Recently I have been thinking about using technology more often in the classroom; however, the last couple of sessions made me think of how to depend entirely on technology and use of computers in the classroom. However, as mentioned last time, this requires huge preparation on my side as class activities should be carefully structured if not then chaos will prevail. This has to be communicated to the students, that fact that they are expected to be independent learners with the teacher guiding them and providing them with the tools and support along the way so they would not feel that there is lack of teacher/adult input.Parents should also be oriented on the importance of technology and the role it will play in their children's learning. Winning the parents to my side is one important battle that should be won at the beginning to work in peace.
I strongly agree with you Rasha! One of the biggest challenges we face trying to incorporate technology more oftenin the learning process ks winning parents...printer not working,internet connection is down and so on ans so forth! So parents do need to become oriented and aware of its importnace.
In my opinion our learners are more familiar with technology than we are.I share your enthusiasm for introducing a different approach in my classroom,Rasha. I also agree about the need for careful planning and preparation to do this I am really looking forward to get familiar with some new interactive tools and gain some experience and use it to flip our classes over.
Well said dear! Still your good-willed intention to depend more on technology left me with some questions. What are the objectives behind" more technology"? And what is meant by more technology in the first place? Are we talking about flipped classrooms to enhance independent learning or the latest teaching gadgets and programs in order to hold our learners' undivided attention? Moreover I have one more concern - are we to involve technology in every single lesson we plan? do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks-if found?
Hi Rania, interesting questions that require careful thinking. More technology I guess , like you said, using more websites and programs to keep students more attracted and interesting to learn, participate, reflect and research. I do not think it is possible in every single class; however, I was thinking of shifting the class to a computer lab like our current situation in the course, where the teacher and students discuss a certain part, then students work independently whether alone or in pairs or groups to do a task related. Also using online quizzes is a nice idea to assess students' understanding after discussing a certain part.I am still thinking about possibility of doing this and I havent tried so i am not sure how successful it could be.
I enjoyed exploring several new websites and possible ways to make teaching more appealing to students with different learning styles. Using technology is like using the students' language to reach them , which has surely proven successful. Technology turns the class into a more engaging learning environment, where each student has the chance to participate; i mean in class when we discuss a certain topic, not all students get the chance to participate and say what they think, however, when they are asked to write a reflection online, all students will do and they will feel that they have to do this for themselves and not depend on somebody else or hide behind somebody else's participation. Also finding one tech tool to appeal to different learning styles is a brilliant idea, i can imagine an interactive classroom where students are assessed on their skills and not the content they have acquired. I have discovered several interesting websites that I can't wait to actually use in the classroom and witness their effect on student learning. I do believe student learning will surely improve because as a learner myself i learn best when my learning style is addressed.
Can't agree more Rasha, it is true that every student should be addressed by his own " language". The mere fact that the students feel they are really being addressed and catered to, will definitely engage them more in the learning process.Assessing the student for his/her own skills rather than the content he/she is learning sounds fair to me.It is all about the learning outcome.However assessing the students' skill seems a bit uneasy and hard to measure to me, it is affected by several factors. What do you have in mind regarding this?
I agree with you Rasha that implementing the use of technology in the classroom will help keep all students engaged as they will all participate. In addition to that providing them with as many options as were discovered last session will give room for each student to use the means that he finds more convenient to his skills. This differentiation will not limit students to only one style where he couldn't be good at. In fact, music composition and song making is one thing I never thought about before. I often use music and songs but giving students who are talented in writing song and composing music the room to show their talent within the lesson content was one tool that I never used before and I can't wait to.
I agree with you Rasha especially the trends in education are constantly changing so we have to update our strategies and growing over time to be well suited for continuously learning about technology and incorporating new trends in the field of technology.
Regarding the presentations where each of us used several tech tools, I feel that it was a very good opportunities to be introduced to new tools and ways of modifying our lesson plans and delivery. However, as I expressed last time, I feel I need the time to explore in more details some of these tools and actually try working on a mini project using each. I like the idea of the assignments, the fact that there are some tools targeting different areas such as engagement, assessment, collaboration etc.... This has definitely changed my perspective on what the classroom and delivery should be like in our modern days.
