Technology Teach-In Ideas!
So, I have a few chaotic ideas for infusing my lessons with
technology. I hope it’s alright if I brainstorm a little bit for this blog
post. Anyways, in the immediate pipeline, I need to start using Poll Everywhere
for several reasons:
1.) It’s a an easy
way for me get students to use their cell phones for an educational purpose
rather than as a distraction.
2.) It’s easy to obtain statistical information, which I
need for Shari’s class
3.) It’s interactive and fun to a certain extent. Maybe the
novelty will wear off though.
Everyday, we have a bell-work assignment: Trivia Fun Times
Forever!!! Students must write down and complete questions that either reinforce
the previous day’s lesson or serve as a means to introduce the new lesson. Poll
Everywhere would be great for this activity. It would be far easier for me to
check if students are completing the bell-work rather than me walking around a
checking their notebooks. There are other cool options for Poll Everywhere that
would enhance the bell-work as well. I wouldn’t consider this to be a novelty.
It would simply save me time and energy. But, ultimately I think getting
students to see their phone as a tool for education rather than a toy is also
important.
For a future lesson, I also envision using Video Notes,
which is a video note-taking program that works with Google Drive. Currently, I
am having difficulty coming up with a way to use it in my context. I need to do
more brainstorming on this one. I need
to investigate the Chromebooks that are available. I know some aren’t working
properly too.
Even further down the line, I would like to potentially use
Voice Thread and Audacity for a major oral history project that I’ve talked
about for what seems like forever. The trouble is organizing it all and putting
everything together so it makes sense for students. I’m hoping that I can make
this happen somehow.
The assignment calls for the following:
1.) Cover Page
2.) Table of Contents
3.) Profile of the individual to be interviewing
4.) Audio recording of the interview (no longer than 30 mins) (This is where Audacity or a cell phone app comes in)
5.) Transcript of the interview (30 mins of interview only)
6.) Analysis of the interview (Students must situate interview into a historical context)
7.) Index (Students must identify key events/important ideas etc. and list alphabetically in an index)
2.) Table of Contents
3.) Profile of the individual to be interviewing
4.) Audio recording of the interview (no longer than 30 mins) (This is where Audacity or a cell phone app comes in)
5.) Transcript of the interview (30 mins of interview only)
6.) Analysis of the interview (Students must situate interview into a historical context)
7.) Index (Students must identify key events/important ideas etc. and list alphabetically in an index)
8.) Presentation (Students could use Voice Tread,
PowerPoint, or Google Slides)
This assignment needs a significantly more direction to it.
While this may be a ton of work for students and possibly too ambitious for
high school. I know from personal experience that it is a meaningful,
purposeful educational opportunity that students will remember.
