TEACHING MODULE
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Technology Integration
How to Integrate Technology
Finding the right tools to implement in the classroom.
Handhelds Go to Class:
Teacher Josh Barron and one of his students often go through the strange-looking rite of "beaming" information to each other.
Students often become engaged learners when technology is a seamless part of their curriculum. Technology integration changes classroom dynamics, encouraging project-based learning and constructivist thought.
Think about what you are doing in the classroom with your students: What projects are they working on? What resources are they using? What tools are being used? Is technology use transparent and varied?
If your answer is 'No,' then how does technology integration begin? It begins when teachers and students use technology because it is the right tool to use. It is students using the Internet to do research. It is students creating Web sites to teach others about earthquakes and disaster readiness. It is students creating multimedia presentations and presenting them to their classmates, parents, and community.
Rural Washington Students Connect with the World:
Pupils in Kristi Rennebohm Franz's classes have used the Internet for a variety of international exchanges and collaborative projects.
Credit: Kristi Rennebohm Franz
Technology integration begins when a teacher has her students illustrate a Kindergarten alphabet book using a paint program. The students publish their work. They print out their pages and create a class book that is sent home for parents to view. Technology integration is students making slideshows using their alphabet drawings. It is the students recording their voices and saying the letters of the alphabet and the names of objects they drew.
Technology integration happens when third grade students at Joe Nightingale Elementary School select a wild animal to write about and create a clay animation of that animal. Partnering up to do Internet research promotes collaboration among students. Older children can break into groups to animate scenes from a novel. Visit Clay Animation Made Easy for examples on how to get started, from having students prepare storyboards and scripts, to creating clay figures, and finally filming and editing their animation project.
Technology integration is fourth-grade students creating slideshow presentations about the latest books they have read. In their presentations they include hyperlinks to Internet sites reviewing the books. Technology integration is fifth-grade students making movies about the Oregon Trail and westward expansion. It is the Mars Millennium Project, a national science, arts, and technology initiative for thousands of kids in community groups and K-12 classrooms imagining a community on Mars in the year 2030. See one lesson plan that shows how technology facilitates that exploration. Technology integration is using digital cameras to make movies explaining scientific principles, such as the Flight of the Painted Ladies.
The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has established national technology standards for teachers. These standards have two competency skill areas: operational and integration. The standards encourage teachers to use technology for their professional and personal uses. The standards recommend that teachers access and exchange information using the Internet. Teachers who embrace technology and recognize its use can integrate it into their teaching practices. However, recognizing when and where technology fits into a lesson, project, or curriculum is really the first step. Too often, a teacher shies away from using technology because he/she doesn't know how to use certain applications or devices. When this is the case, turn to the 'expert': the student. In "Turning the Tables -- Students Teach Teachers," elementary, middle, and high school students help veteran and prospective teachers integrate technology into their lessons to enhance student learning. Technology allows for the student/teacher roles to be interchangeable. Students love to teach teachers how to use technology!
Comments & Responses
Technology Integration in kindergarten
The ideas for integrating technology at the kindergarten level were very appropriate. I am looking forward to trying a few. I also thought that it would work at the kindergarten level to have students complete some science notebook writing and illustrating using similar technology. I am thinking that at the beginning of the year students might have greater success getting their thoughts down through recording their voices rather than trying to write on their own or dictate to an adult. I would also like to use ELMO and Smartboard with my students. I am still working on when to use the technology and what technology is most appropriate for what I hope to accomplish with my students.
Technology in College Classrooms
I teach college classes and this is great information that I am using to integrate more technology into the college level classes as well.
I have had my music students
I have had my music students to research a WV Musician online. They take the information they have learned about the musician and create a powerpoint presentation which will present information about their life, music styles, pictures, and music videos or clips of music to listen to during the presentation.
yes you can
as i am typing i have my other hand injured from typing so much. I integrated a math, science, history, research all into one lesson and it was great. think about what the final product will be and incorporate it all together.
thought this was very
thought this was very informational
thanks
karen
Tech integration
For my math classroom, I would like to introduce and use more technology. The problem is computer access is virtually not there. We have one computer lab for 3 middle school grade levels to share and I only have my computer in the room. So where do I start?
Keyboarding Skills Are Important
Patsy Lanclos wrote two blog posts on keyboarding that are very helpful. Have a look at:
Keys to the (Online) Kingdom: The Importance of Basic Computer Skills
and
Keyboarding and Word Processing Basics: Part II
Where's the Keyboarding?
The first step in any technology integration has got to be keyboarding. All the projects listed are wonderful, but have you thought about how long these projects will take if the kids don't know how to keyboard efficiently? Touch-typing (as it used to be called) is essential for students and is a life skill we can give our students at an early age.
Once students get to about 3rd or 4th grade, they should be taught keyboarding in a controlled environment by a trained instructor. This is where technology integration should start and where it can really begin. For more of my reasons, see p. 13 of http://www.iceberg.org/site/files/2006-issue3.pdf
Keyboarding
I am afraid that I that on a very different philosophy about keyboarding as tech integration... so here is my soapbox. These kids are interested in technology early, so that is when they should be exposed. Theior toys have buttons, bells and whistles that ours did not have. Some interactives for ages 3+ look like mini laptops with key pads. If they are using tech tools from an early age, students will be proficient typers regardless of relationship to the home row. The issue in not having a structured typing class in 3rd grade, but using computers as a daily tool in the classroom from pre-school and up. Chances are, preschool will not be the first exposure. My daughter can type twice as fast as I can and has never heard of a home row. Also, how many students are now or will be typing in the future on anything from a standard keyboard, to a palm or a cell. -Way too small for two hands 5 fingers. Are there homerow programs for thumbs, or key pads??? Technology is changing so rapidly that it needs to be utilized and integrated, not isolated.
Typing....Texting
Did I miss a texting class? Many students can text faster than I will ever text, and no school offers that class.
How many of us actually type better now with computers than we ever could on a typewriter? Please don't misunderstand; I agree that keyboarding is key, but when do those skills develop and is a class the only way to develop that skill...just some thoughts!
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