Services
Focus on Function: Innovative Uses of Technology
By Jim Moulton
1/9/08En route to work in a school in Illinois, I was sitting in a narrow seat on a regional jet. It had been a bit of a long day, and I began to drift off to sleep, only to be snapped back awake time after time by the uncomfortable shape of the headrest. I needed a pillow, but this was a late-afternoon flight on a regional jet, meaning my chance of getting one was nil.
So I took my paperback copy of Daniel H. Pink's A Whole New Mind, rolled it up, placed it at the base of my neck, and slept. It wasn't quite the ever-sought-after "like a baby" version of sleep, but the support of this fine tome (seriously: Pink's book has made a huge impact on my thinking, and I urge all to read it) gave me the support my spine needed in that pesky base-of-the-neck region.
And this experience got me to thinking about innovative uses of stuff, and I remembered a high school science teacher from South Portland, Maine, who was in a session in which I was demonstrating the ProScope digital microscope. She was impressed with the device but shared that, using a simple point-and-shoot digital camera and a traditional microscope, she and her students were collecting dramatic images that were proving effective in supporting student understanding of complex concepts.
In a previous post, I wrote about various ways a digital projector can be used in a classroom, and many of those ideas go more than a bit beyond the traditional uses of projecting a computer screen onto a larger screen or even an interactive whiteboard.
But I know there are brilliant innovations out there I will never think of, so my question is, "How are you using technology in innovative ways to support your teaching and kids' learning?" Go for it -- surprise us!
And, as a bonus, after you read A Whole New Mind, you'll understand just how fundamentally important this innovation thing is.
Focus on function: innovative uses of technology
Submitted by Sarah (not verified) on March 25, 2008 - 10:29.
I teach 6th grade Science and have received lots of new technology equipment this year. In all of our classrooms we received a projector, laptop, document cam, and wireless mouse. I have established a regular use of the document cam for everyday things, the wireless mouse and projector are great for powerpoints. I also make use of a CPS system where students have an individual remote and respond to questions on the projector. I give several assessments using the CPS system, which provides the students with immediate feedback.
Clicker systems...
Submitted by Jim R. Moulton (not verified) on March 26, 2008 - 05:59.
CPS systems can be a powerful tool for formative assessment - they provide the capability for a teacher to ask a "quick question" to check for understanding before moving on to a new concept. Assessment for learning and of learning as opposed to strictly summative assessments is so important... Here is some more thinking on this: http://alearninghedgie.blogspot.com/2007/10/formative-assessment.html
Cool idea for activity -- write text adventures
Submitted by J.P. Tuttle (not verified) on February 10, 2008 - 20:28.
Hey--
As far as I know, I've never seen this used in schools, but I think there's a lot of potential for activities in English class. Ever play any of the old Infocom text adventures -- Adventure, Zork, etc? Basically, the game would describe where you were, and you would type in a command -- "go north", "examine book", etc.
Inform 7:
http://www.inform-fiction.org/I7/Inform%207.html
is a natural-language text-adventure design system. To quote their web page:
"In place of traditional computer programming, the design is built by writing natural English-language sentences:
- Martha is a woman in the Vineyard.
- The cask is either customs sealed, liable to tax or stolen goods.
- The prevailing wind is a direction that varies.
- The Old Ice House overlooks the Garden.
- A container is bursting if the total weight of things in it is greater than its breaking strain."
It's quite easy to use, comes with a bunch of well-written documentation, and runs on Windows or Mac. One could probably have lots of fun using it to write interactive stories and to study aspects of stories (plot, character, dialogue, etc.)
Just a neat idea.
-- J.P. Tuttle
Student's Perspective
Submitted by J.P. Tuttle (not verified) on February 10, 2008 - 20:01.
I'm not a teacher (I'm a college freshman), but I've definitely had some cool teachers in the past in regards to technology.
Ms. Wigfall, at Boston Latin Academy, was my 7th grade math teacher. She wrote her own computer programs (in Visual Basic) to generate problems to do in class (complete with solutions) or to quiz students. She also used PowerPoint, and developed the odd ability to write quite legibly with a normal computer mouse (using the PowerPoint pen tool). Definitely cool.
Other cool technology would of course include SketchUp (I have used it; not in school, however). If you need something fancier than SketchUp, Blender is a great open-source, cross-platform (Windows/OS X/Linux) 3D suite. It takes quite a bit of getting used to, but it's extremely powerful. Other cool open-source apps include Inkscape (similar to Adobe Illustrator), The GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP -- yes, I know, it needs a new name) -- similar to Photoshop, and FreeMind -- a free mind-mapping program.
If you look around on Google, there are tons of lists of open-source software. Check some of it out -- it's quite awesome.
-- J.P. Tuttle
My Use of Technology
Submitted by Shannon Coombs (not verified) on January 29, 2008 - 15:35.
