Technology for Teachers: 20 Integration Techniques

Kim Peacock, M.Ed.Edmonton Public Schools

A Context…

Why?!

• Digital immigrants vs. digital natives (Mark Prensky)– Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants – Do They Really Think Differently?

• Kids THINK they know a lot about technology, but…

• Things can’t really be the way they “used to be” because kids aren’t built the way they used to be (cognitively and physically).

Some Warnings & Considerations…

•Socio-economic status •Prior skills (IMing and

downloading music vs. searching skills)

•Classroom management•Lack of knowledge of copyright

law (you, not them)

Some Warnings & Considerations…

•Administration (check sites, give them email addresses, etc…)

•Assessment (why assess a tool when we don’t normally assess tool use)? This is a hot topic…

Foundational Skills

• Searching (and, -, quotations, advanced search) - http://www.google.ca/help/basics.html

• Discrimination of Information - http://eduscapes.com/tap/topic32.htm

• Media Awareness - http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/index.cfm

Where are You?

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/edtalk/tef.htm

20 Ways to Integrate Technology

Low Level Integration

1. Online Information Repositories

• Allows classrooms to have the most up to date information.– Social studies: Current events

comparison– Science/CTS: Innovation (

http://www.newscientist.com/home.ns, http://www.wired.com/ )

– ELA: Book reviews, author blogs (http://www.jkrowling.com/ )

– Foods: Recipes online (http://allrecipes.com/ )

2. Scavenger Hunts

• Lower level but makes finding information more fun for them (rather than hunting through a textbook).

• Can be low or high level - give them the URLs or test their searching skills.

• Examples: http://www.usiouxfalls.edu/~apeter/scavenger_hunts.htm

3. Virtual Field Trips

• Cultural -http://www.themoscowtimes.com/travel_guide.html

• Geographic - http://www.japan-guide.com/ , http://www.artsalive.ca/en/eth/index.html

• Historical - http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/ , http://search.eb.com/dday

3. Virtual Field Trips

• Local sites at http://www.2learn.ca/mapset/virtfieldtrips/virtftmuseums.html

• Hint: Context is key, just like in a real trip. Give them a focus – ask them to identify a favourite artefact or something that surprised them, etc…

4. Virtual Exhibits

• Like virtual field trips but more focused on knowledge.

• Examples:– http://

www.virtualmuseum.ca/English/index_flash.html

– http://www.bbc.co.uk/learning/– http://www.exploratorium.com

5. Discussion Boards & Chats

• Make them truly purposeful! Cultural exchanges, experts, etc…

• I strongly discourage individual participation unless the environment is password protected (ie/ Yahoo or Google Groups, district service)

6. Video On Demand & Multimedia• New curriculum in ELA and SS

focuses on media awareness (beyond books).

• There is a lot of video out there…– http://www.brainpop.com/ – http://www.histori.ca/default.do?page

=.index– http://www.unitedstreaming.com/– http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/

news/WFive.html– http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/video.html– http://www.starfall.com/

7. Simulations

• Like games but require little to no active participation besides clicking forward.

• Examples:– http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanb

ody/body/interactives/lifecycle/teenagers/

– http://www.sfskids.org/templates/instorchframe.asp?pageid=3

– http://www.froguts.com – http://www.sodaplay.com/constructor/ – http://www.iknowthat.com/com/L3?Ar

ea=L2_Engineering

– http://illuminations.nctm.org/– http://

www.explorelearning.com/index.cfm?method=cResource.dspResourceCatalog

20 Ways to Integrate Technology

Medium Level Integration

8. Creating Presentations

• This has been done for years, but is still useful in the classroom.

• Try giving students specific criteria for inclusion (ie/ 2 images, 1 sound clip, 1 movie) as well as limits length wise.

• Assess the content more than (or instead of) the skill of technology use. We don’t mark handwriting…

9. Creating Web Pages

• By division 3 students should be creating multi-paged web sites (ICT outcomes).

• They don’t have to know programming code anymore (nor do you).http://pages.google.com/

• Another option: http://www.protopage.com/

• http://www.protopage.com/yzerman19

10. Gaming

• Like simulations but require active decision making.

• Can be high level: http://www.civ3.com/ ,• http://www.mpogd.com/games/game.asp?I

D=2074 , http://www.engineeringinteract.org/

• Can be low level: http://www.bconnex.net/%7Ekidworld/java/lemonade/lemonade.htm , http://www.iknowthat.com , http://www.edheads.org/, http://www.rainforestmaths.com

• Must read for game learning: Mark Prensky

11. Videoconferencing

• Sometimes impractical but it can provide meaningful experiences.

• Uses: Expert exchange, cultural exchange, virtual tour, meetings.

