The Challenges and Benefits of Educational Technology

Feelings about technology in education range from zealotry, to ambivalence, to abject fear and suspicion. Technology serves so many functions in our modern society, many of them critical to our continued progress. But it also changes dramatically from one year to the next- we can neither guess exactly what applications will develop nor grasp their implications, let alone pay for all of them. Lastly, we know technology can be utilized in ways that are beneficial and creative and also ways that harmful and destructive. So all of these attitudes stem from legitimate points of view.

As a professional technologist who grew up at the dawn of personal computing, I am a proponent, having seen how it has transformed the world around me, and how much capability it has given me professionally. As a parent, I am concerned as I have a daunting responsibility to guide and protect my children as they grow up surrounded by an evolving world of technology and ideas.

Click Here to read more about my view on technology in the classroom

Title: Science Heroes


Assignment Instructional Page

Teacher Example Video

Rubric

Recommended Grade Level: 5

Objective: The students create a short video (<2min) profiling a superheros with powers and explain the scientific principals involved.

Methodology:

1. Students will choose a science topic from the curriculum.
2. They will sketch their hero and draw pictures of them using their power.
3. They will describe the super hereo's power, referencing the underlying science at work. (electricity, lighting, weather, earthquakes, photosynthesis, biology, zoology (venom, camouflage). 
1. They will use the web to look up models and information on the science
2. This will be a written profile, that will be used in the video. They will research the scientific information.
4. Each Hero will be discussed in class.
5. They will create a video from their pictures.
6. The description will be overlaid on the video.
7. Videos will be compiled together into a 'cool' website profiling all the heroes

Assessment:

1. Students will be evaluated on the accuracy of the science they used
2. Write-ups will be checked for proper spelling and grammar.

Common Core Learning Standards:

Reading Informational Texts

• RI.5.3. Explain the relationships or interactions between two or more individuals, events, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text based on specific information in the text.
• RI.5.4. Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 5 topic or subject area.
• RI.5.9. Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the subject knowledgeably.

Reading: Foundational Skills

• RF.5.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
• Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Writing 

• W.5.2. Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
• Introduce a topic clearly, provide a general observation and focus, and group related information logically; include formatting (e.g., headings), illustrations, and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension.
• Develop the topic with facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples related to the topic.
• Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

Speaking and Listening

• SL.5.2. Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Comic Digital Composition

Title: The Devil's Comic Book

Assignment Instructional Page

Teacher Example Comic

Rubric

Grade Level: 5

Objective: The students will create a digital comic book from a short story in 'The Devil's Story Book." They will produce notes that represent an accurate summary of events from their story. They will look for their own images from various online clip art libraries. They will also have the option of producing their own images and using a camera to compose them.

Methodology:

1. The first story will be read in class and discussed. Teacher will introduce the project webpage and show the example.
2. Students will be put into groups of two and randomly assigned a story to read either in class or for homework. If done as homework students will be expected to make their own notes.
3. Student pairs will work together to discuss and create their own summaries and post them to a shared Google document.Students will list what images the need to create to tell their story. Teacher will work with the pairs to review their work at this stage and provide any support.
4. Students will go to links for the clip art, or create their own- images will be photographed and uploaded.
5. Students will have the option of using PowerPoint or ComicLife to create their comics. Comics will be printed and compiled together into a single volume.
6. Students will look at other students comics and discuss the story as told in the comic.

Assessment:

1. Students will be evaluated on the accuracy of their summaries. Core characters and events will be verified and counted.
2. Each student will be evaluated on their comments about another team's finished product.

Common Core Learning Standards:

Reading

• RF.5.4. Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.
• Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding.
• Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Writing

•  W.5.6. With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.
• W.5.9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.
• Apply grade 5 Reading standards to literature (e.g., “Compare and contrast two or more characters, settings, or events in a story or a drama, drawing on specific details in the text [e.g., how characters interact]”).

Speaking and Listening

• SL.5.1. Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
• Come to discussions prepared, having read or studied required material; explicitly draw on that preparation and other information known about the topic to explore ideas under discussion.
• Follow agreed-upon rules for discussions and carry out assigned roles.
• Pose and respond to specific questions by making comments that contribute to the discussion and elaborate on the remarks of others.
• Review the key ideas expressed and draw conclusions in light of information and knowledge gained from the discussions.
• SL.5.2. Summarize a written text read aloud or information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally.

Rubric: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsOWcjnYnLDvdFBJSW5PSE9QT1hNYTQ0cVpVQWlULVE

Multimodal Video Lesson

Multimodal Video Lesson:  Chef Lenny learns how do divide apiece a chocolate into four equal parts, called quarters.

Common Core Standard: 1.G.3. Partition circles and rectangles into two and four equal shares, describe the shares using the words halves, fourths, and quarters, and use the phrases half of, fourth of, and quarter of. Describe the whole as two of, or four of the shares. Understand for these examples that decomposing into more equal shares creates smaller shares.

Multimodal notes

Technology Standards

The Benefits Outweigh the Risks

Technology is Powerful

For instruction, there is no question that technology must be harnessed for its powerful extensions of traditional teaching methodology. Why write on the blackboard when you can present digital slides with supporting graphics, animations, and video to your text? Your presentation can be resorted, recalled, and revised at will, allowing you to navigate around your information based on student response to the presentation, rather than the other way around. Ditch the dittos, and make electronic versions of your teaching materials. This will provide accessibility, search, retrieval, and scalability for different learning levels.

Teachers should also harness the standards-rich exercises provided by electronic document sharing and messaging. Students will take a greater interest in writing reflections and observations when they are read and discussed by their peers. Teachers get to lead memorable dialogues about subject matter instead of forgettable lectures.

Technology is a Part of Our and Our Children's Lives

Movies and video games are not dirty words. They are enjoyed by adults and children alike. Far from being removed experiences, entertainment media is responsible for many of our shared cultural and conceptual ideas, and are deeply woven into our collective consciousness, like it or not. Most children are very 'literate' when it comes to popular culture. Why not use that foundation as a point of reference to teach literary themes, history, or civics? Using entertainment genres allows for a way in to introduce curricular content, and creates durable connections to the information.

So what about the concerns we're dumbing down content for entertainment value, or that mediated experiences are delivered at the expense of so-called traditional literacy? This is a valid concern. We must always take care to evaluate the media, games (yes, games), and electronic resources we purchase and make available. However, I do not think it is any more challenging than evaluating a textbook, workbook, or other classic 'filmstrip.' We apply the standards and ask, "what is the understanding this resource will provide?" I believe the challenge lies in evaluating the volume of available content that comes to market year after year. Fortunately there is a technological solution- the networked community of teachers. The load of this daunting task can be shared, publishing our insights, so teachers and administrators can make informed decisions about electronic resources.

We are forced to contend with the fact that technology and media are a part of the lives of children, all begging for their attention (and their parent's wallets). The upside, is that it gives us a powerful launching point for developing traditional literacy. If we can provide an interface for learning that matches tools they already use, offer on-demand access to educational media, and a provide a dedicated social network for learning, we can deliver our standards-based curriculum in a scalable, asymmetrical, and engaging way, modeled on the real-world environment of electronic communication.