This week I viewed the Chapter 9: Bird Rap video. This video shows a multidisciplinary unit on songbirds at what appears to be the middle school level. I really thought that this unit was well-planned and did a great job of integrating technology. The students utilized technology in many ways including searching the web, collecting data in spreadsheets, using handheld computers and cameras on the field trip, and presenting their information on a webpage. Overall, I think the students had a true understanding of how to utilize technology to acquire and present knowledge (and not just how to operate the devices). I really liked that the teacher had introduced the concept of copyrighted materials to the class and explained to them how to properly cite their sources. I also thought that having students teach others how to use the devices in the future is an awesome idea! I think the best way to truly understand something is trying to teach another and, in my experience, this is a skill that I didn’t get much practice with in school. It’s hard for me to think of any weaknesses; I can’t think of anything I would do differently. This is probably the best example of integrated technology I’ve seen so far.
One of the reasons I chose this video for us to view is because it incorporates so many technologies – and I think the teacher does an exceptional job integrating them. There is always room for improvement (as with all of us!), but overall, I think this video does a great job of showcasing how technologies can make a potentially dry topic more engaging. And quite frankly, I admire anyone who’s willing to have his/her teaching recorded and critiqued.
ReplyDeleteOne area I’d like to point out is the practice of students teaching students. When implemented well, it can be a great way to empower students. But I feel that before we can ask students to teach each other we need to teach them how to teach. And we need to be confident that they understand the skills they’ll be passing on to others – otherwise, we can end up with a version of the game ‘telephone’ where the content can become filtered and twisted. So I’d encourage you to take the time to model for the students how you want them to teach (not just tell them what they should teach) and have guidelines in place to make sure they themselves understand the content well enough to teach their classmates.
I only wish I could promise that you’ll have such great technologies available in your future schools…