One of the articles for this week discussed the use of WebQuests as a differentiation tool. While not everyone is going to run out and create a WebQuest, there are other instructional technologies we can use to differentiate our instruction. What technology products can students use and how can they be combined with the idea of Menus?
Webquests are pretty cool. My class did a few webquests this year; the most successful one was about our solar system. This webquest was actually one of our science stations we had one week. I have never created a webquest, although I am interested to try and see how it turns out. Our school is also moving towards technology. Our county has a plan to start something called edgenuity, which is basically personalized learning using technology. I was introduced to so many educational technology based websites this year that sadly I don’t feel I truly utilized any of them fully or effectively as they could have been. The main resources I used were USATestPrep, Scootpad, and BrainPop. I di use scootpad to differentiate many of my lessons because it allows you to assign books based on reading level and problems based on standard. BrainPop was also a nice way to differentiate because while others worked from other resources, I would pull a small group to use laptops and watch a brainpop and complete the quiz and/or an activity from the site. There was also a neat feature that allowed the teacher to go in and create quizzes or use shared quizzes that were created by other teachers. I can definitely see how incorporating a webquest or another technology based site into a menu would be highly effective, especially if the site is accessible on phones and tablets that students can bring. I attended a professional learning about QR codes and how we can generate our own for students in the classroom. I thought it was awesome but never got the opportunity to try it out. I can actually picture having a menu with mainly technology on it, given the vast selection of technology my administration provided us with last year, that would be no problem. The issues would be getting a piece of technology into every student’s hands, but I could have other activities on the menu that did not require the use of technology.
ReplyDeleteI love BrainPop! I didn't use it as much last year since I was in a different teaching setting. My students always got excited when I would use it.
DeleteKahoot! I love Kahoot! But I never got around to using it last year. I was introduced to it at a professional learning event and was amazed. I was able to play with it a few more times in other PL’s. I bet the kids loved it. I am going to make it my mission to try it at least once this year. I began creating one, because I wanted them to take a quiz using it but never finished.
ReplyDeleteLast year was my first year in a system that seemed to have a very high level for technology. I was overwhelmed at first, so I began small. The main websites I used were Weebly and Edmodo. Weebly provided the students an opportunity to create their own website. This brought lots of creative ideas to our classroom. I could use the 2-5-8 Menus for them to complete the task of making a website on Webbly. Last year, my students completed a unit on bullying. Had I know about 2-5-8 Menus, I could have implemented different technology uses.
ReplyDeleteI love using Weebly, too. A couple of my 5th grade girls created their own "business" last year, and they used weebly for their website to "advertise". I love that it offers some structure, but they can customize as much as they would like!
DeleteLOVE KAHOOT!
ReplyDeleteIn addition to these, we use Google Drive for literally everything in our classroom. It's so easy to share the products among group members, and they are able to share with me easily, too. Sometimes I just tell them that their product has to be something share-able from Google Drive. I also use Padlet for interactive KWLs before/during/after units. It's great to see the changes in the 3, and it saves to the website.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with opening paragraph that expresses the opinion that the Net-Generation is a force for social transformation. I also believe it is necessary. Our current education system for example, is based on the needs of the industrial revolution and no longer fully fits society’s needs. Through time lasting change comes from the ground up. WebQuests are a prime example of teachers using the technology students already love to use and building content into that process.
ReplyDeleteI have used Kahoots with great success with my gifted students. Most recently Kahoots were part of a March Madness Engineering Challenge, I actually added it as a choice, at their request, in the third round. A Brief explanation of March Maddness: In the first round students chose an engineering field that suited their career interests and were matched against each other with similar engineering fields to write summaries. At each level sweet 16 (summaries), elite 8 (posters), and final 4 (Pannel Presentation or Kahoots), the winners emerged to become team leaders while the losers became part of their team. The championship round pitted two halves of the class against each other with the two emerging winners being directors of commercials which they videoed and shared with the class. Students used rubric’s to complete tasks and to anonymously grade each others work. Students do not work for a grade in my class, so I have found that this an authentic way for them to be held accountable for doing their best work and they had a opportunity to teach each other about something that interested them.
I could definitely see using 2-5-8 or tic-tac-toe to allow students to delve more deeply into topics they were interested in or to complete products they enjoyed. I have only been using Google classroom for a year, but I think I could add menus to it make it more interactive in the classroom. I do a unit on Jury trials each year, menus are something for me to consider. I have been reflecting on tasks that my jury members and witnesses could be doing while my attorneys are preparing for trial and making a 2-5-8 for them to choose tasks to do to explore the criminal justice system, court system, or branches of the government would probably be an interesting way to achieve this. I also love the idea of having students create their own WebQuests to share in the classroom. This idea is a keeper!
Another site my students loved was code.org, MIT has one too. Since all students don’t share the same interest in coding I could use menus to differentiate in this unit too.
Oh, I love what you did with March Madness!! Very clever to meet them with something they love!! My son is in Gifted and would have LOVED that!!!
DeleteI love to see how technology can be intertwined into our teaching!! The students need it to go along with the day in which they are living. I really like the Menu idea to give the students options on topic of research for the unit they are in. Then, another menu that could be given to the students would be the presentation mode. There are several great presentation sites to choose from. Visme, HaikuDeck, Prezi, Emaze...this allows the students options to choose from, and some topics come with greater difficulty. As well, some of the presentation sites are more difficult to figure out how to use. The menu could be constructed accordingly. The students would get to select according to their choice and degree of complexity.
ReplyDeleteI love the concept of WebQuests (especially because you can use existing ones without starting from scratch) and think educational reliance on tools like these are only in its beginning. Soon, instructional technology products will be embedded firmly into the bedrock of how we learn and teach. There are tools today that address nearly every area of instruction, including collaboration, communications, storytelling, organization, and enrichment.
ReplyDeleteChoice menus, which provide students with flexible curricular plans, could be easily integrated with technology products by simply providing appropriate project direction and resources and formulating elements of the menu to include the use of specific technology. Alternatively, the choices themselves could be between varying types of technology that accomplish the same learning goal. Some examples: Soundtrap is a user-friendly recording/sharing/publication tool in which students can plug in instruments or external mics and quickly create music projects; Mystorybook and StoryboardThat allow kids to engage in creative storytelling activities; and Flipquiz is a site where teachers can create game-style learning exercises. Of course that’s only the tip of the iceberg.