I will continue to work on my computer proficiency and adding new tools into my repertoire. I want to keep up with my students and how they are using technology. The more interesting ways that I can present material, the more likely they are to stay engaged and participate.
These are three things that I would like to incorporate next year:
1 - I will construct a wiki for my classes. In each class I will add a tab for each unit that we are cover. I will begin by posting an initial question/issue/focus to get the students thinking. From there, I will ask every student to add a comment, an answer, or additional questions. My hope here is that they will take ownership in what they contribute and in how much they are learning from each other. Also, if things go as expected, I should only have to monitor it and they will be learning on their own time.
2 - I would like every student to create a blog and add to it at least once every week. In this blog, I would like them to post questions, concerns, thoughts, links, videos, and reflection on assignments and projects. There are many students that should excel at this because of the amount of time they spend with technology. I think that it will eliminate the use of only a textbook to obtain information, and it will get them interested in looking at their classmates' blogs.
3 - I do many projects in my classes. Instead of the standard PowerPoint that students like to do, I am going to introduce them to screencasting and voicethreads. I am going to ask my classes to use a different presentation tool and make it more exciting for their peers. My hopes here are that the presentations they do for me are better, and they will become more aware of webtools, which will help them in their academic endeavors.
Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas for projects. I am curious to know how many computers you have available for student use and/or how many students have computers available at home. Will you be setting computer time aside so that the students can complete the assignments during class or will they be required to do the technology-related work on their own?
We have a 1:1 laptop program at our school. So, this is all very easy for us to do.
ReplyDeleteVery nice. I am fortunate to have small classes and enough computers in my room to meet all the students' needs. That is a huge help in implementing technology.
ReplyDeleteI like that you are having students each make up their own blog and that you are maintaining a class Wiki.
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Hey Bill, the plan sounds good. Just a word of caution though from my prior experience, I would be careful not to be too overambitious/ ask too much of the students at once. Having them post wiki comments and blogging once a week might get to be too much to manage for you and the students. They might also get confused as to where to do what. You may want to try one method with one class and one with another? Maybe the groups you have lend themselves better to one or the other tool. Just something to think about.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Marta. I would probably introduce and get them going on one, and then introduce the other slowly. By the end of the semester, I think they'd be able to get it.
ReplyDeleteBill, pretend I am grade oriented student in your class. How will the blog/wiki activity affect my grade? What will you be grading so I can make sure I maintain my 100 average? How will you let me know if my blog meets your expectations?
ReplyDeleteNow, I am asking as a teacher how much time are you willing to spend reading the blog? Are you going to post replies on them? I think some type of feedback is important for students to put in appropriate amount of effort and thought and to take it seriously enough as a learning tool. I found that keeping up with all the blogs in this class took a great deal of time, and I imagine some students could spend a great deal of time blogging.
I would handle this like everything else related to grading. It would be described in my course syllabus that I hand out on day 1. It would take a few weeks for students to figure out what is acceptable and what is not. But by doing these assignments, I would lessen the amount of written homework that I assign. This would be a primary way that students are graded. I would look for thought and reflection in their posts, and of course, this is different for all students. The main thing I would want for them is collaboration and taking stock in their education. As far as direct replies... not always, but I'm sure I would have to clarify, redirect, etc...
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