"Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much."
-- Helen Keller
-- Helen Keller
Digital Learning Inventory
As you can imagine, an important part of creating 21st century learners is technology. Schools provide many opportunities to access technological devices and websites. With the direction the world is going, it is important for students to be literate in the the technological arts and methods to effectively learn and evaluate information. Similarly, teachers and staff need to be technologically literate in order to provide the best service to students, however I think we are still on the learning curve of effectiveness in this sense. My school's staff has a variety of experience with technological devices and practices.
The following five things are resources I found over the year that have worked exceptionally well in my classroom. They are a variety of physical technology, websites, and interactive tools that help students understand the importance technology plays in their learning.
The following five things are resources I found over the year that have worked exceptionally well in my classroom. They are a variety of physical technology, websites, and interactive tools that help students understand the importance technology plays in their learning.
- MapMaker Interactive (National Geographic)-- I discovered this particular tool later in the school year than I would have liked. I am lucky enough to have a projector hooked up to my computer, so even if students don't have personal devices for this interactive website, at least we can do it together. On this website, there is a movable map that you can zoom in and out of, sort of like on Google Maps. Using this tool you can plot locations, highlights flags of countries, and and measure overland distance. The coolest thing about this tool is that National Geographic provides all these different layers to put over the globe, like electricity use, internet access, wildlife habitats, land cover, energy use, CO2 emissions, natural disaster likelihood, and so many more. My class used this tool to make connections between topics, namely how CO2 emissions are affecting wildlife-- CO2 emissions turned into energy connections, which turned into global warming, which turned into poor polar bear habitats, which turned into other problems facing wildlife, which turned into studying other habitats, etc. The visual effects of the layers is so much more illustrative for students and is very informative for all levels of learners. The maps and different layers helped my students make connections, and made them ask so many questions and make so many connections. As I said, I wish I had learned how to use this tool even earlier in my class, and I am still figuring out innovative ways to use it, but in the meantime, my students and I are having a great time seeing the world through all different lenses.
- Kindles-- My first Donor's Choose proposal was for technology and luckily the universe and generous donors provided. I received 6 Kindle Fires for my classroom, and needless to say, the students were pretty familiar with using the technology. Everyone has tablets with games at home. However, we used the Kindles for some science research and compiling notes. We discussed safe Googling, researching, and how to find information appropriate for kids. The programs on the Kindles are all educational-- Brain Pop Jr., ThinkRolls (a critical thinking maze game), Toca Lab (which helps kids get to know the periodic table), and games about bodies in the Solar System. The Kindles are self-directed during free time, but have helped the students learn to decipher non-explicit directions through context clues, aided in research for writing projects, and helped us learn how to responsibly find useful information from a vast amount presented. The Kindles have helped my students explore the world, both independently and with my help, as well as figuring out how to be technologically literate.
- Brain Pop Jr.-- This may seem like a silly inclusion, but a subscription to this is maybe the best money I spent all year. I originally subscribed to Brain Pop Jr. to enhance my science lessons, but as the kids got to know the program better, they BEGGED to watch the Ancient China episode or the one about Helen Keller. The layout is so user-friendly, and the information is perfect for my students. They love taking the easy quizzes and challenging themselves with the hard ones. As intended, Brain Pop Jr. enhanced my science lessons, and then started to help my students make global connections otherwise as well. I had a solid group of kids get very interested in biographies and another in American history. Three girls formed a "Rocks and Minerals" club in my class, and some other kids asked to watch the space ones over and over and over. Brain Pop Jr. helped my students find topics there were interested in pursuing in their free time or in the library or at home. It gave the students the freedom to learn a little about everything, and then opened their minds to learning more about what they were intrested in. Although I feel sort of out of the equation on this particular resource, Brain Pop Jr. helped my students become global citizens this year simply by discussing complicated topics (that are not in my curriculum) in completely appropriate, engaging ways.
- NewsELA-- News ELA is a tool that got worked into the curriculum for my advanced first grade students. I would advise anyone interested in using this program to spend a healthy amount of time getting to know the layout and content for themselves before tasking students with it. News ELA is a wonderful website that takes world topics-- science, law, animals, politics, etc.-- and creates news articles on them for different reading levels. On the News ELA website, a teacher (or parent) picks which Lexile level a student should read the article on, and the article is written correspondingly. That way, students reading on a 500 Lexile level and students reading on a 750 Lexile level will be reading about the same information, but at the appropriate level. I used this website to keep my students well-versed in current events as a whole group exercise, and also let parents know about it for home use. Each article has follow-up questions and a writing prompt. The beauty of News ELA is that it gives students the opportunity to be global citizens RIGHT NOW. A lot of times, especially in the younger grades, teachers teach "about" something or somewhere, or about events that have passed or overarching topics like "global warming." Don't get me wrong-- all of this is so important and creates global citizens and a global perspective. However, the opportunity for kids to participate in news as it happens, be informed about the world, and form opinions RIGHT NOW is really important as well. Like I said, I use this tool for my advanced first graders, so it is really a better tool for second or third grade and up, but I highly recommend it to help create a passion for news very early on.
- Padlet-- I learned about Padlet in the Teachers for Global Classrooms and love it for my classroom. Padlet is sort of like an electronic notebook where everyone can write what they want. In my classroom, because I teach first grade with low access to personal technology, we used it projected on the white board. Sometimes I would make a KWL chart out of it. We would start the unit writing what the kids know about, say, the Amazon rainforest. We would continue to what we want to know, and then at the end of the class periods, we would open up the Padlet to add what we learned to it. By the end of the Amazon unit, we had a demonstration of our original limited knowledge, our questions, and what we learned. Sometimes I would use the Padlet to record opinions, or ideas for writing pieces, or to brainstorm synonyms. It's a great tool, and older kids would probably have a much easier time using it. If I had older kids who were more independent, I would have assigned a Padlet question for homework and they could answer on the Padlet board online. Padlet has been revolutionary in my classroom in terms of paper use, note taking practice, and maximizing instructional time for review and discussion.
As I stated before, my school staff has a variety of exposure, experience, and comfort levels with technology in the classroom. I think it is important for staff (and teachers from similar school situations) to know what is available to them. Above, I highlighted (wonderful!) tools that are easily implemented into classrooms, and below I have outlined the current state of technology at my particular school situation.
digital_learning_survey.docx |