrow night through Classroom 2.0
Date: Sat., May 8, 2010
Time: 9:00am PST/10:00am MST/11:00am CST/12:00pm EST
Location: ">Location
Topic: "Piclits: Creating Writing with Images and Keywords"
My links did not seem to work. I will list them below for you to copy and paste into your browser.
ReplyDelete#1 (Article on Differentiated Instruction) - http://www.slideshare.net/dididolan/using-technology-to-differentiate-instruction-1
#2 (website from reading) - http://bigredhair.com/robots/index.html
#3 (Location of meeting) - http://tinyurl.com/cr20live
Thanks for the links, resources, and I'm glad you got the chance to try some of the strategies mentioned in the chapter. Classroom 2.0 is a great resource that has weekly online sessions - professional development. It would be really neat if a school principal asked his/her teachers to each choose a session to watch then during a faculty meeting, have everyone share what they learned/or = add it to a blog to share!
ReplyDeleteKelly, I'm so interested to hear how the unblocked Internet goes over w/teachers and students. My past two school districts I taught in had Internet sites blocked. Sometimes it was frustrating, but I mostly got used to it. When the kids have the chance to use the web, do they often abuse it and digress away from the given assignment? I'm very curious by the reception from everyone in the district!
ReplyDeleteI am very excited that all elementary teacher candidates at Penn State are now required to have MacBook Pro notebook computers as they enter their junior year. These pre-service teachers are learning to use this technology in the elementary classroom with their students. In every methods courses they take they are integrating this tool and learning to use it in their future classrooms. The real challenge is to seamlessly integrate computers and the internet into learning. This may only be accomplished when every child has a computer all the time - just as they now have books. It seems strange that we don't expect kids to share books, but we expect them to share computers. If we really believe this tool is essential, we need to provide every child with access to it.
ReplyDeleteFor most the most part we rarely hear of any problems. I don't think the teachers use it to their advantage. Students however are constantly being watched when they are in the computer labs or library. However, our school has started an anti-cyber bullying program this year. We have had several instances that have occurred outside of school that our administrators are cracking down on. Throughout the year, the kids take part in several activities that involve internet safety. From the activities and lessons that I have run, the students seem to have an idea of what it is and how to act appropriately, it's just if they decide to make those choices when they are on the internet.
ReplyDeleteAlso, our school does have all students sign an internet policy in the beginning of the year. If students do not sign this they are not allowed to use computers. Our students seem to know the rules and follow them. However, this is a middle school (6-8 grade) so I'm sure there are many things happening that I am unaware of.