Chinwe Ikpeze informs us of a fifth grade teacher, John Blain, who wanted to incorporate technology into his literature lesson plans. Blain assigned a couple readings, Because of WinnDixie and The Tiger Rising, and required the students to take part in an online discussion, a cross between a blog and wiki type discussion room. Blain generated questions for the students to take part in as well as the students needing to create own question and concerns they had with the readings; Blain then took the most popular online discussion questions (open ended questions) and brought them into the classroom for a more engaged conversation about the reading and their thoughts about the book(s). Another part of the activity was for the students to write about the main theme for the book and then talk about whether they agreed with the theme or not, and back it up with evidence and explanations. Blain noticed there was more engagement from the children along with higher reading and writing test scores.
I think this is a wonderful way to incorporate technology into the classrooms, and I think it's an easy way, too. There always comes the problem of some students not having the opportunity to have access to computers and internet, but I would like to have at least two computers in my classroom. Another idea for the problem would be to offer after school time for students who do not have access to computers, to stay and work on the computers in the classroom to make sure they are still getting the technology lessons and still being apart in the classroom activities as well. Students need to know how to incorporate technology into all lessons as it can be a successful solution to problems or questions they may need answered.
I wrote in my blog post that I thought online discussions could be beneficial because some students may feel more comfortable expressing themselves than they would in the classroom. I think online discussions are a good way to engage students with what they're learning. You made a good point about how some students may not have access to computers. That's something teachers should be aware of when they use computers as major parts of their lessons.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that blogging plays a great part in having students participate more when it comes to discussion. It is an outlet to express themselves and lay down ideas of their own. It does seem though the having access to computers may be a problem, or the fact of monitoring the students when they use they Internet at such a young age.
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