Sonic Pi teaches coding through music. Students basically build a synthesiser, thus accidentally learn concepts such as logic, sequencing, iteration and conditionals while doing something creative and imaginative.
when they found other people commenting on the blogs, they were even more engaged.
These social learning activities do not just aid learning through student motivation, they can also help to build the social skills or ‘grit’ that UK schools are now compelled to teach. When interacting online students learn that it is important to emphasise positives, celebrate success, to be constructive and also learn how to take criticism thus they learn conscientiousness, teamwork and resilience.
Meanwhile, those of us whose skills in tech integration are not quite Olympic class may find the SAMR model (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) more helpful for locating ourselves along the continuum of maximizing the transformational impact of technology. What won't work is waiting for technological change to stabilize.
You'll never keep abreast of every technology innovation, so allow yourself to be a curious learner that doesn't know it all.
top education technology bloggers and ask their advice on social media
Give yourself 30 minutes every couple of weeks to learn a new tech tool from Tammy's Technology Tips, Edudemic, Monica Burns' ClassTechTips, Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything, Cybraryman's Teacher Tools, or Richard Byrne's Favorite Resources. Happy clicking!
"The time I spend helping my students to edit and refine their writing as they write is exponentially more valuable for them than the final comments I leave on their essays."
For even more information on this topic, visit Edutopia’s Resources for Technology Integration.
This article contains a number of resources to help teachers better familiarize themselves with the myriad of tools and ways in which they can be integrated.