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Dear Companions
Every day it is possible to apreciate how the technology and the education are more involve in the education evolution.
Which tools and/or strategies we can considerate to involve more students in studies, courses that involve the technology? For Example: In Distance Learning Education.
Best Regards
Fatima K. Hosein
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Hi Fatima,
I was thinking about this very thing this week as I set up one of my summer blended learning courses. I think the technology is evolving so quickly that it is difficult for some of us educators to keep up with the tech savvy of our students. I am going to encourage my adult (preservice)students to attend the next NSTA virtual conference. I think these all day informational sessions are a wealth of technological/educational ideas.
I also like being able to use tools like Blackboard Collaborate and Threaded Discussion Forums to provide more avenues for students to participate in professional educational conversations about learning/teaching strategies as they learn from expert presenters and discussion moderators.
Did you have any particular motivational tools/strategies in mind?
Carolyn
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Dear Carolyn
Are many technological tools that give a can produce good results in motivations, but depends in which grade you will use those tools, some of them can be games, dynamics exercise, virtual reality, avatars, wikis, and in virtual platforms you can use some as efront, claroline, educativa, Atutor, that are good, simple, friendly.
Best Regards
Fatima K. Hosein
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Dear Companions
In my experience I have encountered with very particular and different groups whit different technology capacities making in occasion find a technological tool that offers good results to everyone.
Regards
Fatima K. Hosein
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Hi again, Fatima, and thank you for starting this discussion. IT appears to be moving in this direction - on how technology can be a motivational tool for our students.
I am just finishing a blended learning academy and have learned about several active learning strategies to embed into my courses and interactions with my students. One I can't wait to try with my own students is called popplet
I can give all my students the url to a specific popplet and they can all brainstorm together or share and synthesize information about a topic together, simultaneously.
Carolyn
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Fatima, I appreciate your question. I just finished my 22nd year of teaching, and technology is always one of the biggest struggles with my 7th and 8th grade Design and Engineering students. Since mine is a STEM class, technology is always on my mind. One thing I have found is I have to integrate it naturally and as a part of whatever unit I am working with. I never do the same thing twice in any unit. I am always reflecting and changing my practice to provide opportunities for my students.
The best advice I can give you is technology is a tool not a subject in and of itself. Whatever you use, has to have a purpose in moving learning forward and enhancing the student experience. This year, one of the big goals was for me to introduce my students to One Note and One Drive. One of the reasons was so many of my students are constantly losing their memory sticks. By going to One Drive, students have access to their work any time they have internet access.
One Drive is a big stick in the sky, and One Note is an organizational tool. They can set One Note up with tabs for each unit. Within the tabs, they can have separate pages for their notes, handouts and resources I give them and the ability to collaborate with others on their team. I am still relatively new at One Note, but my goal this summer is to figure out a way I can share a notebook with them that has all of the handouts, videos, and information they need to be successful in my class. I still value the skill of taking notes in class. I think it’s incredibly important students learn how to do that. I am acutely aware of how much more a student learns if they have to write the information themselves.
But there are times I want them to have the information in a different way for a different reason. An example of this is our final projects. There are 24 menu choices students can make for their final projects. I developed an in-depth handout that describes each project, what the “4” looks like, expectations, safety and exemplars. While I go over them in class and have the students write brief notes on the projects in class, it would take two weeks to cover everything contained in the handout. It just makes sense to have them write the basics, then refer to the handout for more depth.
I think it’s also important to note, I don’t have to be an expert in the technology before I introduce it to my students. There is a lot of mileage to be gained with students if you learn it together. Over the years my students have told me they find it motivating to find things I don’t know about the program or technology and share it with me. They know I am genuinely interested in learning and they become the interested as well. The greatest gift I can give a student in this era is the ability to learn for the sake of learning and teaching them how to learn for themselves.
Where to start? Find something that floats your boat and share it with your students. It’s hard to fake contagion and the students know when you are being genuine. Don’t forget to have fun. If you do, they will too.
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Dear Sandy
Thanks very much for share not only your experience, also you have share some interesting and important technological tools that can be used in the Virtual Education (e-learning).
Best Regards
Fatima K. Hosein
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Thanks for sharing this Sandy.
'I think it’s also important to note, I don’t have to be an expert in the technology before I introduce it to my students. There is a lot of mileage to be gained with students if you learn it together. Over the years my students have told me they find it motivating to find things I don’t know about the program or technology and share it with me. They know I am genuinely interested in learning and they become the interested as well. The greatest gift I can give a student in this era is the ability to learn for the sake of learning and teaching them how to learn for themselves.'
It is important for all of us to understand that a classroom is a learning community, and that everyone has something to contribute.
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I think you hit the nail on the head when you state "One thing I have found is I have to integrate it naturally and as a part of whatever unit I am working with. I never do the same thing twice in any unit. I am always reflecting and changing my practice to provide opportunities for my students." We need to use our technology as a tool, and that means that sometimes we get new tools to support new understandings. The beauty (and downfall) is that technology is so dynamic. We might be able to use an older technology, but it must be appropriate for what we are trying to learn, and our students need to be willing to use it.
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