I am constantly incorporating technology into my classrooms. My students work with a smart board which is an interactive way to get the students up out of their seats and engaged in the lesson, I use powerpoints that incorporate 2-3 minute videos that visually demonstrate what the students have learned content wise. I also have the students work either individually to create technology based projects whether they are power points, or iMovies.........
It is difficult for many educators to continually increase their knowledge of new technology when we are driven to teach the same materials and course requirements over and over.
I agree many of the new tools I use I have learned at professional conferences or seminars.
Marian,
Fantastic! I especially like the fact you have students participate in activities that promote demonstrating their abilities so they are not merely a spectator the entire class period, which can get monotonous for both you and your students.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
Jose,
I understand your frustration. With aligned curriculum becoming the norm across proprietary education, our hands often tied when it comes to infusing new material. How we deliver the content, both inside and outside the classroom, may allow some flexibility, as long as the required material is covered. I would suggest asking your Campus Director/Dean about precisely how much flexibility you do have.
Yours in learning,
Theresa Schmitt
I attend as many work sponsored in-services/training sessions as possible on new technologies. I tend to be interested in technology personally anyways so I usually am already familiar with some of the new up and coming tools, but I still have to commit to attending as many in-services as possible.
Bethanne,
In-service training is a fantastic way to learn more about available teaching resources found online and emerging technologies. I first learned of Rubistar (http://rubistar.4teachers.org/)at an in-service years ago and am still a dedicated user when first developing a rubric.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
i am a very new instructor in the classroom and am only utilizing power points at this time. Where do you suggest I begin?
Darla,
I would suggest starting with incorporating short videos. It break ups the lecture and has the ability to condense the material for review or break the material down into very detailed segments. I recently found educational series of short videos that are entertaining and do a great job summarizing topics I am currently covering in a media production course.
http://www.youtube.com/user/gloveandboots
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
It's very hard when you try to use any technology sometimes because of the abilities of your students. It is alright some times if you can do it together in a computer class where they can have your undivided attention, but most will struggle with it by themselves. I require them to do their math homework on the computer and I get a lot of pushback because a lot will say they do not like to use the computers at all. Some will even say they do not know how to turn it on. This is especially true when it is an older crowd. These days children learn so early even in grade school on how to use a computer. Some of them probably know a lot more than i know and I've been using one for years!!
By engaging my students and my family members. Keeping abreast of what new technology they are using socially. I also constantly read up on new and developing technologies out of pure interest.
I subscribe to a variety of LinkedIn Groups that cater to the subject I am teaching at the time. Being I teach Integrated Marketing Communications,Publicity & Promotion and Consumer Behavior - all industries that are going through major disruption in practice, I find that I encounter the "latest-greatest" in practices relevant to my field/industry on this Social Networking platform. Slideshare.net is also a good resource for timely, relevant and forward thoght and practices. TED.com often delivers great content for discussion.
Teaching in visual communications areas, there are a wealth of ways that students can incorporate elements like Pinterest to not only identify visual elements but understand organic thought processes and look at the internet as a research starting point. I have had students work within boards that range from reference/inspiration boards to those that identify artistic movements. Having them use the related web pages as a jump off point for research, and helping them assess sources is a great way to reinforce what they learn in gen ed courses and understand professional skills.
Nicole,
You bring up a great point. It is important to create a comfortable environment for your students so perhaps infusing PowerPoints into your lecture, videos, "clickers", and other non-threatening tech-based learning tools would be best for your learning environment.
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
Lisa,
You bring up a great point- every few months a new "it" form of communication seems to pop up. TED.com and Slideshare are both fantastic resources.
For those not familiar with TedEd, please follow this link: http://ed.ted.com/
Wishing you continued success in the classroom.
Theresa Schmitt
In this day and age, technology has changed and made this that were once difficult to understand, must easier to comprehend
I've been paying attention to how things like tablets can possibly cut the money spent on paper books that are required in my classes. Having a Kindle (or e-reader) version of a text can be such a boon to the students, since sometimes text-only versions of books can be so much cheaper than their paper counterparts. If there's a lot of graphics, I notice that the discount is not as good.
As a result, I've been including notes about the prices of e-reader versions on booklists, so they know they're available.
I've also been using Google pages to come up with combined blog and a resource site for the particular class. The site is free and the classroom template is pretty good. It includes links, places to put documents, a calendar, and even countdowns to remind people of upcoming due dates. One trouble is that everyone's required to get a Google-compatible email address.
That's too bad. I think having a Facebook page that's only accessible by the students and instructor would be an ideal place to share ideas and media. Our school has a no-fraternizing policy as well but students are allowed to use LinkedIn to link with instructors/staff, since it's a professional type of service rather than personal/overly social.
Maybe one concern with Facebook is that it can be hacked or is not private enough since Facebook itself can look at the contents.
Thanks, it's very difficult sometimes to find resources on the web concerning how to develop rubrics for specific assignments. I don't just assign a grade anymore. I usually have around five categories to grade and average their numbers together to get a more accurate and defensible score to give to the students. It also provides them with some feedback assessment.
Unfortunately, they're stuck on an Excel spreadsheet (or even the comments window of iPhoto) and not easy to get to the students in an instantaneous way. I can't generate a constant stream of report cards when something is added, so they usually have to wait until after midterm and the end of the semester to receive it. I wish our school had a portal system that that info could be placed so they could see it faster.
I try to look at what other schools are doing, what my students are talking about and things I can find online. I then try to incorporate as much as I can into my course as long as it is relevant to the course and would prove useful.
