Download - It's Not the Tool, It's How You Use It
It’s Not the Tool, It’s How You Use It
Mary Beth HertzInstructional Technology SpecialistPhiladelphia, PA
Diana Laufenberg’s History classroom at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia
Best practices for integrating technology in the classroom
What are ‘Digital Tools’?
images from jutecht and creative tools and manning999 on Flickr
What is ‘Reform’?
From the Free Online Merriam Webster Dictionary
When we discuss education reform, we often refer to incorporating digital tools. First let’s look at some terms.
What is ‘Transform’?
From the Free Online Merriam Webster Dictionary
Make a Change
From the Quotations Page
Don’t think about making what you do in your classroom better, think about how you can change what you do in your classroom.
What Does This Mean for Education?“The way to modernize
our work is not to use a computer instead of a typewriter and call it innovative.” – Heidi Jacobs, Curriculum 21
“Our job is to help students find their own voices and develop their own understanding of the subject matter.” – Robyn Jackson, Never Work Harder Than Your Students
Implementing Change: Stage 1
Assessment
Essential questions
Goals
Image from baboon on flickr
Implementing Change: Stage 2
Tinker
image courtesy of jannem on flickr
Blocked?
Emerging List of Top 100 Tools for Learning
Cybraryman’s Web 2.0 Tools page
Larry Ferlazzo’s Best Websites of the Year
Implementing Change: Stage 3 transform
Image courtesy of xcode on flickr
put students in charge
show understanding
effective assessment
Other Considerations
- introducing the tool
- rules & expectations
- individuals or groups
- how long
- turning it in
- does it work?
The NETS*S
The 6 Strands are: Creativity and Innovation Communication and Collaboration Research and Information Fluency Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making Digital Citizenship Technology Operations and Concepts
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Technology Standards for Students
Animal Research Project(click here to read more about the lesson)
Learning Goal: To find information about an animal seen on a field trip.
Assessment: Students will be provided a rubric before starting the project to guide them through the process and describe the requirements of the final artifact.
Tool: Glogster
How tool will transform the lesson: Rather than research an animal and write a paper, students will be able to find sounds, images and videos of their animal, giving context to the facts they find. They will be able to include links to allow readers to do more research of their own.. The students’ research will be shared with others outside of the classroom, making their research more meaningful.
Work will be completed online and accessible through the Glogster teacher’s account.
Serendipity and Digital Tools
Learn from happy accidents!
For more about the activity, click here.
Click here to view the video on YouTube or here on Vimeo
Build a teacher toolkit
Questions & Stories
How have you successfully integrated digital tools into your classroom?
Questions or comments?
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