Six Things to Consider

I spend a good deal of my life online. I am always on my phone; its like a gameboy for adults. I use technology in my classroom from time to time; I am not afraid of using it, but I am technically challenged for certain so I don't use it as much as some teachers do. I started going to college in the nineties so my range of professors is pretty broad in terms of their digital lives. I try to defend my technology challenges citing that I am in fact a digital immigrant. However, I know many teachers my own age or older who are extremely proficient in using technology in their classrooms. I hope to be better at using technology with each passing year.

I love using Socrative in my classroom as an alternative to Kahoot. I must admit, the Kahoot music makes me want to stick my head in a freezer. I use Socrative most often for quizzes that are multiple choice, true or false, or short responses. I can put up a question and students can answer, see one another’s answers while safely anonymous. Conversely, I can give them a quiz and they are unable to see any other answers. Socrative is easy to use and students do not need to download an app. Brilliantly convenient, once you make a quiz you can easily share it using the import option or receive one from another educator.

The benefits of using online sources for writing begins with engagement. For example, in my class students were asked to research a processed food item and report about it using an infographic. For many of my students who loathe art projects, Pictochart is a godsend. Easy to use and share documents can be made by students using Pictochart. The risks are that my district does not provide technology to all students; this makes using technology in the classroom a challenge.

I notice that the rest of the world is integrating technology in the classroom. I like the Remind service that allows a teacher to communicate with the class in a group message or individually.

As teachers integrate technology, it is important that teachers consider scaffolding from lower level thinking to higher order thinking when selecting digital sources e.g. evaluation and analysis.

Lastly, I’d like to learn to use Screen-Cast-O-Matic to provide tutorials for my visual and audio learners. Many of my students could benefit from having my directions recorded for them. I am familiar with Padlet, but I’d like to be proficient in the application.