Assignement #6

Watching the video I posted I almost laughed out loud because the ideas presented are still just as strong today! Technology can help students reach out a level of understanding that transcends a chapter in a textbook. After reviewing the technology standards, I am convinced of the importance of weaving technology into many aspects of the classroom environment. We must be preparing our students for a world driven by technology, and the benefits gained from a classroom valuing technology outweigh the negatives.

As standard #6 says, students must “use technology to learn, live, and work.” The fact is that education is enhanced by the use of multiple materials, including technological tools. More and more each day people are using e-mail as a means of communicating, and internet phone call programs (i.e., Skype) are taking the place of phone calls. If students are illiterate in terms of working with the technological advances then they will struggle with “learning, living, and working” in the United States.

Below I will list some specific standards and particular strategies that I can use in an English/Language Arts classroom that incorporates technology into the lesson:

1. Creativity and Innovation: Although I love the idea of my students making posters and other artwork to tap into their creativity, I am ecstatic about the idea of students using a computer to create projects as well. For instance, I could have students create a creative comic strip (e.g., Howtoons) after reading a book that deals with the main points in the novel.
2. Communication and Collaboration: As I’ve said in previous blogs, I value classroom discussion in and outside of the classroom. I will make sure that my students are discussing what we’ve read in class in a classroom forum that I will create. Also, I will encourage my students to work collaboratively on book reports within google documents, where they can chat together while working.
3. Research information and fluency: A wide variety of materials are available on the Internet, so I will give a lesson on locating appropriate research-based resources to provide support for a critical analysis of a book we’ve read in class.
4. Critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making: This idea sort of ties into the communication and collaboration portion of my plan to involve students with my classroom on their own time via the Internet. I will challenge my students with open-ended questions pertaining to a piece of literature that we are reading and ask them to blog about it online. Blogging allows students to express themselves, and their ideas, through the process of writing, and responding to, blogs.
5. Digital citizenship: In order to help students feel more connected to the digital world, and to help students become more familiar with using the Internet as an invaluable resource, I will require students to get a g-mail account and e-mail their papers to me, in order to save paper. I will, of course, have expectations for students who do not own computers or have access to technology, but in a world that is focused on protecting the earth’s resources I want to model appropriate ways of preserving these resources in every way that I can.

More and more I am beginning to understand the importance of preparing my students for the technological advances in our world that are taking place each day. In my English/Language Arts classroom I see many opportunities where I can utilize technology to engage my students, and enhance their learning in certain areas.