TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY An Introduction to Integrating
Technology into the Classroom
Slide 2
TEACHING WITH TECHNOLOGY Technology is ubiquitous reaching
every aspect of our lives, whether at work, home, or school.
Properly utilized, technology in the classroom will enable students
to acquire the skills they will need to survive in a highly complex
technological world.
Slide 3
WHY USE TECHNOLOGY? Teachers who see computers as a
problem-solving tool, move from a behaviorist approach to a more
constructivist approach. Students who use technology and
interactive multimedia are more engaged in their learning, becoming
creators and critics, instead of just consumers. Proper use of
technology enhances teacher/student relationships. The Center for
Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET) found that,
technology impacts achievement in content area learning, promotes
higher-order thinking and problem solving skills, and prepares
students for the workforce. The Center for Applied Research in
Educational Technology (CARET) Information found in George Lucas
Educational Foundation, 2012.
Slide 4
TECHNOLOGY TOOLS Technological tools for the classroom can be
broken down into three broad categories: 1. those that publish 2.
those that manage information 3. those that share content in new
collaborative ways - Richardson, 2010
Slide 5
OUR FOCUS In this lesson, we will introduce the following
technological tools and some of their applications: Weblogs Wikis
RSS Jing Alternatives to Power Point Google tools Social
bookmarking
Slide 6
WEBLOGS Weblogs are easy to create and update sites that allow
an author (or authors) to instantly publish to the Internet. They
engage readers with ideas and questions and links, encouraging
response and interaction. For the top 10 sites to build a blog for
free, see
http://devilsworkshop.org/top-10-websites-to-create-a-blog-for-free/
http://devilsworkshop.org/top-10-websites-to-create-a-blog-for-free/
Two new blogs are being created every second -Richardson
(2010)
Slide 7
WEBLOGS USES IN THE CLASSROOM Class Portal to post course
curriculum, syllabus, class rules, homework assignments, rubrics,
handouts, and presentations E-Portfolios a students personal record
of learning, with links to videos, presentations, and podcasts
Collaborative Space students can interact with each other online,
or with experts in their field of study Knowledge Management and
Articulation committees and groups can share meeting minutes,
relevant links, and presentations; schools can share best
practices, lesson plans, what works, what doesnt work. For some
additional ideas on blogging, click here.here
Slide 8
WIKIS A wiki is a Web site that allows users to add and update
content on the site using their own Web browser. This is made
possible by Wiki software that runs on the Web server. Wikis end up
being created mainly by a collaborative effort of the site
visitors. Usually every page in a wiki has a link (most often at
the top) which says edit page, or something similar. A number of
wiki sites feature a password and login system which provides some
security when using in a classroom situation. To see how wikis
work, click on the following link. link Top ten sites for creating
a wiki Top ten sites for creating a wiki Currently, edits [in
Wikipedia] appear at a rate of around 400,000 a day. - Richardson
(2010)
Slide 9
WIKIS USES IN THE CLASSROOM Online Text create online text for
your curriculum that both students and teachers contribute to Class
Wikipedia create a dictionary of terms or encyclopedia of concepts
applicable to the course Assignment Portal students post their work
for other students to view and comment upon For some additional
ideas on using wikis, click here.here
Slide 10
RSS RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. RSS makes it
possible for you to subscribe to the content that is created on a
particular weblog or wiki so that you dont have to visit the site
itself to get it. You can subscribe to multiple sites. RSS uses a
type of software called an aggregator which checks the feeds you
subscribe to (usually every hour) and collects all the new content.
When youre ready, you open the aggregator and read the individual
stories, file them for later, click through to the site itself, or
delete them if you wish all on one site. RSS allows you to read
more content, from more sources, in less time.
