Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Integratng Technology into Instruction
Welcome! You have read "The Virtual Circle" from the September issue of Educational Leadership and reviewed the powerpoint KWIET from Matt Copeland at KSDE. Please respond by engaging in professional discussion on the topic of integrating technology into our language arts classrooms.
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That kwiet program looks really cool...I think we'd get better writing out of students when they can work with an online format that is similar to how they actually write. Teacher assessment looks like it would be much more manageable in this format. This will be a great move forward as long as students have access to computers for extended periods of time.
ReplyDeleteThe connection that I see between blogging in literature circles and using an on-line writing tool is that they are both web-based programs, which always raises the question of gaining access to computers in buildings with high student-to-computer ratios. While I believe that Kitsis compensates for this concern with her recommendation of one week per prompt to gain access to the Internet in some way to write a blog post, I see the access issue as more of a concern with the state writing program. Similarly, texting a quick blog response on a SMART phone after reading a portion of a novel is one thing; writing and revising an essay in the same medium would present a larger hurdle that would certainly affect the writing situation. I wouldn't anticipate our computer-to-student ratio improving significantly in the near future, but I do believe that in time we will experience greater access to these kinds of applications through other devices if we remain open to alternatives. Therefore, I remain hopeful that our students will increasingly experience these opportunities in our district.
ReplyDeleteOne important thing that I know about the implementation of any new instructional agenda is that we must be patient with teachers, allowing them latitude to adopt new initiatives at a pace and in ways that promote their fully integrating them into their classrooms. Pushing, pulling, and prodding teachers into technology integration works with a very small percentage of any staff. Persistence and patience are much more effective. Providing well-timed suggestions that make the use of a technological tool a time (or other resource) saver for teachers is what I find most convincing when I'm promoting instructional integration of technology.
On a final note, increasing engagement alone sells these technology tools to administrators and a sometimes small percentage of teachers who are focused on trying to increase engagement. The remainder of teachers need these tools to be user-friendly, accessible, engaging, AND instructionally effective in order for teachers to implement their use.
I found the Virtual Circle article to be very interesting. After reading, I went to Blogger and set up a blog that I intend to use with Ironman. I too have concerns about student access to computers, but I think problem-solving is a skill our students need to develop - even if only to approach us to make their case for being exempted from a computer related assignment.
ReplyDeleteThe Kwiet system looks like a good one, but some of the better features are currently unavailable. It would be nice if we could commit to one way of doing things at least for a few years so as to give us some continuity.
I love the idea of KWIET serving as an electronic portfolio for students across the state, and it will likely improve writing instruction as teachers will be able to track students' improvement from grade to grade. I agree with Laura that technologies must be instructionally effective, and KWIET seems so, as long as students have adquate computer access.
ReplyDeleteI read with interest both the Powerpoint on KWIET and the Virtural Circle. My first reaction is...finally...we are catching up with the students. My second is that both give additional tools to use - which I believe we can never have too many tools to choose from - wisely, I might add.
ReplyDeleteI have long used Internet based tools for writing. For instance, Scholastic has a good tool that allows students to write and publish their work online. Webspiration is an excellent tool - that functions much like Inspiration - only better. And, the tools on www.readwritethink.org such as the interactive graphic organizers have been a godsend to my students - they love using them. But...I think you need to choose these tools wisely. I will be interested to see how KWIET plays out - particularly if teachers really do have access so they may use it for formative assessments.
I am going to give the blogs a try for my students too. When we read stories and novels in class, I encourage discussion but often get only answers to questions. While I make a concerted effort to use critical thinking sorts of questions we are often limited by short class periods (at Capital City our class periods are 45 minutes) and a need to cover a lot of material over a short amount of time. So...given that students can access the blog outside of school, perhaps we can engage in more lively discussions. I like the fact that the students can interact with one another and support each other.
I know generally, teachers have different levels of technology comfort and integration into their class structure. Given that and the fact that our students are used to the Interneet and more informal methods of communication - I think it would behoove us to integrate the technologies that the students are comfortable with rather than expecting them to get comfortable with our technologies (paper and pencil). This is, as far as I am concerned - another tool that we can use to engage students in their educational process. And yes...computer access is a problem that we need to address district-wide.
Lack of equal acess to computers can cause many ideas like these to become useless or at least not worth the effort.
ReplyDeleteStudents often do not use the tools available on the reading asssessment and I fear the same will be true with writing.
Commenting on a book can be done easily without ever reading the book itself and begs the question of accountablity. I myself just read the Web reviews for the newly chosen freshman book The Absolute True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and am now regretting not speking up against its required use. If I had found the time to read it before we adopted it there is no way I would have gone along with this choice. Students can and will do the same when using the on line Lit Circle. If this is acceptable no problem.