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In this Edutopia article by Heather Wolpert-Gawron, she provides three different tiers of possibility as to why she thinks technology is vital to the education of our students.
She also provides a comprehensive five-point discussion on the "Rationale for the Reluctant," which I found quite interesting. The point that I was mostly interested in is the following, and I quote:
"Daily Use is Vital. It isn't enough to go to the computer lab on occasion, jockeying for time for the class to sit down and type. No. Using technology should be a daily tool, where there are no issues of log in and lost instructional time due to lack of exposure and comfort. If the tools are employed regularly to support the content then there are no issues of having to re-teach how to use the technology in the few times we have access to it. When we bring the students to the lab, technology becomes the lesson. When the lab is an integral part of the classroom, it becomes an organic tool supporting the content."
As our learners have lab classes only four times a week (4 50-minute periods), and many of them do not have access to a computer at home, it is not possible for me to make "lab an integral part of the classroom." I do intend, however, to start integrating technology (SlideShare, Fotobabble, interactive PowerPoint) in my teaching this fall.
I would like to hear more ideas from you!
I also read this article. I believe and want to incorporate daily use of technology in the classroom. A lab is great, but in most elementary schools students can only get there once a week. That is not enough time and use of technology. Teachers have to find ways to make it apart of their daily lessons.
ReplyDeleteComputer Lab: Integral Part of Classroom
ReplyDeleteHi Latoya, I agree that a once-a-week use of computer lab is not enough. Luckily, most students now, even in grade school, carry a mobile device of some sort; therefore, they may be able to make up for lack of lab time. Is this the case in your class?
In my field, however, most of my learners come with no computer literacy skills and/or no computer at home, so frequent in-school lab time is crucial.
I am going to think of ways to incorporate at least a PowerPoint project on a daily basis as part of my lessons. This way, I can ensure the students learn to use the tool as part of their learning.
The key point is to incorporate these learning tools as part of the curriculum and mention them in the program outline for the first week of class.
This should give students something to look forward to.