Oh.....the things I have learned

Incorporate technology into your lesson

NOT

Your lesson into the technology

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My last three courses on integrating technology into the classroom have become the most rewarding experiences I have had throughout my professional careers. My journey of learning how to take technology and incorporate it into the students learning has evoked a passion even I never thought it existed. My whole life I have told myself that I just want to find that one thing, besides my family, that I can be passionate about. The career that will allow me to feel like I have a purpose, I have a focus, and I want to continue to learn from it. But most of all, a career that I can help others become successful. Well, I have to say, at this point in my life, I have found it. And I thought it would take my whole life to try to uncover it.

My last career in the media field involved me working with technology. I loved it. I loved the problem solving aspect of technology. I loved the ease of technology. I loved the outcome of technology. I loved the integration technology brings. But I did not enjoy the atmosphere that I was experience this love in. I knew there was another place for me. I stepped away from the media field to pursue my dream of becoming a teacher. And even as I began my academics, I did not feel that passion, until I took Computers in the Classroom. This is when my passion began. I was able to take the two strong interests in my life and pair them together; teaching and technology. Yahoo!

The three technology course each created a different layer of learning technology. When I first started I didn’t even know what Web 2.O meant. I thought it was a software program. I also had no clue what I was doing. I learned in Computers in the Classroom the difference between a digital native and a digital immigrant. Boy was I an immigrant. I sat in that class listening to several of the younger students, the digital natives, speaking a language I knew nothing about; web 2.0 tools, wikispaces, weebly, prezi, the cloud, digital citizenship. Wow, talk about feeling like you are from a different place. I was overwhelmed but determined. I was not determined to prove something to myself, like I wasn’t that old was I? But I thought, I need to learn as much as I can because my students I will be teaching are digital natives. And I want to provide them with the best education that I can possible give them. In order to do this I need to learn their “digital native world.” As I progressed I realized that I was not so far behind because of my previous background in the media field. It was not so much the technology I had to learn, but the tools that were out there and how to find them.

Once I became comfortable with the tools, a whole new world opened up. With each new tool I was introduced to in the courses, my mind began to twist and turn on how I could implement them into my classroom. Except at the beginning I was looking at it all wrong. I was looking at the technology and how I could put it into my curriculum. The technology was fascinating me on how creative the tools were and how the students would love to work with them. I would look at a tool, for example a website, and say I want this in my classroom. Once I did that I started to panic. How am I going to get a website in my curriculum? I need to get technology in the classroom or I am going to be behind. The students need this technology. I have to create a lesson for me to integrate the website into the curriculum.  Talk about crazy thoughts. This time was very stressful for me until I was involved with a Skype call from Aviva. Aviva is a elementary teacher that integrates technology into her 1^st and 2^nd grade classroom. After listening to her speak about how she using technology, it wasn’t about what she said, but it was through her passion and her explanations that I came to my own understanding of technology in the classroom; incorporate the technology into the lessons, not the lessons into the technology.

 This statement will stay with me for the rest of my teaching career. As teachers we already have our lessons in place. We know what we want to teach our students and what we want them to get out of the lesson. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. With technology we just need to incorporate technology into the existing lesson to tweak it or to “kick it up a notch.” For instance, I have a lesson where the students have to perform a skit to demonstrate the dos and don’ts of positive parenting. The skit is used as an assessment tool for their understanding of positive parenting. Well, why not use a tool like GoAnimate.com or Bitstrip.com to have the student create comic strips to demonstrate their understanding. The lesson is still the same; the activity is just performed by use of technology.  In some senses using technology allows for extra learning that the students may not even know they are involved in. With the skits, students would work in groups, discuss what they will say and then perform their skits in front of the class. With using the Web 2.0 tools such as GoAnimate.com, students had to write up their skits first (literacy skills), work on them and discuss with their partners (collaboration), create their comics by choosing characters, setting, etc. (collaboration and decision making), and then play their comic strip to make sure it fits the expectations of the assignment (evaluation). I did not change the lesson; I just change the assessment tool. Once I had the understanding of incorporating the technology into the lessons, my ideas became endless. Now when I am beginning a lesson I think, “is there a technology I can use in place of what activity is planned?” But don’t get me wrong, I still have students do skits and create posters with markers. I feel these are just as important tools to use in the classroom and don’t feel that they should be removed.

