Many children are easily diverted from reading and their studies by digital distractions. Computer simulation games and television are some of the many lures that entice children. Instead of discouraging technology as an indulgence, educational leaders should embrace it as a learning tool. Teachers, parents, and administrators should consider how to make technology a part of classroom learning to better prepare students for the twenty-first century.
There are many options for bringing technology into the classroom. The Smartboard is an electronic whiteboard that can greatly enhance classroom learning. The Elmo revolutionizes classroom projection by displaying still and moving objects for the entire class to see.
But not all schools can afford Smartboards or Elmos. Here are some suggestions for incorporating technology into your school at a low cost. Most of these technologies are free and available on the internet. The only materials you will need are your computer, a projector screen and a connection cord.
Word Documents as a White Board and PowerPoint Lectures
Forget about chalk dust. Throw away the dried out dry erase markers. Projecting a Word document from your computer to a projector screen can provide a cleaner way to produce, display, and organize class notes.
Class Notes: A Collective, Collaborative Activity
- Connect your computer to the projector, and show a Word document on the projector screen. You can display pre-written notes, or you can type into the Word document as your students collectively brainstorm and write on their worksheets.
- Invite students to the computer to type. Students will feel special typing on the class notes. It will personalize the notes to the class giving them authorial ownership of the lesson.
- Utilize the highlight, font, color, and various writing styles as it fits to your lesson.
- Teach the writing process by editing a document as a class on a Word document. Use the insert comments and tracking changes feature of Word processing programs.
Organizing and Sharing Class Notes
- Create a folder on your computer for each class period where you can save the notes for each day.
- Print worksheets and graphic organizers for students, and display them from your computer screen as you teach. Fill out the worksheet on the computer as students complete it at their desks.
- Upload the notes as attachments onto a class website where students and parents can easily access material from home. The routine of using a computer in the classroom can encourage more technology and computer integration for daily lessons.
Making a Class Website
You do not need to be a computer science engineer or a coding expert to create and utilize a functional, classroom website. Knowing some basic HTML or web design skills can help, but it is not essential. There are many online companies that allow you to easily construct a website for free. All you need to do is click and drag.
Website Content
Giving students and parents access to a class website can greatly enhance learning. It can keep parents up to date with what their students learn in class, and students can easily find notes and assignments. Here are some ideas for what a class website should include:
- Assignments
- Syllabus
- Class notes
- Online access to grades
- Worksheets
- Rubrics
- Supplemental resources
- Link to school and teacher contact
Website Hosts
Here are two reputable web services you can use for making a class website:
- Weebly http://www.weebly.com/
- Weebly is a website that allows users to create free personal websites and blogs. It even lets you use your own domain.
- Yola http://www.yola.com/
- Yola is another web company that allows you to build a free personal website. Give your students the option of creating book reports and other class projects online. Instead of making a poster or a diorama, they may enjoy the option of creating a website to host their content. Besides giving them a fun way to complete their project, these students will also learn important web skills.
Online Learning Environment
Alternatives to class websites are Moodle and Blackboard. These class management services allow teachers to organize and share content online with their students. These programs can be used for a distance learning course, or they can supplement classroom learning.
- Moodle http://moodle.org/
- Moodle is an open-source learning management system that can be used for free by educators. Instructors can share content with students in this collaborative online learning community.
- Blackboard http://www.blackboard.com/
- Blackboard is also a learning management system that educators can utilize for no cost. Teachers can share class materials, communicate with students, and produce learning activities.
Educational Podcasts
Some students are visual-spatial learners, some are kinesthetic learners, and others are auditory learners. Incorporate educational podcasts into your classroom to provide another learning option.
Listening to Podcasts
- The Education Podcast Network http://www.epnweb.org/
- The Education Podcast Network is an online library of content specific podcasts for elementary, middle, and high school. Podcasts can play MP3 files, and you can listen to them on an MP3 player or a computer connected to the internet.
- National Public Radio http://www.npr.org/
- National Public Radio offers many online audio newscasts and podcasts. Some podcast topics include but are not limited to education, economy, world, politics, books, and authors. This resource can be used in the classroom to teach anything from current events to literature.
- Grammar Girl http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
- Mignon Fogarty, the Grammar Girl, has a B.A. in English from the University of Washington in Seattle and a M.S. in biology from Stanford. Her award winning podcast has been acclaimed by many media publications. Grammar Girl provides short podcasts that each teach a grammatical rule. She uses helpful tricks to remember proper usage. Play Grammar Girl’s fun podcasts when you teach grammar or prepare your students for the SAT or ACT.