I teach 9th and 10th grade English, and I am always looking for new ways to bring technology into my classroom. I set up Power Point presentations to review information with my students. I try to do "Jeopardy" style games with using a projector and will often let my students be "Alex Trebek." It keeps them all involved in the lessons.
I also use the laptop labs in my classroom when students are learning about the Holocaust. I allow them to go through websites that show them the different concentration camps and what took place in each of them. While they are doing this, they take notes of specific information they received and found particularly insightful on the word program that is on the computers. They reflect on the information and pose questions to other students on what they found. It proves to be rather interesting because there are many websites conducive to Holocaust research.
Another lesson I like to do would be when we watch a video in the classroom, I set it up on my laptop and at particular points, I will pause the video and pull up discussion questions on the screen . This way, it is more visual and stimulating to students. I use different colors on slides for different information, and when it comes down to testing, I have actually had students say "Oh wait. This question or information was on the (green) screen. I remember now." I find that very interesting.
I look forward to learning more technology skills I can learn and value information given to me. I hope these ideas were helpful as well.
Shannon
Primary Classroom Uses of Technology
Submitted by Kacie Heitlauf (not verified) on January 28, 2008 - 19:35.
I am a 2nd grade teacher in a technology enhanced district. My district is located in Redmond, Washington, where Microsoft has built its foundation. Maybe being in the same area has provided a sort of technological precedent that is trying to be duplicated for our children. Our district has successfully provided Promethean ActivBoards (a type of Smartboard) and document cameras for every single classroom, K-12. I have only been teaching for two years and I was overwhelmed with the technology options that I had for my teaching practices and my students learning. Students are growing up in an ever advancing, technology-centered world and all of the new educational tools are making it easier to engage and motivate children in the classroom.
I use the ActivBoard for interactive presentations, educational video clips about important historical events (mostly found on www.unitedstreaming.com) and as a traditional whiteboard to write on and where students can write on as well. Students are always very engaged when I am looking for someone to show their work or demonstrate a math problem. I can also copy and paste any image that we are discussing such as famous paintings when doing an art lesson. By copying these images onto my ActivBoard flipchart, I can highlight certain aspects that exemplify the lesson’s objective. The ActivBoard is run by software located on my projection computer, so I can also access the Internet and other programs and applications. This is very useful when showing my students a new program or website I would like them to visit during our twice-weekly computer lab visits.
The document camera has a variety of functions that meet my students’ needs. Of course it can display any flat paper or object without being made into a transparency like overheads required. My document camera is used to model student construction or manipulatives in math. It is very useful when examining something up close, like in our life science unit about insects. We were talking about the body structures of an insect and I was able to stick a mealworm under the camera and magnify it, so the students could see exactly what I was talking about. With any visual that I wanted to save, I could take a picture of the image that would save onto my projection computer. I feel like the technological possibilities are endless for my students and me.
Technolgy in the classroom
Submitted by Jennifer Brown (not verified) on January 28, 2008 - 20:50.
If you want to give students an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned, allow them to use micosoft publisher to create brochures. Older students get very creative with powerpoint presentations as well. It gives them a break from written tests and reports.
Tech Use in my Classrrom
Submitted by Jeanne (not verified) on January 28, 2008 - 18:16.
I have a pre-k class so student use is limited for technology because they are young and I do not have student computers. However, I use powerpoint and digital stories with them. I also let them use the digital camera to create their own digital books. I use technology to type a daily news to the families and to create digital portfoliios for assessment. There are many other ways to use technology. It is so amazing. With older students I have done webquests as well. It is wonderful to see everyone's ideas that are posted. I have knowledge of smartboards but they are not yet popular in my area - I can't wait until they are.
Jeanne
Technology in the classroom
Submitted by Karen Mullins (not verified) on January 28, 2008 - 16:18.
I teach Computer Technology and multimedia classes.(9-12th grade) A recent assignment is for our multimedia class to make videos for the students who are transitioning from the elementary to the middle school and from middle school to high school. The students love this opportunity to share information they have learned with their younger friends and relatives (we are a small school). Additionally, our web design class is making web pages for each teacher in our school so that parents and community members may access classroom assignments and teacher notes. Our science teachers seem to be the most adept at using technology outside of the business dept. They have their students make movies using Windows movie maker about cell development and they use their smartboards all the time.
Blogging within the classroom
Submitted by Jenny (not verified) on January 28, 2008 - 15:42.
During a staff meeting this year, a social studies teacher talked about how great blogging is and how he is using it in his classroom. I had no clue what he was talking about or how blogging could help my students as I didn't even know blogging existed. This teacher set up a blog with his various classes for reviews before tests. He would post each individual question from a review and the students could go into the website and answer the review question or ask a fellow classmate about the question. This may be a little bit harder in math classes where writing mathematically takes some time; however, I am excited to give it a try after learning how beneficial and exciting this can be for my students.
Are there any math teachers out there that have done anything similar to this? Or does anyone else have an idea for incorporating technology into a math classroom?
Thank you in advance! Jenny
Post new comment