Armed with this understanding I am able to look at technology in the classroom in a completely different way. I am not intimidated by it like I felt I was. I have the understanding that I don’t have to use every technology out there. I don’t have to overload on technology in the classroom. I also have learned that what technology may work well for one class, may not work well with another class. Each class and each level of learners in your class will determine the technology you should use. And if you think, like I did, that it will take too much time to teach your students the technology, think again. We are teaching digital natives. My experience is that they know how to use most technology before you even show them. I spend very little time on how to use the technology as opposed to the time I have to spend on explaining the lesson. This works out exactly as it should.

The courses I have taken have provided me with an understanding how to accommodate technology to the different level learners. Implementing technology for literacy skills was a connection I had not made prior to taking the course Integrating Technology and Literacy. I was able to obtain the knowledge of how technology can be used to continue to help develop literacy skills for students. Students utilizing a blog in the classroom aids in all aspects of their development of reading and writing skills. Creating a digital story allows students to decipher and comprehend a topic. Creating a wiki space provides a playing field for students to collaborate while enhancing literacy skills. A Voki lets students hear what they are saying so they can decipher what and where they need improvements. These tools help students read, write, organize their thoughts, hear the outcome, and many other aspects associated with enhancing their literacy skills. Technology becomes another tool that helps create the strategies for students to learn.

One of my most rewarding experiences with my courses was when I learned about assistive technology in Technology for Learners. The course opened up my eyes to the many tools available to aid ALL students. Students are able to be on the same playing field for learning. What assistive technology reiterated for me is that all students have the ability to learn, some students may need a different aid or tool to achieve this, just like I depend on spell check when I write my papers. Just like for me, assistive technology does not enable students to learn, assistive technology empowers students to learn. For me, if I do not know how to spell a word, spell check will help me. After several times of being corrected and noticing how I am spelling it wrong, I eventually spell it right. This is what assistive technology can do for those students that need the tools to succeed. The impact that assistive technology has on student learning is their ability to be part of the class. Programs such as text to read, talking word processors, graphic organizers along with numerous applications for tablets, provide students with the connection to classroom learning.   

I cannot skip over the importance the role teachers have in educating students about digital citizenship. Digital Citizenship plays an important part in incorporating technology into the curriculum. Students need to know their role they play while participating on-line. As teachers we cannot assume that students understand the importance of being polite, using appropriate language, not using their full names, and being empathetic towards those that are not acting like positive role models on-line. The process of becoming a digital citizen is not a one-shot-deal. This process should be on-going and incorporated into all lessons. We, as teachers, are the students’ connection toward on-line participation therefore we are connected to developing positive digital citizens.   

There was a time that I was intimidated about using technology in the classroom. I also was panicked as to how I could create lessons for particular technology. Well, as I had stated earlier, it is incorporating the technology into the learning, not the learning into the technology. Understanding the use of technology in this manner will allow teachers to succeed in the integration of technology into the classroom and therefore provide students with another tool to empower their learning.

What have you learned about technology in the classroom? What do you want to learn about technology in the classroom? 

Voklog - An innovative Literacy Project

                                                                    Students Voki

Thinking about using a Voki for the literacy project did not make sense to me at first. I was not sure how a talking avatar could help with the continued development of literacy skills for students. I then began to think of what other tools I could use for the project. I went right to the obvious, a blog. A blog allows students to write about what they have learned, and apply their understanding through words. I began to pursue this route only to realize that verbal content plays an important role in how students are able to process the information they have learned. The avatar was a connection to the creativity students could have toward developing a verbal understanding of their comprehension of the topic. The Voki and blog allowed the students to convey through technology their learning. Thus the Voklog was born. (The name Voklog actually was created by the students because I kept trying to say Voki blog and would stumble over them.)

This project turned out to be fun for all of us. For me it was a pleasure to experience the level of engagement the students had toward the assignment. It also was a rewarding moment for me when I read their blogs and heard their Vokis and got the understanding that they “got it.” Also the whole process required minimal work on my part.

The students expressed verbally their enjoyment of the project on several occasions. But as a bystander, the students did not have to because it was evident that they were engaged by their actions. The students would come into class and immediately sit down at the computers and get to work on the assignment. I did not have to encourage them at all. And that was with every single student in the class.

