Keeping Up With Reality

Sharing and communicating with others through technology is part of 21^st century learning. In the beginning of Dr. Smirnova’s class, we were introduced to having to figure out how to use a specific tool using technology to present ourselves to our classmates. Some of the different ways were creating an Animato, using Pinterest, use a QR code scavenger hunt, make a word cloud, generate a prezi presentation, etc. I chose to form a word cloud, presented below.

I tried to include all different aspects of my life in order for my classmates to really understand who I am as a whole. I included traits, my family, where I grew up, several “my favorites,” my hobbies and interests, education, and more.

 This activity is important for students to expand their knowledge about websites or programs and try something new that they may learn to really like! When I explored word cloud, I first created phrases. Then, when I had my word cloud generated, I realized that you are only supposed to enter individual words. Also, you can see that my name is enlarged compared to all the other words. I learned that if you write a word multiple times, it makes it bigger. In the beginning, I was nervous about the assignment because it was something I had no idea how to use. I enjoyed the learning experience of only using one word to describe different areas of my life and creating it to look how I wanted it to.

In the end, when the students communicate what they have developed to their peers, all of the other students get an insight of their classmates’ lives. I learned so many different things about my peers that I would’ve never have known! This activity can lead to conversation starters by being able to relate in the same way with someone about a common interest or hobby. Students may really like the particular website or program used as well and will try it out themselves. If they are not being used to introduce one another, teachers can have students use a website or program to introduce a war from history, or the key words, steps, and components of persuasive writing, etc. Technology is an excellent way for students to convey ideas to others.

As the years have gone on, technology has continued to rapidly advance.  When I was in elementary school, I am now twenty years old, the teachers would write on chalkboards and use overhead projectors. Also, for social studies class, we had the maps over the chalkboard that the teacher would pull down to show the students locations. We had to do a lot of written work from the textbook and complete worksheets. Today, with the use of technology, students can learn in more interactive and enjoyable ways!

One piece of technology I have observed to be in most classrooms now is the SMART Board. The students are able to participate in the learning experience during this tool. For example, during a mathematics lesson, a third grade teacher just taught her students how to compute two-digit multiplication. During the guided practice, the teacher can have students come up to the board to use the SMART Board marker and write the problem out. In a social studies lesson, the teacher could create a collaborative game, such as a click and drag game. An example of using this would be to test students’ knowledge of the dates when certain events took place. Also, going back to when my teachers would use the pull down maps to show locations, maps can be presented on the SMART Board and students can circle locations or draw routes of how individuals traded goods, etc. To involve the whole class in any SMART Board activity, the other students can put their thumbs up if they agree with the answer and their thumbs down if they disagree with the answer.

This video is of a kindergarten classroom doing an activity together of pronouncing high frequency words. In order to have students practice their pronunciation, she makes it into a game on the SMART Board! The students do not want to be stopped by the police, so they have to try to pick the right circle. The teacher has students volunteer to come up to the board, press on a circle, and pronounce that word. If I were doing this activity with my students, I would have all of the students repeat the word with me after the student who picked the circle pronounces it. The students are having fun during this practice and encouraging their classmates. By using the SMART Board, the students are engaged in the learning process.

I hope you enjoy my vision on technology to teach the youth of America!

~ Christine Brown

Works Cited:

O’donnell, K (Producer). (2010). Whole Group Kindergarten Reading Lesson Smartboard [Motion     Picture]. United States.