Learning Outcome Eleven
Learning Outcome Eleven: Demonstrate sufficient technology skills and the ability to integrate technology into classroom teaching and learning.
In a continuously progressing world, the teaching of 21st century literacies has become a necessary part of education. Schools need to provide students with the skills needed to succeed in a technology centered society and to become productive citizens. While still promoting the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, teachers need to also equip students with the 21st century skills that will aid them as they live, work, and contribute to their community. I therefore have striven to frequently incorporate technology into classroom learning and teaching and have done so through the creation of an online magazine with my tenth grade classes at FM High School and the use of a website, storybird.com, to help students write short stories in my seventh grade classes at GrantMiddle School.
After reading Brave New World and discussing many of its themes, my tenth graders at FM High School created an online magazine surrounding the idea of happiness and the good life. The students had to write articles as well as work on various aspects of the magazine such as advertisements, cartoons, editorials, etc. They created everything on the computer and uploaded their work to a google doc that, once compiled, reflected an aesthetically appealing and intelligent sounding online magazine. Their work allowed them to discover new computer applications they had never worked with before and therefore helped them to learn how to adapt to working with new technologies. One part of why I chose to incorporate technology into this final assignment was my experience with the book Teaching Writing Using Blogs, Wikis, and other Digital Tools by Beach, Anson, Breuch, and Swiss, which states that “digital writing tools enhance student engagement with writing as well as the depth of students’ thinking and development of ideas” (page x). I believe that my student’s work supports this statement due to the complex work they created which displayed students’ high levels of thinking. The magazine was creative and reflected a finished product that went beyond what most people think of when hearing of a “school project.” The students enjoyed working on the project and felt immense pride in creating an online magazine that would be published for audiences outside of school.
I also incorporated technology into the final project for my seventh grade class at Grant Middle School in which students were required to write short stories using a class site on storybird.com. The students used the help of the website in order to write stories that could include visuals. They were able to write creative stories that looked professional as a finished product. They were also given the opportunity to turn in their story to a competition that the website was hosting, thus offering them another audience and a chance to be rewarded for their hard work.
In a continuously progressing world, the teaching of 21st century literacies has become a necessary part of education. Schools need to provide students with the skills needed to succeed in a technology centered society and to become productive citizens. While still promoting the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, teachers need to also equip students with the 21st century skills that will aid them as they live, work, and contribute to their community. I therefore have striven to frequently incorporate technology into classroom learning and teaching and have done so through the creation of an online magazine with my tenth grade classes at FM High School and the use of a website, storybird.com, to help students write short stories in my seventh grade classes at GrantMiddle School.
After reading Brave New World and discussing many of its themes, my tenth graders at FM High School created an online magazine surrounding the idea of happiness and the good life. The students had to write articles as well as work on various aspects of the magazine such as advertisements, cartoons, editorials, etc. They created everything on the computer and uploaded their work to a google doc that, once compiled, reflected an aesthetically appealing and intelligent sounding online magazine. Their work allowed them to discover new computer applications they had never worked with before and therefore helped them to learn how to adapt to working with new technologies. One part of why I chose to incorporate technology into this final assignment was my experience with the book Teaching Writing Using Blogs, Wikis, and other Digital Tools by Beach, Anson, Breuch, and Swiss, which states that “digital writing tools enhance student engagement with writing as well as the depth of students’ thinking and development of ideas” (page x). I believe that my student’s work supports this statement due to the complex work they created which displayed students’ high levels of thinking. The magazine was creative and reflected a finished product that went beyond what most people think of when hearing of a “school project.” The students enjoyed working on the project and felt immense pride in creating an online magazine that would be published for audiences outside of school.
I also incorporated technology into the final project for my seventh grade class at Grant Middle School in which students were required to write short stories using a class site on storybird.com. The students used the help of the website in order to write stories that could include visuals. They were able to write creative stories that looked professional as a finished product. They were also given the opportunity to turn in their story to a competition that the website was hosting, thus offering them another audience and a chance to be rewarded for their hard work.