Group items tagged

Students don't need to know about social media at this point -- it isn't age appropriate.

we were all taught the "social media" of our time in early elementary school.

effective social behavior could be modeled at a young age.

I've seen their Padlet wall of questions, witnessed the delivery of tadpoles, and watched a young boy read to his amphibian friend -- all through Twitter.

provides an amazingly detailed view of life in a connected classroom.

to engage in the cultivation of their own Personal Learning Networks (PLNs). Her students not only learn, but also share their learning with a broader community. Whether through whole-group Twitter activities and Skype, calls or individual KidBlogs, these students recognize that there are connections to be made beyond their Ontario classroom -- all while working on their reading, writing, communication and collaboration.

Social media enables the creation of meaningful connections.

By empowering her students with the use of social media, Kristin Ziemke connects them to a global audience and introduces them to the complex communication required to be effective digital citizens.

paper could be the best teaching tool.

To teach the concept of posting and commenting, the students created physical blogs on bulletin boards in the hallway of the school.

focus on the writing process within a familiar context,

Students gained experience with posting, tagging and commenting without any of the concerns often associated with "being online."

what's important is that we introduce all children to social media in appropriate and meaningful ways, regardless of their age, such that they can connect to a global audience and develop as empowered, networked learners.

Start Class with a Mind Warm-U

find the mistakes planted in material written on the board

Use Movement to Get Kids Focused

Teach Students How to Collaborate Before Expecting Success

Use Quickwrites When You Want Quiet Time and Student Reflection

Run a Tight Ship When Giving Instructions

Use a Fairness Cup to Keep Students Thinking

Use Signaling to Allow Everyone to Answer Your Question

Use Minimal-Supervision Tasks to Squeeze Dead Time out of Regular Routines

Mix up Your Teaching Styles

Create Teamwork Tactics That Emphasize Accountability

Choosing one of these platforms enables teachers and students to transport their learning between home and school, as well as ensure that their creations can be shared with a wider audience.

With the proliferation of laptops, Chromebooks, and tablets, we have the potential to create new and diverse learning artifacts such as audio, video, and interactive media.

How we communicate and connect beyond the walls of our classrooms and the immediate geography of our schools plays a critical role in the structure of our ecosystem.

If schools and teachers can collect and accumulate meaningful evidence from students' everyday interactions with games and other digital tools, we have the potential to create new models of students' knowledge and skills that expand our ability to both understand and influence student learning.

The ultimate goal of technology integration is to completely redefine how we teach and learn, and to do things that we never could before the technology was in our hands

framework lays out the knowledge that educators need in order to successfully integrate technology into their teaching

Yet most

New tech tools for visualizing and modeling, especially

relationship between teacher and studen

in the science

experiment and observe phenomenon and to view results in graphic ways that aid in understanding.

technology tools and a project-learning approach, students are more likely to stay engaged and on task, reducing behavioral problems in the classroom.

anges the way teachers teac

Technology also

nderstanding through multiple mean

schools lag far behind when it comes to integrating technology into classroom learning.

Through projects, students acquire and refine their analysis and problem-solving skills as they work individually and in teams to find, process, and synthesize information they've found online.

Hold an introductory session with your students when introducing a new tool. Use the tool yourself first before putting your students in front of it. Have a plan for collecting student work. Communicate with other colleagues that may want to use the resources as well. Manage time with the resources wisely. Set goals for work completion with your students. Communicate with

your administration about how and when you will be using shared technology.

This article contains the following sections: Getting Started Integrating Technology Across the Access Spectrum Getting to "Seamless" Integration Tips for Shared Hardware Creating a Professional-Development Plan Hardware and Equipment Using Technology for Feedback and Assessment The Role of Digital Citizenship

If your class has an interactive whiteboard and projector: Try interactive websites such as BrainPOP. Dig in to Scholastic's whiteboard activities page. Show online videos related to the lessons. Explore virtual math manipulatives. Check out the native software that came with the board. Use the videoconferencing tool Skype to connect beyond the classroom.

Getting to "Seamless" Integration To begin to move your tech integration to the point where it is "seamless," consider these questions: What skills are applied to nearly all tools (e.g., saving a file, naming a file, finding a file, logging in and out of accounts)? Have your students mastered these basic skills? How many different tools will you introduce this year? How many is too many? How will technology help your students better understand content -- will it push them to a deeper understanding that could not have been achieved without technology? What level of integration do you want in your classroom by the end of the school year? What specific steps must you take to achieve that goal? What is a realistic goal based on time and resources? For more on levels of technology access and what that means for tech integration, read this blog post: "What Does 'Technology Integration' Mean?" You can also check out the outstanding Technology Integration Matrix produced by the Arizona K12 Center. It provides guidance on different levels of tech integration based on readiness and current practice, and offers links to sample lessons.

Using Technology for Feedback and Assessment One of the most exciting aspects of bringing technology into your classroom -- and into your students' hands -- is the enhanced opportunity for timely and meaningful feedback. Quick Checks: If you want to know if your students grasp enough of a particular concept before you move on, you can use tools such as Poll Everywhere, Socrative, or Mentimeter to get a quick snapshot of the class. By creating a short quiz or open-ended response question using one of these tools and having your students use an internet-enabled device to answer, you can get quick and easy feedback that will help inform your instruction. Personalized Feedback: Through the use of course-management tools such as Edmodo, Schoology, or Moodle, it is now possible for teachers to provide personalized feedback quickly and efficiently to their students. All three tools provide the ability for teachers to leave personalized comments and notes on student work, and they provide a messaging service for students who may want to send emails with questions or concerns about the course.

Using Technology for Feedback and Assessment

If you have access to a handful of mobile devices: Have students create videos using the Animoto app Record group discussions using a voice recording app. Have students record themselves reading aloud for fluency checks. Assign student-created comics using the Puppet Pals app. Offer e-books for required readings. Upload and access course content using the Edmodo or Schoology apps. Conduct research. Foster skills practice using apps specific to subject area. Collaborate using apps like Whiteboard.