Engaging learners using digital tools is something I feel is a must with today's day and age. I've always had a smart board in my classroom to help engage my students during the day among various lessons. In the beginning of this school year, my projector had to be replaced so I was without one for two weeks. The engagement levels dropped drastically. It was much harder for me to get them interested in the lesson without that technology interaction.
In Figure 5.2 on page 118 of chapter 5, the comparisons of people that go online everyday vs. the people who read books for fun every day vary. What I found the most interesting was that children 5-8 are the only age gap that were reading more for fun than going on the computer. I have found in my experience that children who are engaged online with reading programs are more willing to want to read than if I handed them a book. In my classroom, my third graders do their BEST independent reading when they are reading on the program, MyOn.com, on our ipads.
In terms of teaching students about Internet searching, it's great for them to learn this early. We used lessons on finding information for our nonfiction writing unit. Students were using the search engines, they were taking notes and they were learning new information at the same time.
Questions for the group:
1) Do your students get "computer class" to teach them about URL or web searches, or do you have to mix it into your own lessons that you are giving each day?
2) What programs does your school use to prevent plagiarism?
3) In your opinion, what is the best program you have used in your classroom, either math or reading, that has engaged students the most?
No comments:
Post a Comment