Educational technologies in elementary classrooms
From WikEd
I am not an elementary teacher, but I have seen video vignettes of exemplary technology use in elementary classrooms (from the Southwest Educational Development Lab, Regional Technology in Education Consortia). One of the commonalities is modeling: elementary teachers would model the type of thinking being asked of the students and would model the use of technology to engage in this kind of thinking. Then, students would usually be paired to work through the task, sharing both the "thinking" work and the "technology" work (typing, clicking, etc.). It is important to also indicate the impact that technology has within the classroom as it relates to the special needs population [1]. The following are some examples of the technology-based tools utilized in the classroom:
*Webquests are a special kind of learning experience that makes use of the resources of the World Wide Web. According to Bernie Dodge, the father of the webquest, a webquest is "an inquiry-oriented activity in which most or all of the information used by learners is drawn from the Web. WebQuests are designed to use learners' time well, to focus on using information rather than looking for it, and to support learners' thinking at the levels of analysis, synthesis and evaluation."
*Spreadsheets are a great tool to use in the elementary school classroom because they allow students to organize and analyze data. Spreadsheets could also be used in combinations with graphs to demonstrate how mathematical formulas work and how graphs change (or not) when formulas change.
*Digital microscopes are also a great tool
*Digital cameras can be used on field trips, to record observations in science projects, to add pictures of products to a digital portfolio, to model how to observe an object/event/environment as a scientist
*Specialized Software Inspiration/Kidspiration or other concept-mapping software can help kids make either traditional 2D text concept maps, or they can take them to another level with multimedia and nesting maps within maps. They can also use it to organize their thoughts for a paper, and it automatically turns the map into an outline.
*Word Processors are becoming common place in the elementary school classroom. Beginning as early as second grade students are typing their stories into the computer and adding clipart to complete the work.
- KeyBoarding Skills
In many Districts, students are being expected to have keyboarding skills by 6th grade (at least some concept and skill) and are required to pass Key boarding skills testing at the end of 8th grade in order to take more advanced computer course in High School.
*PowerPoint presentations are a great way for students to present research or to supplement other presentations.
[edit] Additional Recommended Software for Elementary Learning
- Bailey's Book House Introductory concepts Reading and Math
[ http://www.riverdeep.net/portal/page?_pageid=336,1&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL RiverDeep Elementary Software HomePage]as an introductory software for K-2 introduces the students to characters that are introduced and then again progressively for specific course content such as Math, Science, Social Studies and Reading. Familiarity with the characters give the students a comfort zone from which to learn new concepts and applications. The software is great because it gives students the opportunity to work at their own speed, gives them choices and different outcomes based on those choices. For Example, in the Book House CD, children create their own story books, choosing their character, then the situation, then an event, and finally an outcome and an ending. The stories can be printed in color and each child has a unique story book. Behind the scenes, the child learns to manipulate the computer and the prompts of the software. They quickly learn that THEY are the operator of the computer and that it will respond to what they instruct it to do. Their reactions to the characters and music is delightful, and they are learning to use the computer as a tool to accomplish learning goals.
- Intro to KeyBoarding. A great software for elementary school 3-5 is Type to Learn by SUNBURST SoftwareSunburst Software. The theme is space travel and it incorporates listening, reading, and historical fact into the lessons. It is necessarily repetitive for key stroke learning , but does so creatively. It gives each student the opportunity to advance "to the next Mission", or next level, and gives continual on demand progress updates in their Words per Minute and Accuracy levels. This provides the student motivation to keep on learning this life long needed skill in our world of advancing technology.
- Other Sunburst Keyboarding Products: Besides Type to Learn, Sunburst's Type to Learn Jr. is geared toward K-2 students. It emphasizes correct use of both right and left hands but not the home row keys. It teaches reading skills while discouraging bad "hunt and peck" keyboard type habits. Additional K-2 practice is available in New Keys for Kids. A good companion to Type to Learn is Type for Fun. Also, Type to Learn Assessment can be used with grades 3-12 along with Type to Learn. This variety of software makes for varied and fun typing practice.
- The following site offers a very good list of websites for teaching elementary grades (and High School, too) with technology.
