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- Seeking Help from
Technology
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- Seeking
Help from Technology
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- Technology has certainly moved into
the learning environment. Some people
might even consider it a technology
"traffic jam." But has the landscape of
learning changed with the introduction of
all this technology? It probably depends
on how, when, and why it's being used or
not used.
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- Rather than choosing one technology,
use the best of what technology has to
offer. For example, you might start by
reading the book The Wanderer by
Sharon Creech aloud to your class. How can
technology help expand the ideas in the
book or any other topic you might be
teaching?
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- Technology can provide helpful
resources teachers can use in building
effective learning environment. This
section will examine five ways technology
can be helpful in teaching and learning
including:
- Learning Guides
- Helpers & Portals
- Templates & Creators
- Tutorials & Activities
- Student Projects
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- Learning Guides
- Teachers around the world are sharing
their lesson, unit, discussion, and
activity ideas on the Internet. Why
reinvent the wheel? Thousands of other
teachers are exploring the same concepts
as your learners. For example, the
Scholastic website contains wonderful
resources to go with books such as
The
Wanderer. If you're teaching a
particular content area and you're seeking
resources that meet your standards, try a
large project called MarcoPolo.
This project is currently taking US
national standards and working with major
organizations to design effective lessons
and online resources.
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- Helpers & Portals
- Rather than starting with the search
engines, use some established starting
points. For example, you might use a web
page such as the Toolkit
that contains the best starting points for
particular types of searches. Some people
like to use a custom
portal that you customize with your
favorite resource links.
Templates &
Creators
- Lesson templates, quiz creators,
rubric builder, and web page generators
can make your job of using the web easier.
A project called Teacher
Tap contains good starting points for
teachers. A section called Builders
contains links to many templates and
creation tools. The 4teachers
project contains many tools for
teachers including lesson templates,
rubric builders, and student poster
project templates. This service will store
your projects too. The Student
Poster Project center allows students
to create their own web page. The
Dolphin
project is an example. These templates
are an easy way for you and your students
to share information.
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- Tutorials & Activities
- The Internet is a good source for
tutorials and activities. It can provide
new information in the form of text,
visuals, audio, videos, and animations.
Guided learning resources, practice and
feedback pages, and online activities can
also be found. In our example from the
book, The Wanderers, students might use
the Internet to learn more about sailing.
Students can go the GOALS project for
sailing
science activities, USGS for map
activities, and the Latitudes
project for sailing resources. The
GOALS
project follows real sailing adventures
around the world.
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- Student Projects
- Rather than using adult-produced
materials, try using student projects with
your classroom. The ThinkQuest
and CyberFair contests are yearly
projects that encourage students to share
with others. You can also find student
projects at school home pages, museum
sites, and through media and science
fairs. For example, when searching for
sailing information there are over a dozen
resources at ThinkQuest by students of
various ages: Project
1, Project
2, Sailing,
and Maps.
Your students could also contribute to
this wonderful set of online
resources.
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-
 - The
Wanderer
- Sharon Creech
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-
Landscapes Menu
- The
"A's"
- Seeking Help from Technology
- Adapting to
Change
- Changing the Landscape
- Return to
Eduscapes
Created by Annette
Lamb, 02/01.
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