Libmedia201

Helping educators and school leaders connect, collaborate, create, and share

Access to free tools and tutorials

Tools to help you create innovative learning experiences

Design your Web site wit

h your audience in mind. Determine the purpose of your Web site, then put yourself in the shoes of your students and their parents. How will they actually use the site; what will benefit them the most; what options can help them improve their understanding of class content? With the answers to these questions, you can begin to plan your site design.

Classroom Assistive Technology Devices

Learning Disabilities: Math

Access to Math Company: Don Johnston, Inc. Tel #: 1-800-999-4660 Catalog #: P90 Price: $79.00 Function Domain: Learning Disabilities

Use the Internet with a Unit of Study (Monday)

ind a Web site with the information needed for one component of the unit. Post the Internet address and clear directions for the assignment near the computer. As students work independently or in small groups, they can rotate through the computer learning center. Continue to monitor com

puter use as you move throughout the classroom.

Best Practices: Elementary Tech Teachers DPS Elementary Technology Teachers Best Practices Getting Started Developing Highly Effective Technology Lab Instruction Teacher frequently implements the components of effective technology instruction including: A mini-lesson based on the DPS Information Literacy and Technology Proficiencies. Independent work time Teacher regularly implements the components of effective technology instruction including: A planned mini-lesson based on the DPS Information Literacy and Technology Proficiencies. Independent work time based on a classroom project developed in collaboration with the students� classroom teachers. Closure at the end of each work session that includes defining next steps and work the students need to continue and bring to the lab during their next session. Teacher routinely implements the components of effective information literacy and technology instruction including Mini-lessons that are focused and appropriate and which support student understanding of elements and strategies for specific ILT proficiencies.  The lessons are developed in collaboration with the students� classroom teachers and are project based and contain clear expectations and information necessary to improve the students� work. Independent work time which provides opportunities for students to work with clear intentions and purposes and to try the strategies and skills presented in the mini-lessons.  Students work individually or in small groups, as dictated by the needs of the project at hand. When students are working independently, the teacher confers with students or meets with small groups, focusing on the intended learning from the mini-lesson.  Closure at the end of the session includes reflective discussion on the part of the students re: what they have learned , in addition to defining next steps and the work the students need to continue and bring to the lab during their next session.

While there is much on-going research on new technologies and their effects on teaching and learning, there is little rigorous, large-scale data that makes for solid research, education experts say. The vast majority of the studies available are funded by the very companies and institutions that have created and promoted the technology, raising questions of the research’s validity and objectivity. In addition, the kinds of studies that produce meaningful data often take several years to complete—a timeline that lags far behind the fast pace of emerging and evolving technologies.

For example, it is difficult to pinpoint empirical data to support the case for mobile learning in schools—a trend that educators have been exploring for several years now—let alone data to support even newer technologies such as tablet computers like the iPad. The studies that do look at the effects of mobile technologies on learning are often based on small samples of students involved in short-term pilots, not the kind of large-scale, ongoing samples of students that educators and policymakers would like to see (Education Week, Feb. 23, 2011).

However, there are a handful of large-scale studies that do point to trends and observations in the education technology field. For example, Project RED, a research initiative linked closely with the One-to-One Institute, which supports one-to-one laptop initiatives in K-12 schools, released a study about successful implementation models of education technology in October 2010. That study found that most of the schools that have integrated laptops and other digital tools into learning are not maximizing the use of those devices in ways that best make use of their potential. The report goes on to outline the critical steps needed to capitalize on that potential (Project RED, 2010).

Why Technology Benefits Students Studies show that computer-trained teachers maintain classrooms that score higher in math than their peers who did not have such training. When teachers have a positive attitude about using technology, they often excite students’ interest in technology as well. Students are able to learn skills that are related to technology which will add to their utilizable skills in the future.

teachers are

teachers are engaging students who are shy about participating in traditional classroom discussions, but who enjoy communicating online

the Internet is teaming with alternative programs, many of which are free, and tailored for classroom use.