• You are in a VC triad…• Directories:

– http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/vidconf/directory.cfm

– http://www.global-leap.com/

• Alberta Network: – http://www.2learn.ca/rln/rlnrls.html

12. Google Earth and Geocaching

• Google Earth has become a powerful educational tool.– Bringing historical events alive– Surface area scavenger hunt– http://blog.wolverhamptonclc.co.uk/20

06/02/05/google-earth-in-education/

• Geocaching is trendy in outdoor education right now. It’s a GPS scavenger hunt.– http://www.geocachingedmonton.com

20 Ways to Integrate Technology

(Potentially) High Level Integration

13. Inquiry-Based Activities (Webquests)

• Goes beyond a scavenger hunt and has student find information to perform a task.

• http://edweb.sdsu.edu/WebQuest/taskonomy.html: retelling, compilation, mystery, journalistic, design, creative product, consensus building, persuasion, self-knowledge, analytical, judgemental, scientific

• http://www.webquest.org/ (don’t re-invent the wheel).

• See brochure project example.

14. Telecollaborative Projects

• Pen-pals for the 21st century.• Can be chat, discussion, email or

videoconferencing based.• Directories:

– http://www.2learn.ca/projects/projectcentre/exjoproj.html (local)

– http://www.epals.com (global)

15. Spreadsheets

• Spreadsheets fit naturally in many areas: Math, science, social and health.

• Fantastic spreadsheet activities:– http://www.ncwiseowl.org/kscope/tech

knowpark/FreeFall/Resources.html– http://standards.nctm.org

/document/eexamples/chap5/5.5/

16. Databases

• Statistics Canada E-Stat - http://estat.statcan.ca/

• ALIS Database - http://www.alis.gov.ab.ca/occinfo/Content/RequestAction.asp?format=html&aspAction=GetHomePage&Page=Home

• If you decide to build one, really try to make it meaningful for them (give them a reason to need one – ie/ survey results, science investigation results, career research results).

17. Multimedia & Visual Representation

• Using images, sounds and motion to express and represent oneself.

• Requires investment in digital cameras, microphones, video cameras, etc…

• Can be simple (ie/ using Windows Movie Maker to express outcomes - http://www.lati.ualberta.ca/html/secondaryelaresources.html ) or complex (ie/ creating videos, historical re-enactments, parodies, etc…)

• See examples…

18. Blogs & Wikis

• Blogs (or weblogs) are online journals that are as easy to create as hotmail accounts.

• Can be 1-D (http://www.blogger.com) or multi-D (http://www.21publish.com)

• Examples: http://www.lati.ualberta.ca/html/elementaryelaresources.html

Blogs and Wikis

•Wikis are collaborative web sites where users can add pages and/or bits of info.

•http://www.wikispaces.com , http://pbwiki.com

•http://stratford78logos0607.pbwiki.com/

19. Audioblogs & Podcasting

• Using a recording application to create audio journals, news shows, old fashioned radio shows, etc…

• Can be simple (click record and go) or complex (mixing, editing, etc…)

• Example:http://room17.meyokumin.ca/

• Danger! FOIPP and Security for blogs, wikis, audioblogs & podcasts – use password protection and turn off comments.

20. Cognitive Mapping

• Most popular software is Inspiration, which is available free courtesy of the province of Alberta (http://www.education.gov.ab.ca/technology/nr/inspiration.asp)

• There are other good options out there such as CMap (http://cmap.ihmc.us/) which allows you to concept map collaboratively over distances!

• See examples…

A Note on Other Software

• Note that there is really good software out there (some free) that you can be using:

– Pivot Stickfigure Animator (LA/Health/SS)http://www.snapfiles.com/get/stickfigure.html , examples

– Geometer’s sketchpad (Math) http://www.keypress.com/sketchpad/

– Calorie & exercise counters (Health/PE) http://www.calorieking.com/

A Note on Other Software

–Digital music creation software http://www.looplabs.com/

–Graphic Design (see examples) http://www.getpaint.net/index2.html

–3D modelling (see examples)–http://sketchup.google.com/

Where are You?

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/edtalk/tef.htm

Other Resources

Teacher Resources

• Best of the Web – http://www.bestoftheweb.ca

• LaTI Project (U of A) – http://www.lati.ualberta.ca

• MASS Learns - http://www.masslearns.com

• Education World: Technology - http://www.educationworld.com/#Technology

Other Good Links

• Edutopia - http://www.edutopia.org/

• Apple Learning Interchange - http://ali.apple.com/

• The Committed Sardine Blog - http://homepage.mac.com/iajukes/blogwavestudio/

• Elizabeth Daley – http://www.ualberta.ca/~kpeacock/docs/ElizabethDaleyBetter.html

Technology Leadership and PD Links

• North Central Regional Education Lab - http://www.ncrel.org/tech/tpd/index.html

• ISTE - http://www.iste.org/ (their books are especially good)

• Edutopia (George Lucas Foundation) - http://www.edutopia.org/ (especially the professional development topic).

Must Reads

• Leading in a Culture of Change by Michael Fullan

• Windows on the Future : Education in the Age of Technology by Ian Jukes and Ted McCain

• Modeling with Technology : Mindtools for Conceptual Change by David H. Jonassen

• Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson

• Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century by David Franklin Warlick

Stay Inspired…

http://www.edutopia.org/Video Library