Slide 11
RSS Things to Remember Not every site on the Web has an RSS
feed Be sure the sites you add are worthwhile Creating folders in
your RSS Reader will help to organize your feeds Try to read your
RSS feeds on a daily basis Top Ten RSS Readers Top Ten RSS Readers
Still confused? Watch this video, for an excellent introduction to
using RSS.video
Slide 12
RSS USES IN THE CLASSROOM Checking Student Weblogs rather than
checking each weblog individually, the aggregator can collect them
all in one place Student Research enter a search term and receive
any newly published data on that topic as soon as its published
Create a Web Page Using RSS - group together a number of RSS feeds
about a specific topic onto a single Web page Some additional uses
for RSS can be found at this site.site
Slide 13
JING Jing is a way to share images and short videos of your
computer screen The software for Jing is free and can be downloaded
herehere You can also download a more sophisticated screen capture
software called Snagit at the above site Jing has some excellent
how-to tutorials at this sitesite This website also shares some
interesting ways to use jingwebsite
Slide 14
ALTERNATIVES TO POWER POINT In this next section, well look at
4 alternatives to the Power Point presentation: Prezi SlideRocket
Google Docs Presentations Zoho Show
Slide 15
PREZI The Prezi works more like a giant virtual whiteboard
containing your entire presentation. Instead of flipping through
slides, the viewer is zoomed in and out of the appropriate portions
of your Prezi presentation, creating a much more animated and
visually-appealing experience. Prezi offers three different
licensing agreements: For $0/yr you get the core features and 100
MB of storage space For $59/yr you get 500 MB of storage, the
ability to use your own logo, make your prezis private, and premium
24/7 support For $159/yr you get 2 GB of storage, all of the above,
plus the use of Prezi Desktop for offline editing
Slide 16
PREZI To see some examples of presentations using the Prezi
software, and to learn how to use this technique, go to
www.prezi.comwww.prezi.com
Slide 17
SLIDEROCKET SlideRocket is a collaborative web-based
application that can be used online, offline, or mobile. Combine
themes and layouts, shapes, charts, tables, pictures, audio, HD
video, and Flash to tell your story. Licensing agreements range
from $0/mo for the casual user, to $24/mo for the professional, to
an undisclosed amount for organizational use. To learn more about
this product, or to download the software, go to
www.sliderocket.com www.sliderocket.com
Slide 18
GOOGLE DOCS PRESENTATIONS The presentation builder for Google
Docs is more or less a simplified clone of Microsoft's offering,
but it remains a pretty solid alternative. Allows you to share and
collaborate in real time, control who can see your presentation,
and safely stores and organizes your work For a visual introduction
to using Google docs presentation, watch the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upYWo84wNxMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upYWo84wNxM
To get started using Google docs presentation, click here.
here
Slide 19
ZOHO SHOW Similar to other online presentation tools Go to this
link to see some of the design features of this softwarelink Zoho
Office (which includes Zoho Show) can be downloaded free for a
30-day trial period; after that the cost is $3/mo, or $24/yr. You
can download Zoho Office here.here
Slide 20
GOOGLE TOOLS For a complete list of Google tools for the
educator, go to: http://www.google.com/educators/tools.html
http://www.google.com/educators/tools.html
Slide 21
SOCIAL BOOKMARKING Wikipedia defines social bookmarking as a
method for Internet users to organize, store, manage and search for
bookmarks of resources online (Social bookmarking, n.d.). Tagging
is a significant feature of social bookmarking systems, enabling
users to organize their bookmarks in flexible ways and develop
shared vocabularies known as folksonomies. To see a demonstration
on how social bookmarking works, view the following video.video To
see the top 15 social bookmarking websites, click here.here
Slide 22
SUMMARY The technology tools available for classroom use today
are proliferating at an astounding pace. What has been presented
here is only a fraction of the opportunities for enhancing learning
that can be realized through technology. Learning these new
techniques takes time and practice. Yet the time that educators
spend on incorporating technology into the classroom will reap
great rewards. And because many of our students already employ many
of these techniques, we cannot afford to ignore them. I would
encourage every educator to critically evaluate the tools presented
here and try to gradually implement as many as is appropriate to
your individual learning situation.
Slide 23
REFERENCES Barrett, T. (n.d.). Interesting ways. In Edtech.
Retrieved March 14, 2012, from
http://edte.ch/blog/interesting-ways/http://edte.ch/blog/interesting-ways/
George Lucas Educational Foundation (2012). Why integrate
technology into the curriculum?: The reasons are many. In Edutopia.
Retrieved March 14, 2012, from
http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-
introductionhttp://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-
introduction Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and
other powerful web tools for classrooms (3 rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: Corwin. Social bookmarking (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved
March 14, 2012, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_bookmarking