Libmedia201

Even though many games are played individually, playing games together can be a great way to build classroom culture. When paired with other culture-building activities, games can provide low-stakes, competitive ways to build collaboration skills. In fact, games that involve teams can help support the principles of "helping each other out" and sharing. Some games, like Pandemic, require that all players work together toward the same goal instead of working competitively. Collaboration is key in that game, so consider games like it for building classroom culture, and pair them with reflections and discussion to assess the learning. Remember, depending on the access to technology, teachers can pick both high-tech and low-tech games, or offer both. Educators can try all or some of these steps to use games in the classroom. It's important that we start small with implementation, and that we continually reflect on the learning and push ourselves to try new things for the sake of our students, their engagement, and their achievement.

Not every student in your class needs to be playing the same game at the same time. In fact, games can be used as just another tool to differentiate. As teachers formatively assess their students, they may find that some students didn't quite get either the content knowledge or 21st century skill they were focusing on. Also, educators might find that some students are ready for a greater challenge. Educators can use games as a tool to support either revisiting the material or pushing students farther on new material. Not only do games help differentiate for students, but they also free up the teacher to meet the needs of more students.

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.

Technology increases the frequency of assignment completion and contributes to improved motivation (Bahr, Nelson, and VanMeter, 1996). It therefore supports some of the basic objectives of inclusive education: a sense of belonging to group, shared activities with individual outcomes, and a balanced educational experience.

Teach students to use the Track Changes feature when editing work in Microsoft Word.

Post a list of all your rules for technology use in a visible place

After a lesson using presentation software, allow students to walk around the room and view everyone else's work.

Always run through a technology lesson before presenting it to the class

Have each student keep a Tech Folder

Set up teams of computer helpers

If you're working on a network, ask your technology coordinator to set up a shared folder for Internet resources.

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.