The authors of Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, have brought more ideas to the cognitive learning integration for the classroom. Technology is such an important aspect that should involve every student, each day that they are at school. When the school is able to provide them with technology, they will be more prepared for their future in our technology dependent society. However, integrating technology in the right way is important for student success and positive outcomes that they can take with them each year.
Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers are great tools that help students organize their information in a more easy-to-follow format. It also helps those visual learners because they are now able to put in information or data that they have found using a concept map or spreadsheet.
The authors share a website that I would like to integrate into my classroom, BrainPOP Jr; they said it is “an online collection of short animated films for students in kindergarten through 3rd grade” (2007, p.85). It has a lot of great features that cover all aspects of the curriculum and range from difficulty. The only downside to the site is it does require a subscription, but I feel would be a great tool to have in the classroom.
Summarizing and note taking, according to the authors, “focuses on enhancing students’ ability to synthesize information and distill it into a concise new form” (2007, p. 119). After teaching students the ins and outs of effective note taking, they will be more prepared to find the important facts of a story, discussion, or new concept. At an elementary level, students' note taking basically consists of being able to find facts that are important for a book report or area of study for a unit. The authors give several hints to help elementary level students summarize information which include, “Take out the material that is not important to understanding. Take out words that repeat information. Replace a list of things with a word that describes the things in the list. Find a topic sentence.” (2007, p. 121). These helpful hints will aide students to organize information in a way that they can understand and that they find important, which plays into the cognitive learning approach.
There are lots of great ways to integrate technology into the classroom in an educational format. Giving students the opportunity to explore new educational sites, programs, and/or virtual field trips, allows them to have a structured environment that promotes success. Students will be more excited about summarizing a book or to learn about a particular culture. They are more excited because they are using technology and techniques that fits their preferred learning style.
Resource:
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Brain Pop is an excellent site with many benefits for your students. My school has a subscription that many teachers take advantage of. It is well worth the subscription price tag.
ReplyDeleteYou mention virtual field trips in your final paragraph. Considering the many cut backs education is experiencing, this is an excellent way to take students out of the classroom to experience the many wonders we are unable at this time to provide them. Include a Smart Board and speakers and it is almost like they are there to experience the trip for real.
I haven't used BrainPop before, but I have used internet4teachers, another website they list. I know my third grade students loved it when we played those games. I usually set it up as a competition between tables, but had individuals play against each other. We also played where the students voted on answers and I input the answer from the majority.
ReplyDeleteA summarizing tool you might want to use for elementary students is a quick sketch. It's a Step Up to Writing tool where you write a sentence for the start of the story across the top of the page, a sentence across the bottom for the end of the story, and then there are 3 boxes on the left hand side for a quick sketch of the beginning, middle, and end of the story. The right side of the boxes is reserved for J.O.T.s (Just One or Two words) as bullet points.
KVMARTIN: Where can I find the application for quick sketch? Is it part of Word? That appears to be a great idea for helping students organize their thoughts in a more current approach.
ReplyDeleteI think it is great that you mentioned learning how to take good notes in elementary. So many students get to high school and even college and do not know how to take notes. It is important that we teach students at a young age and enforce that concept throughout their schooling. If we don't teach them, how will they learn?
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