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.
Hey Stephen - I was also thinking about using Poll Everywhere for my history class. I really liked when Jared used it in seminar - I thought it was really great that our responses were anonymous, and thus we were able to get our true thoughts out there for everyone else to read, without having to worry about our reputations. But, I realize the downside to that in a high school/middle school classroom where students maybe struggle to write/organize their thoughts...is, knowing it's all anonymous, they would simply not enter a response (or enter something sassy and useless like IDK!!) So..any ideas how we could remedy this?
ReplyDeleteI guess we could explicitly overview norms for Poll Everywhere - explicitly discussing this issue and making clear that we will only continue to use this online format as long as we as a class agree to make thoughtful comments. Any other ideas?
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ReplyDeleteStephen,
ReplyDeleteWhoah, sounds like you've got a lot to think about. My suggestion: pick one and do it UNTIL the novelty wears off. Then keep using it until you're totally comfortable with it. Then keep using it. Then introduce something new. The dirty little secret about tech is that it only becomes effective once it is no longer novel. With what you were telling me about the trivia, I think PollEverywhere is a great starting point for you.
Hey Stephen - I think using Poll Everywhere is a great idea. I have been thinking of implementing this into my classroom, particularly for bell work, but I am struggling about how to best go about doing this. One of my concerns is that if I ask students to take out their phones at the start of class, then they will never get put away. I am worried that using Poll Everywhere for bell work would set the tone that it is okay to have the phone out all hour. Of course, this should not be the case, but getting students refocused and moving through transitions are major tasks at my placement. How do you envision this playing out in your classroom? Do you anticipate any issues with managing cell phone use once you start using Poll Everywhere? Or do you think using Poll Everywhere would actually eliminate phone issues?
ReplyDeleteYeah I understand your concern. There really isn't a strict cell phone policy at my placement. I would simply just ask students to complete the poll on their cell phones at the beginning of class. This might sound horribly bad, but I think fighting the battle against cell phones in class is futile and impossible. I would say that nothing is really going to eliminate cell phone issues. I suppose I believe that if students don't pay attention to lecture/activities it's their problem and responsibility. I probably didn't answer your questions well.
ReplyDelete