At this point in the field of education we know the value of incorporating technology into our instructional strategies and classrooms more generally. But what types of technology promote both learning and motivation for students?
This is an interesting question, as it has formed the theme for my upcoming presentation about appealing to the net generation or generation z. Spoiler alert: To avoid giving away too much of my groups presentation ideas, I will examine only one article that attempts to answer the question 'what technology do you have in your class?'
The Ontario College of Teachers published an article recently about this topic in their Professionally Speaking magazine. This article looks at leading-edge uses of technology in the classroom as ways to enhance the curriculum.
Danika Baker OCT, is a media-literacy and English teacher at the high school level. Baker proposed the solution of using digital tools to address the problem of engaging her texting grade 12 students. Baker is undergoing an experiment with her students to use Twitter to role-play Hamlet.
I wonder what the hash tag was? #ToThineOwnSelfBeTrue #ToBeOrNotToBe #ThatIsTheQuestion #WordsWordsWords ...Can you tell I love Hamlet?
Baker is a tech-savvy teacher that uses digital tools from Glogster to Bitstrips and Twitter to Voicethread. What is most inspiring about her courageous and bold experimentation with technology, is how she expressed that the learning continues after something has been handed in, marked and returned. The dialogue is interactive and living. Baker ends her article with the encouraging words "you can do it too".
Ultimately we are living in the 21st century and teaching students who are digitally native. Welcome to the future of education, embrace it, love it, do it!
Yours truly,
the tech savvy classy
http://professionallyspeaking.oct.ca/march_2012/features/tech_class.aspx#.UQHntThlF0w.gmail
I'm not too familiar with Danika Baker, but I'd be leery of using digital tools to address the problem of engaging my students. I'm sure her work is awesome, and I'm sure what she's accomplished is awesome, but I've always found that if my students are not engaged no amount of technology is going to engage them. I have to find a way to run my classroom, to deliver lessons, and to interact so that they are engaged with me so I can lead them to the lesson. Technology is just one of the things I use to assist me in this goal.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the wise caution. Danika Baker is a certified teacher who happend to be published in the Ontario College of Teachers magazine. I agree that technology is just one way or "one tool" to use in engaging students, and that teacher's should use a variety of instructional strategies to motivate students. Thanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteWow that sounds neat! A lot of students struggle through Shakespeare so I think using technology to engage them is awesome. But because I don't really know Twitter, I don't totally understand how this would work? Can you explain what exactly she had them do? Or maybe I will find out in our presentation:)
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. It is very neat to see how teachers are implementing technology in the classroom now a days, compared to when we went to school.
ReplyDelete