Recently I have been thinking about using technology more often in the classroom; however, the last couple of sessions made me think of how to depend entirely on technology and use of computers in the classroom. However, as mentioned last time, this requires huge preparation on my side as class activities should be carefully structured if not then chaos will prevail. This has to be communicated to the students, that fact that they are expected to be independent learners with the teacher guiding them and providing them with the tools and support along the way so they would not feel that there is lack of teacher/adult input.Parents should also be oriented on the importance of technology and the role it will play in their children's learning. Winning the parents to my side is one important battle that should be won at the beginning to work in peace.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with you Rasha!
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest challenges we face trying to incorporate technology more oftenin the learning process ks winning parents...printer not working,internet connection is down and so on ans so forth!
So parents do need to become oriented and aware of its importnace.
In my opinion our learners are more familiar with technology than we are.I share your enthusiasm for introducing a different approach in my classroom,Rasha. I also agree about the need for careful planning and preparation to do this I am really looking forward to get familiar with some new interactive tools and gain some experience and use it to flip our classes over.
ReplyDeleteWell said dear! Still your good-willed intention to depend more on technology left me with some questions.
ReplyDeleteWhat are the objectives behind" more technology"? And what is meant by more technology in the first place? Are we talking about flipped classrooms to enhance independent learning or the latest teaching gadgets and programs in order to hold our learners' undivided attention? Moreover I have one more concern - are we to involve technology in every single lesson we plan? do the benefits outweigh the drawbacks-if found?
Hi Rania, interesting questions that require careful thinking. More technology I guess , like you said, using more websites and programs to keep students more attracted and interesting to learn, participate, reflect and research. I do not think it is possible in every single class; however, I was thinking of shifting the class to a computer lab like our current situation in the course, where the teacher and students discuss a certain part, then students work independently whether alone or in pairs or groups to do a task related. Also using online quizzes is a nice idea to assess students' understanding after discussing a certain part.I am still thinking about possibility of doing this and I havent tried so i am not sure how successful it could be.
DeleteI enjoyed exploring several new websites and possible ways to make teaching more appealing to students with different learning styles. Using technology is like using the students' language to reach them , which has surely proven successful. Technology turns the class into a more engaging learning environment, where each student has the chance to participate; i mean in class when we discuss a certain topic, not all students get the chance to participate and say what they think, however, when they are asked to write a reflection online, all students will do and they will feel that they have to do this for themselves and not depend on somebody else or hide behind somebody else's participation. Also finding one tech tool to appeal to different learning styles is a brilliant idea, i can imagine an interactive classroom where students are assessed on their skills and not the content they have acquired. I have discovered several interesting websites that I can't wait to actually use in the classroom and witness their effect on student learning. I do believe student learning will surely improve because as a learner myself i learn best when my learning style is addressed.
ReplyDeleteCan't agree more Rasha, it is true that every student should be addressed by his own " language". The mere fact that the students feel they are really being addressed and catered to, will definitely engage them more in the learning process.Assessing the student for his/her own skills rather than the content he/she is learning sounds fair to me.It is all about the learning outcome.However assessing the students' skill seems a bit uneasy and hard to measure to me, it is affected by several factors. What do you have in mind regarding this?
DeleteI agree with you Rasha that implementing the use of technology in the classroom will help keep all students engaged as they will all participate. In addition to that providing them with as many options as were discovered last session will give room for each student to use the means that he finds more convenient to his skills. This differentiation will not limit students to only one style where he couldn't be good at.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, music composition and song making is one thing I never thought about before. I often use music and songs but giving students who are talented in writing song and composing music the room to show their talent within the lesson content was one tool that I never used before and I can't wait to.
Check this song about glucose and respiration Heba. This is one of the hits with the students :)
Deletehttp://www.science-groove.org/Now/Glucose.mp3
I agree with you Rasha especially the trends in education are constantly changing so we have to update our strategies and growing over time to be well suited for continuously learning about technology and incorporating new trends in the field of technology.
ReplyDeletetotally agree with Rasha regarding the parental involvement as it is a major problem now a days facing most school administrations.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the presentations where each of us used several tech tools, I feel that it was a very good opportunities to be introduced to new tools and ways of modifying our lesson plans and delivery.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as I expressed last time, I feel I need the time to explore in more details some of these tools and actually try working on a mini project using each.
I like the idea of the assignments, the fact that there are some tools targeting different areas such as engagement, assessment, collaboration etc....
This has definitely changed my perspective on what the classroom and delivery should be like in our modern days.
I totally agree with you. We need more time to use these technologies to achieve our goal
Delete