On the Road to Technology Integration...
Do you sometimes feel that it seems impossible to keep up with the latest trends in education? Do you feel like you finally get something down and then it seems so outdated? Well this realization happened four years ago when my classroom had the fortunate experience to take part in a pilot program to see the impact technology had on education. This meant that my students would be at a 1:1 with iPads in my classroom. Having a one-to-one device in the fingertips of my students became a luxury and a learning experience for us all. It is wonderful how technology changes the way we teach, how our students learn, and the way we can communicate with one another. I have learned that today’s students gravitate towards technology and are much more engaged when they are participating in activities utilizing technology. I have seen first-hand the amazing impact it has had on my students and how it has helped me grow professionally. I am so lucky to be in a school that values technology and have seen how it has really become part of the norm. I’m a beginner on this road to technology integration, but I thought I’d share some things I have found quite useful along the way.Click the link below to check out 50+ FREE amazing tech tools that will engage your students. These are some highly recommended 21st century applications!
50 Free Tech Tools For Your Classroom
Learn and Grow Together
Integrating technology effectively can seem overwhelming
and time consuming, but learning and growing together will help relieve some of
the anxiety you may be feeling. I have
heard the comments being made, “Not one more thing” or “It’s just too
much.” However, we live in a digital age
and our job as educators is to prepare our students to be college and career
ready. This means our students will be
using technology that hasn’t even been invented yet. “With the accelerating pace of social and
technological change, the World Economic Forum estimates that 65 percent of children today will end up in
careers that don't even exist yet” (Kielburger, 2017). You might be wondering…How am I going to prepare
a student to do a job that doesn’t even exist yet? Well the answer is exploration, creating, problem
solving, collaboration and communication!
Not having all the answers is okay.
Taking risks and trying new things allows our students to develop these problem
solving skills when they are learning alongside their teacher. It’s okay to take risks and try something
out! If it fails, make adjustments next
time and learn and grow from this experience together. We often learn more from failure. Failure leads to success and allows us to
make more connections and problem solve.
We can learn so much from our students by giving them the opportunity to
have ownership of their learning.
This video gives some great advice on how we can prepare our kids for the future.
This video gives some great advice on how we can prepare our kids for the future.
Releasing the Power
In a world where we have access to information in the palm
of our hand, I decided to have one of my guided reading groups go around the
world with an iPad using the Reading A-Z app.
My students read various books about places around the world such as
Alaska, Egypt, China, Japan, The Amazon, Australia, and the Galapagos
Islands. While reading these books my
students participated in a multitude of research skills that included note
taking from text, watching video clips, using a safe search engine, KidRex, to
find more information about these places, and creating presentations. I was impressed with their hunger for
knowledge and learning more about the world around them. Navigating non-fiction selections was a skill
that was taught from the beginning. My
educational assistant and I showed them how to read utilizing text features to
make the rigorous reading selections easier to understand. They were advanced readers, but needed
enriching projects to demonstrate the importance of reading to learn. Technology became the essential tool that
allowed me to differentiate instruction and begin to personalize learning for
my students. It was difficult at first
to release the power and hand so much responsibility to these students, but technology
provided them with a way to seek out the world around them and learn about a
place they could one day visit. I love
showing students that it is a big world out there and that there is so much to
do and see. I feel that technology is a
way that everyone can have the opportunity to see and learn about the amazing
places in our world. As an educator, I
enjoy utilizing technology to allow diverse learners the opportunity to achieve
their highest potential. Virtual
Reality
has become a new trend that has fascinated me and allowed me to see that
learners
can be transported to a reality you never thought possible. If you can
get your hands on these devices, you can transport your learners to
places you never thought possible.
Click the link below to check out my infographic to see how this trend can
transform education.
https://create.piktochart.com/output/27451184-jamie-tellish-edt6020
Connect Kids Globally
“Technology is the language today’s students speak”
(Delzer, 2015). Students need a digital
foot print that will prepare them for their future. Communication and collaboration are skills
students will need to be successful in their future occupations. Start now!
Connect globally and allow students to have experiences outside the
classroom walls. Allow them to see that
social media can be used to make connections and learn from experts around the
world. Let them see that working together
and developing problem solving skills will help them interact with the world
around them. It might seem scary, but
remember doing what’s best for kids is what we strive to do. Providing students with these opportunities
will help prepare them for their futures.