The results of the literacy project proved once again to me that technology can play a key part in the continued development of literacy skills. The Voki allowed students to hear their organization, use of words and the clarity of conveying what they want to say. The blog allowed them to enhance their written words. Students evaluated each other’s work which guided students toward an understanding of their own writing, aided in the development of their peers writing, and created collaboration for the whole project in general.

                                                                     Student Voki

Again I see the benefits of incorporating technology into the learning and look forward to using this literacy lesson for my future classes.

What is your reaction toward a Voki being used as a literacy skill? Would you or do you use Vokis in your class? What technology tools do you use for your students to develop literacy skills? Have you used a blog? Why or why not have you used a blog in your curriculum?

Kidblog is not just for kids

I had started using kidblog.org this school year. When I began to learn about using a blog in the classroom I had many concerns. I was not sure about the security of the blog, how I would use the blog, would it take away from the development of their literary skills and/or would the students like using it. These were just some of my concerns, I am sure there were several more but I can’t remember them now because I could not imagine not using a blog within the curriculum.

After researching several blogging platforms to use, I decided to test out kidblog.org. What I decided was that I wanted a blog where students could post their thoughts and learning without feeling like the whole world was reading them. I wanted the environment to be for the students within the course, not public. I also wanted it to be a platform that I could add images, links, video, and be able to embed information if I needed to. The other option I was looking for was for the students to be able to create and edit their own posts. I also wanted to be able to manage the information being posted before it went live. Besides the privacy and management concerns, I also needed a blog platform that did not require an email address from all students. I wanted this because some students may not have email accounts, and/or some parents may not want their students to use their accounts.  

 

This is how kidbolg.org came along for me. The kidblog.org platform allows me to do all of this. I was able to set up the students accounts for them with their first name and they picked their own password. Although I had saved their passwords, by having the students create their own they tend not to forget it. I also am able to insert images, videos, links and more. Kidblog.org provides several templates for you to choose your own look and allows for color changes and font changes to your liking. It is easy and simple to make these changes at any time. I had the students pick which template they would like the class to use. And as a side note, I use kidblog.org in the secondary level although it indicates on its homepage that it is geared for elementary and middle school teaching. Nothing about the blog interface indicates that it is for younger students.

The biggest success I had of understanding if using a blog in the classroom would interest the students was proven to me when I introduced the blog to the students toward the end of one class period. Right after I told them, I had posted a current event article with some questions. I posted this at 2:15. At 3:00 when I got home I checked the blog. All but three students had submitted a post. And by the next time the class met, all students had submitted a post. This showed me the interest the students had with using technology such as a blog. I began using the blog more and more in the class and I foresee that I will continue to use a blog for my future courses.  

Kidblog.org provides management pages, called the dashboard, that allow you to organize and monitor what is going on within the blog. The dashboard is straight forward and easy to navigate through. The dashboard allows you to set up the blog. You can monitor the blog posts before they post for all to read, as opposed to allowing posts to be published immediately. I had monitored the posts from the students at the infancy of the blog, so I could monitor their posts as well as direct them with appropriate language and manners if needed (digital citizenship, to read more about Digital Citizenship). And now I am at the point where the students post are immediately viewed. I got to the point where I feel comfortable that students are following the proper expectations. The dashboard also helps to keep track of who is posting and the time and date the students are posting. This is helpful if you give a deadline time for when the assignment is due. This area also lets you add and delete users, set up new accounts, and/or change passwords.

And kidblog.org is FREE!!!!

If you are worried about literacy skills, students are typing the same information they would in an essay if you set the expectations. Using the same method as you would for grading an essay can be applied to grading their blog posts. Although you cannot make private comments directly to the students and their work, you can copy and paste their posts into a document file and make comments that way. Or into an email and add the comments. Creating writing rubric will aid in this process. Make sure to add in appropriate on-line use and language within the rubric. Peer evaluations can also be incorporated by students replying to other student’s posts. This helps students learn how to give positive feedback to those that may need it. These replies were also monitored at the beginning of using them. Now students in my class post and comment freely. They have developed a respect for the blog as well as for each other.

Can you see using kidblog.org or another blogging tool in your classroom? How would you use it? What are your concerns? Do you use a blog now? What are the benefits of using a blog in class? How else do you see the connection to blogs and literacy skills?