Tech Exploration: Using Technology to Amplify Instruction

I am a resident of the Internet. My first e-mail address was created in 1997, and it was through Juno. The internet wasn't terribly scary at that time, so I didn't have much supervision. As a result, I responded to a lot junk mail. Though I am a resident, I am also somewhat of a lazy citizen... I recognize the names of places but I haven't necessarily gone in and looked around.

Three favorite Tech Tools to Enhance Student Learning:

1. VoiceThread: VoiceThread is new to me, but I can see the website's appeal for educators. The site allows an individual conduct a face-to-face meeting through a website. The library section of the website features user-submitted successful VoiceThreads that can be watched by anyone. I think the library would be the most useful part of VoiceThread, since the educator accounts run about $80 and only provide with 50 student accounts (additional student accounts are $2 each, which isn't terribly expensive but students struggle to even access technology). Overall, it seems like a budding technology that might work best for post-secondary classrooms.
2. Padlet: For quick and simple interaction, Padlet allows students and teachers to create a customized board with typed notes. Students enter the short url on their phones, tablets, or computers and contribute to the discussion. My favorite feature is the export option that organizes the data in PDF or spreadsheet format. I think this would be a great way to brainstorm in and outside of class.
3. Socrative: Teachers who need quick, fun, digital assessment can use Socrative to create quizzes that are done via cellphone or computer. Socrative has an attractive interface that looks professional and secure. They offer thorough support for teachers, with details down to what students see when they access Socrative from their end. Teachers can run reports to track student performance. Teachers who are data hungry can gather a lot of information from the real-time reports that updates as students work.

My Favorite Sites for Professional Development:

1. Pinterest: Somewhere on Pinterest there is a superhuman who is creating content or compiling resources on whatever it is you keep putting off or possibly topics you've never thought about teaching. Pinterest is a pin board style website where users can search, upload, or link to content. If you're just browsing for inspiration (pinspiration!), Pinterest will show you how to make anchor charts for your classroom, give you creative project ideas, give you new ideas for classroom management, provide infographics, graphic organizers, and other printables. My favorite thing about Pinterest is that you can browse through and pin anything that looks interesting and hold on to it until you need it. [My own teaching board on Pinterest is here.]
2. Teachers Pay Teachers: Teachers Pay Teachers has free and paid lesson packs for a multitude of topics. I found this site through Pinterest and I really like how current the lesson plans are. This is a time saver for any teacher who is struggling to find an interesting angle for a unit.
3. CPALMS: Recently I downloaded the LAFS from CPALMS and I was pleasantly surprised to find that they provide "Access Points" for each standard. If you need to know what you're supposed to teach, CPALMS can tell you. If you need to know how to approach it, they can tell you that too. It's the littlest thing, but it really gets my mind working when I am thinking about how to make LAFS relevant.

Authentic Writing for Students:

• Students write all the time, they just don't recognize it and they don't want to do it for teachers. Even if an assignments reads "You're writing a newspaper article for the Hunger Games 2014!" students know that they're writing for you, the teacher. Occasionally they may be writing for other students or for themselves. Authentic writing is important for students because so much of their in-school writing seems so artificial and rehearsed. There are students who will write (and write well) for the right reason. NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is a challenge to write a novel in a month. For students who consider a whole novel a bit much, or those who crave a polished final product, FlipSnack, Storybird and Comic Master are template sites that allow students to create attractive writing projects. For Comic Master, students don't even need artistic skills because the site takes care of backgrounds and characters. All three will help students create a modern, professional product without exposing them to the deep dark depths of the internet where they may encounter bullying, harassment, and doxxing. 

Jane Hart and What Lies Ahead in the Teacher-Tech World

• The slideshow reflects a movement toward social education tools. In my elementary education, technology was mostly restricted to CD-ROM encyclopedias, word processing, and the occasional research on a website that was output only (A very fancy website may have had a guestbook.). Education is growing to be more of an interaction than strictly one-way instruction. Rather than keeping kids off the internet, teachers are teaching them how to use it intelligently. Moreso, they are preparing students for the work force where they'll have to know how to Google, how to write, and how to network professionally.

Bloom's Technology Taxonomy

• There is a tool available for every stage of educating students. The tricky part is finding technology that suits the needs of the unit, teacher, and students. There are new tools available every day and not all of them will be reliable or useful. Some that are easier to use for students may leave them vulnerable to the non-academic internet, but some of the more useful ones may be complicated to configure. I don't think that teachers should rely heavily on tech tools, but if it enhances a lesson and encourages students to pay attention, it is probably a good tool.

Based on the exploration done today, I've found that I am familiar with only a small subsection of the academic tools that are available. I've found some really useful tools that I'll be playing with in the future. I'm glad that I now have this annotated list of new tools, and I know that many more tools will be available in the future.