·
Create a class Twitter account
·
Join ePals
·
Skype a class or expert in a field
The possibilities are endless and will continue to change
rapidly. New trends roll in and another
trend will shortly take its place. The
road to technology integration is ever-changing and staying on top of these
trends can be very time-consuming. Reach
out to other professionals, follow educators on Twitter, and check out blogs
that interest you! But keep in mind…it
doesn’t happen overnight! It’s a
learning experience that becomes an adventure you and your students will share
throughout the year. Remember…relax and
have fun.
Click the link below for some interesting information to reflect upon. This will illustrate the significance of preparing our children for the future.
A. (2016, September 03). Did You Know (Officially updated for 2018). Retrieved February 08, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u06BXgWbGvA
Kellogg, K. (2016, June 10). 50 Free Tech Tools For Your Classroom. Retrieved February 08, 2018, from https://www.simplek12.com/ipads-mobile-learning/50-free-tech-tools-for-your-classroom/
Kielburger, C. A. (2017, May 19). How Can We Prepare Kids
For Jobs That Don't Exist Yet? Retrieved February 07, 2018, from http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/craig-and-marc-kielburger/future-job-market_b_16687862.html
T. (2015, October 13). Reimagining Classrooms: Teachers as
Learners and Students as Leaders | Kayla Delzer | TEDxFargo. Retrieved February
07, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6vVXmwYvgs
Jamie your blog is very inviting, nice work! I really enjoyed how honest your post was. I am guilty of saying "one more thing", when do I have time for that, but you are right, technology is not going anyway and as educators it is our job to prepare our students for the future. We cannot prepare them for college or careers if they are unable to use technology. When I first starting incorporating technology into my classroom it was a struggle because I was spending extra time preparing lessons and learning about new resources, but now that I have learned about new resources it is so much easier. I think it is important for educators to remember that in the beginning it will be challenging, but it will pay off and not only help your students but make your life as the classroom teacher easier. I often utilize Clever, google docs, google classroom, and smartlab in my classroom. Do you Skype often in your classroom? Is there a data base I could visit to access other teachers that want to Skype with their classes? Thanks so much, great work!
ReplyDeleteThank you Dana!
ReplyDeleteI have also been in the position where I have said these same words, but taking things into perspective and realizing that it's okay to start small was definitely the point I wanted to make. I found through the years that technology has actually made my job much easier. In the beginning, there's a lot more "leg work" in figuring out the applications, but the benefits far outweigh the front-load of work put in just as you said! When I taught second grade and my classroom was right beside the technology lab I used Skype a lot more. We had a unit where we studied bees and my cousin works for the state department of Virginia specifically with the bee population, so we used Skype to have her share her knowledge of bees with the class. My students enjoyed this experience so much! As far as a database, I am not aware of any, I have always had a personal connection with the people I have used Skype with. Honestly, since I have been in first grade I have not used it.
I have heard about ePals which sounds like a great way to expose kids globally, but I haven't tried it yet. These technology classes have opened my eyes to the wide range of technology that is out there.
I am also very interested to hear about Clever! I have never heard of that before. I will definitely have to check that out!
Thanks for sharing!
Jamie,
ReplyDeleteI love your blog. I have also said "one more thing" at times. However, I do love learning how to incorporate technology into the classroom. A couple of times over the past few years we have spent our faculty meetings or inservice days learning about a new piece of technology. One faculty meeting we learned about Kahoot. During another we spent time learning about Plickers. During these times I remember thinking, "at last, we are learning about something useful." Too often I feel we have a faculty meeting or inservice just because it is that day on the calendar, not because they have something useful to talk to us about. Learning about ways to incorporate technology is very useful and no one left those meetings feeling like they were a waste of time.
I love the group activity you used with your advanced group. Although I do not think that would work with the needs of my class this year, it would have been great to complete something like that with my class last year. I am also a little jealous of your 1:1 technology resources. We share one ipad cart with the entire first grade (6 classes). Thanks for sharing. I really enjoyed reading your blog.
Thank you so much for your comments, Dawn! I have had the same experiences at my school, where technology has been a focus during faculty meetings. We actually had a few teachers that were willing to share a technology that worked great in their room and we could go to mini sessions on topics we were interested in incorporating into our classrooms. I often think professional development means a lot more coming from within our building, because as a county we are at all various stages of having enough technology.
ReplyDeleteYes, my school is very lucky to be at a 1:1 in first, second, and third grade, but that is something my principal really values. We did a lot of fundraising for this to happen. It truly makes a difference in what my students are able to do. I am still learning so much! Wow! That must be challenging sharing one cart among that many students, but it's great that you have found ways to make it work, such as Plickers.
Thanks so much for sharing!