I have learned that students are more open to the addition of technology in their path to learning curriculum than I thought! I also learned (or I should probably say confirmed) that choosing an outside audience for their product made my students work more diligently and proofread more carefully. It really hit them that this product would be a representation of themselves. My students will be posting their slide shows on my web page on our school’s web site. This is the first time I have had them present to the ‘community’ of our school and beyond.
I still need to learn how to do podcasts because there are a lot of good video clip resources I would like to show to help solidify or explain the ancient culture or not so distant past (We will be hitting Modernism and Post-Modernism, but my students have a hard time relating to a world without cell phones and drive thru windows!)
I was able to look at some other English teachers’ web sites to get ideas on communicating with parents. I know I will need to spend more time creating and adding links to resources or daily assignments/notes to help absentees stay on track with the class. Something I added this week to an assignment was an extra credit opportunity for anyone who added music or narration into their power point presentations. This scaffolding gave advanced students a challenge and creative outlet, yet the scaffolding afforded students who have not mastered the skill a chance to learn how to manipulate these tools without penalty.
I also found that my students were more open to the idea of technology in the classroom. My students really enjoyed the idea of writing a blog. It seemed to catch their attention the second I mentioned it. Some students seem skeptical and reluctant, but I expected that. I think they are excited that they will have an audience and the audience will be able to "connect" to them by posting comments.
ReplyDeleteBravo on giving the students a "real" audience. You are right, it does confirm that when they put themselves "out there," they tend to care a bit more. That is a definite positive about technology!
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly are you doing with podcasts? I'm interested in how to use podcasts. If you are incorporating videos, etc. it is a great time to teach the students about digital citizenship. (As is giving the students the opportunity to add graphics and music to their presentations.) It still is hard for me to remember all of the fair use and copywright rules.
I would like to have my students use video cameras and record their modern-day version of a scene, or a mini-series from a longer work like the Canterbury Tales or Paradise Lost or Macbeth, or record just a dramatic reading so that students could follow along as someone read a piece of literature. Then I would like for them to post it as a link on our class web page. The recording part is not a problem as students are used to recording things with their phones! Working through creating a web page (or possibly a wiki) is another matter! This will take involving our IT team to cover any legal issues (like parental permission for posting the image/voice of their child) as well as procedural issues of creating a wiki that gives students some control, yet can safeguard against inappropriate material, etc. I'm still working through all of this in my head! Sometimes I think I move too slowly because I am not comfortable with the technology myself! I would love to have my seniors be able to leave behind some of their hard work as their 'last will and testiment' for the rest of the school.
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