This blog post also appeared in the IB Community Blog high-lighting student success in the Diploma Programme.
1. What is one of your favorite technology tools to use in the classroom? Why? AMY RICHARDS: Padlet is a great, quick board for posting student-generated research, responses, and anything really. Get Coffee works nicely for group discussions; students can propose questions and the questions can be then inputted into the generator quickly. I especially like Get Coffee as a means to practice the on-the-spot, effective responses needed for the IB English HLD. VICKI QUINN: One of my favorite tools is a simple one: Google Drive. I ask students to use Google Docs to work with students on the process with writing and on the collaboration of ideas. For example, I can assign a presentation-based project where students collect, organize, and then present information in a collaborative Google Presentation file or I can assign a passage typed up in a Google Document and ask individuals in the classroom to collectively annotate it at the same time. 2. How has the increased use of technology encouraged inquiry-based learning for your students? AMY RICHARDS: Technology offers extra avenues for students to generate ideas, both individually and collectively. Our classrooms, then, consist of student voices sharing, questioning, and building upon these shared thoughts. My voice, at least when directed to the entire class, is heard much less these days. Most days the technology on which students gathered ideas is up -- both on individual Macbook screens as well as on the classroom whiteboard -- and students are discussing with and adding to one another’s inquiries. VICKI QUINN: Our society is moving towards a demand of innovation and the 5Cs (Communication, Collaboration, Citizenship, Creativity, Critical Thinking). Our IB classroom existed in that sphere already, but access to technology has encouraged our use of inquiry-based learning for our students because now we can ask students to communicate in digital educational blogs where they share their creativity, we can ask students to practice “net-etiquette” and ability to be digital citizens in forums about literature, we can deliver flipped instruction via podcasts, streaming video, and internet-based presentations, we engage them through problem-solving activities and projects using various Web 2.0 tools, and we can foster a community of learners who value and want to improve fundamental skills of reading and writing. 3. What's the biggest challenge in increasing technology usage in the classroom? AMY RICHARDS: At the start, it was tempting to find new technology tools while excitedly wondering: “how can these be included in students’ learning?” Now, we develop the learning experience first and then search for technology to potentially assist. The challenge at first was to remember that technology is a tool with which to learn; it should not the central focus. Currently, the challenge is to find technology that functions like we want it to. For instance, I recently wanted a platform on which students could easily annotate a poetic text heavy in imagery with their own ideas, images, and audio. I struggled to find the right tech. Ultimately, I used Genuis’ Embed feature on a webpage I created. VICKI QUINN: It is challenging to keep up with technology and the best practices use of it in the classroom. It is challenging to keep students interested in a digital learning experience when there are so many technology-based distractors for them in the same platform. What I have learned is that using technology effectively in the classroom is dependent on facilitators who can inspire and motivate learners in a purposeful and guided digital experience. Incorporating technology depends upon the development of engaging material and then the opportunity for students to explore, create, communicate, collaborate, and think in web-based classroom environments. As someone who has tried to implement a blended classroom experience for my students, I have learned an essential component of E-learning: it still requires the art of teaching.
1 Comment
Krista Dolan
10/7/2016 11:10:13 am
I admire your idea regarding the #observeme trend! Your words capture my feelings every time an administrator or other outside observer comes into the room. We know what is happening in our room with our students, and it takes more than a few minutes for an outsider to see all of the different layers of communication and learning occurring in the room.
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