- RECAP Podcasts http://recap.ltd.uk/podcasting/
- Russell Educational Consultancy and Productions (RECAP) provides a directory of free, educational podcasts for students and educators. This company is dedicated to providing digital content to support e-learning, teaching, and professional development.
Creating Podcasts
Teach speaking skills and broadcast writing: have your students create their own podcasts. They can either create them as a class or individually. A few trips to the computer lab and recording microphones may be needed.
Viewing Online Videos
Interspersing relevant, educational video clips into lessons is a great way to support instruction and entertain students. Computers can be used to show DVDs and instructional online videos.
- TeacherTube http://www.teachertube.com/
- TeacherTube is an online venue for sharing instructional videos. You can upload or download useful videos for the classroom.
Video Conferencing and Transcultural Education
Expand your class discussion by literally opening up your classroom to the world. Video conferencing can break down cultural barriers and defy physical limitations by putting students from around the world in real time communication. Transcultural education is an approach that moves students and educators to learning with others through interactive activities that promote understanding.
- Skype http://www.skype.com/
- Skype is an online service that allows you to call and video chat with other people for free. Most people use it for business meetings and keeping in touch, but it can also be used in an educational setting.
Professor Mark Dressman from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign used video conferencing to connect a college class at a Moroccan university and his own curriculum and instruction teacher development class in the States. By using web cameras, computers, microphones, and video conferencing, the two classrooms discussed a literature piece and dispelled common cultural stereotypes. Students learned that communication and education brought a mutual understanding as students discussed controversial issues.
The method of using webcams can be used to connect classrooms not only across the world but also across the U.S. Teachers can arrange other classrooms of similar grades to become communication contacts.
Digital Movie and Montage Making
Creating multimedia sound and visual presentations is no longer an art form left only to filmmakers, but can be created by anyone willing to learn. Students, teachers, and parents can create videos for presentational and educational functions. Teachers can give students the option to make video presentations for school projects and assignments.
Photo Story 3 for Windows is free software that allows you and your students to combine sound and pictures to create an animated photo montage. I used this software for a closing project on The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisernos. Students wrote personalized vignettes, which they read into the computer and accompanied with pictures to make a narrated photo montage.
Here are other video making websites for editing video clips:
WebQuests
WebQuests are online projects that provide students real-life tasks to investigate through problem-solving, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Students learn technological literacy and researching skills, and all of the information learners interact with comes from online. WebQuests challenge students to collaborate, think critically, and generate original solutions in groups. The skills used to work through WebQuests will prepare students to compete in the modern job market where they will collaborate on teams to solve problems and produce original ideas.
- WebQuest.org http://www.webquest.org/
- WebQuest.org provides educators information about how to create, share, and find WebQuests.
- Best WebQuests.com http://bestwebquests.com/
- Best WebQuests.com provides free WebQuests in a variety of content areas spanning from the early school years through high school. This website also provides online portals, WebQuest makers, design guides, and articles.
Benefits of Incorporating Technology into Classroom Learning
The websites and free technologies presented in this article are only some examples of how to incorporate technology into schools.
Teaching students how to become technologically adept is necessary for molding them into twenty-first century thinkers. The creativity and innovation involved in producing multimedia presentations teaches students important critical thinking and problem solving skills they can apply in real world situations. Learning the communication mode of the present is a necessary vehicle for transmitting ideas intelligently. As students of the past learned with slate boards and inkwells, students of the future will learn with computers and multimedia technologies.
References
- Smart http://smarttech.com/
- Elmo http://www.elmousa.com/
- Weebly http://www.weebly.com/
- Yola http://www.yola.com/
- Blackboard http://www.blackboard.com/
- Moodle http://moodle.org/
- The Education Podcast Network http://www.epnweb.org/
- National Public Radio http://www.npr.org/
- Grammar Girl http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/
- Russell Educational Consultancy and Productions (RECAP) http://recap.ltd.uk/
- iTunes http://www.apple.com/education/teachers-professors/mobile-learning.html
- Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
- "Creating a Podcast in Seven Easy Steps” http://www.buildingyouridealpractice.com/createpodcast.html
- TeacherTube http://www.teachertube.com
- Skype http://www.skype.com/
- Professor Mark Dressman, University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign
- Photo Story 3 for Windows http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx
- Webquests.org http://www.webquest.org
- Best WebQuests.com http://bestwebquests.com/
photo by:
Leonid Mamchenkov 
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