To support the improvement of students’ results, educators are increasingly turning to technology. But how do they feed authentic Commitment, the use of technology as a tool not only to improve learning, but also inspire curiosity and strengthen connections?
Recently, Edsurge spoke with Kelly Mitchell, digital learning and teaching facilitator with Onrslow County Schools in North Carolina. Mitchell spent four years in class before moving on to a district role. In the past 12 years, she has inspired other teachers to effectively integrate Edtech into their courses, encouraging students to “work together, create and move in the room!”
EDSURGE: How do you approach personalized learning and promote authentic engagement in your class, and what specific strategies and technologies have you found the most effective to support these objectives?
Mitchell: I am a big fan of the approach of Dr Catlin Tucker at the Station rotation model For mixed learning. The creation of stations was very long, but I believe that if we keep things simple and that we are practicing transitions again and again, the students will adapt and prosper in a classroom where they consider that their styles and interests of learning are valued. They often move, but they do not know that everything they do is always linked to one of their standards. And so they love it!
The idea is to give students a certain choice and a voice in the way they demonstrate their understanding, which helps us get their membership. They appreciate the effort we have made to listen to them and recognize how they learn. And when this happens, we are all more committed, let’s stay on the task and working together. These are these little students’ engagement plans that really allow you to continue throughout the day.
One of the tools most used in onslow, LumioAllows teachers to intervene easily, offering quality pre-made activities and interactive features. Those who want to stay close to studying materials can easily import any of the materials and make them quickly more interactive.
Something so simple excites students when they have a little choice in this area. For example, graphic organizers are always a pleasure. Combine this with the choice of how to represent character traits with drawings, writings or images, and you have a winning lesson! I just worked with third -year students, and they had to explain why the features of a character in the book we read helped them sell more lemonade than the brother sold. And so they had to create a poster selling the character traits of this character.
Technology can help students redefine what they learn by giving them creative means to demonstrate understanding. Allowing students to record audio alongside text or images can be a powerful way for them to demonstrate the understanding of their own voice.
How can technology help teachers make basic program documents more interactive and engaging for students?
Sometimes when basic program documents are used, it can be difficult to learn to use this equipment to teach and provide authentic learning experiences to students. Stations and even reading lists allow teachers to work with small groups of students while other students are engaged in various other collaborative and independent activities. It’s beautiful! In addition to simplifying the planning process, educational technology programs have made it very easy to provide game -based learning, collaborative group work and digital manipulators in lessons using the content of the basic curriculum.
How do you involve students in the process of integrating technology into their learning experiences?
Often, we give students choices to demonstrate their learning. Providing this choice allows students to use their own talents, forces and interests. At the beginning of each year, I ask teachers to select a technological champion to help students who could be new to use educational technology at their disposal as a student in Onslow County. Having one or two technological champions in each class underlines part of the pressure on the teacher and puts the work of knowing the student’s program. It is extremely stimulating and one of the best ways to give our more informed students in technology a leadership opportunity.
What advice would you give to other educators who seek to build an authentic culture of engagement using technology?
Don’t think about it too much. Be ready to learn alongside your students. It is over the time when the teacher is the expert in the matter; We don’t need to have all the answers. Our native digital students want and have to continue the answer, decide if that’s what they were looking for and revisit the problem repeatedly.
One of the things I love most about Lumio is the ease of entering the program. Does the teacher just need to spice up her study program equipment? If so, start with a Super sorting For verbs and adjectives or strange numbers and even. Do they want to amplify the students’ voice in a quick and not intrusive way? Then throw a Cry it! He can stop there at the start, and the next time we add a group work activity or a Monster quiz For exam. Or maybe we try a Phet Laboratory on the area and perimeter. A teacher does not have to know all the ins and outs of Lumio to use it effectively and engage their students. While teachers integrate small moments of engagement in their daily routines, they will see the students invest more in their learning.
We cannot just sit on a program and allow them to descend the rabbit hole from their “way”. Personalized learning is much more than a path defined by a program. Personalized learning takes into account different personalities, strengths, weaknesses and preferences. This generation of students really appreciates the opportunity to have the choice of students.