Using Online Technologies to Create "Sparks" in Learning
Technology has become more reliable and ubiquitous. So have teacher laptops and classroom LCD projectors for their personal use.
These "advancements" provide resources that can spark student interest in content-area learning, add color and content for student presentations and contribute to an "all-around" depth of understanding.
But, all is not well in paradise.
These online resources harbor terrors and troubles of their own.
And, with any "not approved by someone higher-up" resources, teachers must preview and screen everything that passes through that laptop and projector on the way to students's bright eyes and tiny ears.
Access to the Internet is like "dropping into the Wild-Wooly West, saloons, brothels, gunfights and gore. And, like the settlers guarding the wagon train at night, a lapse in vigilance can come back to bite.
Teachers that fail to preview and supervise find themselves, staring at the floor in front of a desk on the other end of their supervisor's wrath.
Resources to "Die For"
In the old days, these technologies could have caused "tech-centric" teachers to swoon with joy and appreciation. Now, they are ho-hum, common place.
So what are these technologies, and why do they take up so much of a teacher's time?
Internet Audio
What's Available: music and newscasts, interviews, information from other countries
Technology Needed: Real Player™ or Windows Media Player™
Cost: No additional cost
Comments: Podcasts require 1:1 preview time. If the Podcast is one hour, the teacher must spend one hour previewing the audio.
Online Newspapers
What's Available: Access to just about any major newspaper in the world
Technology Needed: Computer with Internet access. Sometimes a printer is valuable.
Cost: Mostly free. Some charge a membership fee.
Comments: Some sites require registration with name and E-mail address.
Video Conferencing
What's Available: One-way and two-way broadcast of all manner of curricular information.
Technology Needed: High-end system with cameras, document cameras, microphone (maybe voice activated), digital white board and codec.
Cost: Expensive. Generally out of reach for an individual classroom. Campuses are lucky to have one such system in place.
Comments: The amount of use that these systems receive seldom makes up for the high initial cost. The model for use of these system is often the "lecture or seminar" format.
Movies
What's Available: Movies in DVD, CD, Video Tape, Online, Steaming, Flash and other formats.
Technology Needed: DVD/ CD Players, VCRs, Internet Access, Desktop video capture software
Cost: Video production and video use rights are very expensive.
Comments: Production costs are high and production is extremely time-intensive. Preview time for pre-packaged video is 1:1 and difficult for teachers who want to perform "due diligence.*" Note: Teachers can use almost any film resource, even rented DVDs and VCR tapes if they follow certain rules. These rules generally require a written lesson plan, targeted student activities, starting and stopping the movie and conducting focused class discussions, etc.
Podcasts
What's Available: Lots of audio content.
Technology Needed: Computer with sound card, iPod™ Zune™ or other MP3 Player. Computer with sound card, portable sound recorders, sound editing and file
Cost: Little or a lot. Some sound editing solutions such as Audacity are Open Source.
Comments: You get what you pay for in regard to sound clarity and professional quality. Special microphones and mixers are required to add background music, group interviews and other audio components to podcasts. Be prepared to spend a lot of time learning the ropes to get audio production right. Be prepared to spend a lot of time previewing audio content before presenting podcasts to your students.
Online Games
What's Available: Tons of Online Games are available.
Technology Needed: A basic computer with an Internet connection and always updated Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware programs
Cost: The Anti-Virus software and Anti-Spyware programs have yearly subscription fees.
Comments: Caution - Many of the games that students like to play are magnets for Spyware and Trojan virus-type programs. The Spyware and Trojans are hidden in the code of the game downloads. Beware!
YouTube and TeacherTube Videos
What's Available: Everything you can imagine, and a lot of stuff that you don't want your students to see while you are supervising them
Technology Needed: Content filtering software on the school district's network to prevent the most egregious of these videos.
Cost: Content Filter services are expensive, but required by the Children's' Internet Protection Act (CIPA). Sometimes, content filtering services block the entire YouTube site, and block access to TeacherTube in the process.
Comments: TeacherTube is safe and focused upon instructional
Translation Sites and Services
What's Available: Nothing of real translation value, but lots of "down and dirty" (not in the same sense as the YouTube videos) curriculum content that can get students evaluation the quality of the materials that were translated. This engages all the higher-order thinking skills, problem-solving and decision-making resources that students can muster.
Cost: Free. Never pay for a software or "machine" translation. No product is good enough, yet.
Comments: Great devices for building interest in content lessons, humor and student interaction.
The Entire Raft of Google™ Online Products and Services
Classroom Toolkit reviewed these earlier…
Summary:
Technology works for instruction and curricular outcomes if you work it. But don't think that automation will give you a "free ride down easy street." In fact, setting up and managing Technology Integration is more time consuming than not using the technology.
Worse, previewing media and supervising students as they use some of these technologies creates an extensive drag on teachers' "free" time.
But if you like the technology, use it. Your students will be glad that you did.
