This will be my third yr in my campus, and to me I have seen improvement in the use of technology. Even before I join this program, I would I always think that the use of technology is important in the classroom. During my first two yrs of teaching kinder, all I had in my classroom was a overhead projector, because that is all they would give us in the lower grades.We did had 4 students computer in the classroom where the students web 2.o tools to be use, but I still thought the students needed more exposure to technology. Finally this year I finally got a interactive whiteboard and document camera(elmo).I have been exposing my student to this new technology everyday,and they love it. I even use the whiteboard as a center, and the students are becoming experts in using it. According to Kerry Turner "Talented teachers are in essence, modest creatures. My previous blog post entitled, "Rethinking Web 2.0 in the classroom?" included a request for teachers who were using Web 2.0 successfully in the classroom to share their experiences ." Likes She mentions in this article many teachers need to to stop being afraid and start using technology in the classroom in order to be successful and have wonderful experiences.
You're right Maria, teachers are afraid of using technology because it is the unknown. What we don't see sometimes is that sometimes the students know way more than what some of us do. We should definitely use this to our advantage in the classroom.
Maria, this was a very interesting article. I was astonished by #2 "There are just too many tools. The go2web20 site lists approximately 2700 applications and tools." I knew there were lots of tools out there, but I had no idea! I think that Web 2.0 is too overwhelming. Teachers should focus on being really good at a handful of them. If you are in the secondary level, you could get together with your team and everyone could become an expert at one tool and teach it to all of the students. Then teachers could create assignments using the different tools without having to master all of them.
There are many of great Web 2.0 tools to use in the classroom. We must evaluate and plan accordingly not to overwhelm ourselves and students. When planning the lesson, the teacher should select the most adequate Web 2.0 tool to enhance student learning; thus, meeting content objectives and goals. When using Web 2.0 tools, we must also consider our skill confidence and students' age appropriateness.
It's just amazing what our students can teach us. We just have to keep our minds open and be as fearless as our kiddos. It is also important to remember that to not get overwhelmed by a simple web 2.0 Google search. I know for me I want to use it all but I have to try not to clutter my lesson plans.
I too had much difficulty with having technology items in the classroom. I am in the portables, where no wireless was even present. On top of that, I had no student computers. Once I finally got student computers, there was issues with not having the right chords. When finally having the right chords, months later, I finally have student computers and can plan stations with the use of them. I got them in yesterday, so I plan on showing the kids Prezi, I tried showing them before in the library, but with out stations, it was too many kids at one time having problems. Now, with more technology in the classroom, it will be much eaiser. What really bothers me, is when teachers in core classes have all this technology given to them, yet they don't use it. I think the reason for this is because teachers right now are worried about the STAR test, and do not want to waste time with anything else.
That is great that you are engaging your students with technology that you are learning to integrate into your lessons, Maria. I agree with Esther and Adriana that there are so many web 2.0 tools out there to use that being familiar with all of them can seem very overwhelming for the MTT and especially for the average classroom teacher, whom may not be as technologically inclined. Shannon and Itza are right, students now plenty of tools themselves, that we can learn from as well, its a teaching moment that we need to seize. This happens to me in my classroom as well. The first time I had my student use Wordle in my 9th grade art class, I had a few students using Tagxedo, and I hadn't even told them about that site. They are so brilliant, and tech saavy, they absorb it like sponges. There is never going to be way that teachers and MTT's can know every single tool out there, we are always learners, so we should embrace that aspect of our role as well. I do agree with Kerry Turner in her article that " May teachers consider their efforts unworthy." I think its a great idea for teachers to collaborate, share ideas, and tools, and document their efforts no matter how minute the effort is.
Web 2.0 tools are unknown in many classrooms. I would see trainings for it and would go but didn't feel comfortable enough to use them in the classroom. I agree with your statement completely and teachers are always pressed for time that we don't want to experiment with Web 2.0 because technology in our campuses can be so unpredictable. I don't consider myself to be affraid to use Web 2.0 tools but I am affraid of lossing a day's instruction. I am currently using Glogster in the classroom and it has been working ok but some days the network does not want to participate.
True about being afraid to use these Web 2.0 tools. I teach Kindergarten and I have been afraid of using these Web 2.0 tools with my students but just the other day a substitute teach came asking me to help with the Smartboard and when I went to help, one of the Kindergarteners in that class was already getting the video working. I asked her how she knew what to do and she said she had seen her teacher do it several times. This got me thinking about how afraid I've been about introducing my students to this knew technology. Students are eager to learn about technology, this means I need to be eager to teach them, not afraid because they aren't afraid.
I use to think that many teachers didn't want to change thier methods of presenting lessons by using technology in the classroom but I have changed my mind. When I share what I have learned with other teachers at my campus, they become excited and want for me to teach them how to integrate the different Web 2.0 tools in their lessons. I think as a district, we need to hold teachers more accountable to attend workshops that offer training and make the technology more accessible to students.
started by Maria Izquierdo on 06 Feb 12
Turner, Kelly.Successful use of Web 2.0 in the Classroom.http://kerryturner.wordpress.com/kerry-turner/successful-use-of-web-2o-in-the-classroom/ Feb. 2012