My module this week is on technology integration. I
have spent the week researching and learning about two different models of
integration- the TPACK and the SAMR. Check out the link here that briefly explains them. Both of
these models will be useful when developing a vision and a plan for technology
integration at St. Wenceslaus. Having all the stakeholders (students
included) have input on the vision of how technology will be used to help
support the teaching and the learning will be vitally important.
I believe at St. Wenceslaus, we put the cart before the
horse when trying to update and integrate technology. We purchased
the devices and have since found out that our infrastructure needed updated,
the comfort levels of some teachers with using the computers, iPads, document
cameras, and projectors has been-to say the least- uncomfortable, and simply,
we did not have a plan. Now I know that we will need to do some backtracking
to develop a vision of where we want to be and an action plan of how we want to
get there. I know it is never fun to back track, however, I think this
step is a must and will make our road focused for everyone.
I had a great Aha moment yesterday....a little background first.
I have had a Twitter account for some time (since July 2011- wow- really that long???). I had only followed fitness, motivational, and a few personal accounts of people I knew- ok, only my husband. :) I only checked it maybe once every two weeks, if that. I could not see the benefit of or even how to use it professionally. I would go to conferences and be curious but not in the loop of the #tweeters.
Then I started EDU 617- #culearns617. I now follow everyone in the class and have also started following other professionals in the field of education that are geared toward early childhood education and professionals in educational leadership. So in the past two weeks I have tweeted, retweeted, liked and favorited more than I have in the past 4 years. I enjoy learning about what others are doing all over the country, reading their struggles and successes and finding great resources to use in my classroom.
Lately, I have been reading about #genius hour and find the concept fascinating. This is where time is given to students once a week to learn what they want to learn. The students come up with essential questions, they are given time to research and then are tasked with putting together a project that shows what they learned and level of understanding. (This format sounds very familiar to a class I am taking right now, hmmmm................) Anyway, I want to try to incorporate something similar to this in Kindergarten. They have questions, lots of them. They have particular interests, lots of them and they would be so excited to use technology to learn and create something to share. The only trouble is - HOW DO WE DO THIS IN KINDERGARTEN??? They have limited reading skills, limited writing/typing skills, and limited technology skills. How can I make this work successfully when there is only one of me? I did a little googling online and found a few things but I needed more information of how to even start.
So, I did it. Nervously I tweeted directly to a professional in this area. This professional has 3,700 followers and is someone that I would probably never have the chance to talk to- ever! So here I tweeted and asked a simple question:
Any ideas/resources on#geniushour for kinders. #gettingitstarted.
Any ideas/resources on
After tweeting, I thought to myself- "Ok, a shot in the dark, but worth the try". Well, less than two hours later, on a Sunday, I received three replies from her. She gave me an idea to try and then another one to follow up with apps to look into. I was #soexcited!
So, my Aha moment was finally learning how Twitter can be used to connect me with other professionals outside of my circle for help and support and opening my eyes to how small this BIG world can become. What can it do for our students????
For more on Genius Hour, click here.
Stacy-
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your experience with us. It really really captures what social media can do for us. We have to think about both our learning and our students learning differently. I can't wait to hear how genius hour goes! Keep asking those great questions, many of the answers are out there!
Stacy, thanks for your post. I think that what you were hinting at with reaching out to other teachers for help with implementing genius hour is so true. For example, even though you teach kindergarten and I teach Spanish, your research on technology integration and the genius hour has allowed me to think about how I would implement this in my given context of an upper level high school Spanish classroom. I think one of the best things about technology, especially things like twitter, is it allows you to literally 'jump' from one idea to another until you find something that fits your needs. I think you really summed it up well with it's a shot in the dark, but it's worth a try, because you just never know what you will get out of it. I read your post thinking that I would see a lot of the same information I researched with SAMR, but I ended up learning something new, and--even better yet--very practical! Thanks again for your post and research.
ReplyDelete