It would be impossible for me to ignore the presence of technology in the American classroom, as I am teaching in a technology classroom. Looking at both TPACK and SAMR are truly a part of my analysis of my own classroom. Is the tech I am using beneficial to students? Am I enhancing learning or simply just substituting the computer for a pencil? Will the activities done on technology benefit a students understanding in the subject? Will it aid in their learning?
Looking at several classroom examples, I particularly focused on one teacher's use of Google Hangouts in the classroom. http://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/technology-to-help-students-ousd She used it in order to provide students with ways to communicate with students in other schools. Her goal to build students' communication skills through technology. This particular lesson struck me because my students frequently use Google Hangouts to "play" together after school and on the weekends - whether playing videos games corporately or just to "hang around" together. In other words, using this technology would involve taking something students ALREADY value and putting it to use in the classroom. WHAT IS THE NATURE OF THE CASE The teacher is trying to increase student communication. She is looking for ways to stretch student teaching skills and finding new ways for them to communicate with other students not just in their own class but all over the United States. Her hope is to not only build connections between students, but also to build her students confidence in expressing their ideas and opinions in clear ways. DETAILS Students meet up on-line in Google Hangouts to discuss and assignment with students and teachers with a similar assignment at another school. Students then share their responses and discuss together. They then can form their final response based on shared discussion and feedback. Groups are kept small, just five or fewer students, to keep communication clear and effective. USEFUL INFORMATION I am quite familiar with Google Hangouts and have used it for class presentations - career day with professionals speaking with classes remotely, or meetings with other educators to discuss lesson planning, and effective teaching. I hadn't thought about the benefit of using it to connect with other students to discuss an assignment. WOULD YOU USE IT I was thinking of several applications. I would like to find a way to create a Google Hangout with professionals in the tech industry during Hour of Code next year. What better way to expose students to the benefits of coding than allowing them to speak to the people who actually write code. It would also be interesting to connect with schools either locally or somewhere else in the United States to discuss a particular topic either from history, STEM or even reading -- you could conduct a Google Hangout book club with students who had read the same book. It would be very interesting to see some applications of Google Hangouts in the classroom. FILM EXPERIENCE: 3 I would love more details and more examples. This brief video was just an overview.
1 Comment
Patrick
3/9/2017 07:29:35 pm
I love your idea of incorporating this with the Hour of Code. I always hear students talking about using video chat services just to hang out. Kids are saying how they worked on a presentation together while on Discord or how they used Skype while playing Prodigy. It's especially great because it helps lower the entry level for your activity. When you leverage the fluency students already have, it just makes things so much smoother for everyone involved. Not to mention, like you point out, it creates extra space for authenticity and adult connections!
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AuthorJen has been teaching school for awhile now. She's learned some stuff, but she's got tons more to learn. Archives
October 2017
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