Technology for Pre-Assessment

For a TE 401 class we had to create a Digital Story.  The one we made was focusing on a pre-assessment of Kindergarteners’ knowledge about the shape of the Earth.  Just thought I would share it and show how teachers can use technology to help them shape their lessons.

New Technology Opportunities Lost

In my school that I am currently placed in, there are not many opportunities for the students to use technology.  Even though the school tries to have computers in most of the classrooms, there is never enough for students to all use and when they get a chance to have an assignment on the computer they never get much time by themselves to learn and explore.  In my classroom there are only 4 computers that the students are able to use and sometimes not all of them work, so when the students are in groups working on the computers they must share.  Even though it is great that the students even have access to computers I wish the school would try to explore different ways that they can use the technology to their advantage.  When students are on the computer they are mostly going onto a few selected websites that have quick games that help them in language arts and math.  Although this is great the kids get to have fun with their learning, there is just so much more than can be done on the computer besides games as we have talked about in class. 

My teacher does try to use the technology available to her when she can, for example when writing stories we would have meetings with individual students at the computers so that they can edit their writing with a teacher on the computer.  This I thought was great because the students didn’t have to go through what I had to as a kid of re-writing and re-writing the paper over and over again until the teacher approved.  Now the students can make simple changes to their work without going through the painstaking process of handwriting all of your work when there were only a few grammatical errors.  Though I think this is a great way for the students to use the technology in the classroom, I do not feel that they are not exploring more possible uses for the computers in the classroom.  I sat in on a meeting with a couple of teachers and the topic of technology did come up in the meeting.  Most of the teachers were talking about how they are still unfamiliar with most of the functions that the computers can do and that they are still having issues with understanding their email.  With that knowledge of the teachers not being able to be well trained in the new developments in technology, I wonder if the technology is developing faster than the schools can keep up and multiple opportunities are being lost.

Digital Stories

Lately in some of my classes I have been introduced to the concept of Digital Stories.  At first I was confused by exactly what the purpose of a Digital Story might be, it just looked like another version of a PowerPoint to me.  One of my teachers that showed an example of a Digital Story didn’t really explain too well on what exactly it can entail.  The first example that was shown to the class was for the most part slides of information that had some music to go along with it.  That Digital Story was not impressive and did not make be interested at all in using this style ever in my classroom. 

Later on we were able to see one Digital Story that consisted of students signing a rap about the water cycle and recycling that really caught my attention.  The Digital Story doesn’t have to just be made by the teacher, which was not explained very well.  These students were able to make their own unique video showing that they understood the material discussed in class.  After watching that example I became much more advocate in the using of Digital Stories in a classroom.  Yes, one of the ways to use this style of teaching can be just displaying the facts with some interesting music, however I believe it is capable to let students show their individuality and creative ability.  These students were able to have control over their own assignment by being allowed to create a movie as long as it was about what they have learned in the unit.  This also allows students to really evaluate and see if they did understand the material instead of just sitting quietly in the classroom filling out essay questions about the material.  In addition this is a great tool for teachers to present the information to their students in a way that could capture their attention better instead of lecturing in front of the classroom.

Future of Books

Today one of the biggest electronics that people are trying to get is items such as the IPad, Kindle and Nook.  All of these items have the capabilities to let the user read and download multiple books.  With these new electronics the user can have access to hundreds of books without needing to go to a library or a book store.  In addition they can take these electronics anywhere and not have to worry about the weight or the space needed to bring an actual book along with them.

In addition to these personalized electronics that are developing, schools are heading in the same direction.  Schools are trying to provide more and more opportunities for students to get easy access to books needed on the computer.  These books that turning electronic are known as eBooks, which I absolutely love to use.  By having eBooks available, students do not have to always worry if they go to a library that their book might be checked out.  I for one have had situations where the one book that I need to complete a project is checked out and then I must scramble to find another location that is relatively close by and has the same book.  Most of the time when this situation arises I am not lucky enough to find the one book that I need and must try to figure out a way to either do the project without the book or find an alternative book.  However, even when I do think of an alternative way to complete my work, the whole situation of not having the book available to me makes the project take much longer to finish than was needed in the first place.

With eBooks this problem is slowly diminishing.  By having books available on the computer or internet people can view a book at the same time and not have to worry if the person before them will turn in the book on time or if they will renew it making you wait even longer for the book.  Now students that do not have the capability to even make it to a library or a bookstore can have the convenience of receiving the book in their own home.  In addition for eBooks to being convenient for students that might not have the resources to get their own books, the eBooks can also help students with special needs.  The eBooks have multiple features including the capability to help a student follow along with the book and help highlight words that are unknown to the reader and assist them.