Technology is an increasing part of our everyday lives. This comes through to me greatly at my school. I never quite new just how much technology can be incorporated into learning until I started my new job this school year. I consider myself to be very tech savvy and up to date on all the latest techy stuff but I have been introduced to a new world of technology this year. I am amazed at how you can incorporate technology into learning and I thought I would share some of that with you all.
There are several different programs out there that I have learned about this year. The first one is super fun and my favorite, it is called WORDLE. http://www.wordle.net I think it is just the neatest thing. You type in a bunch of words related to a topic or subject and then hit create and it arranges them for you in an organized jumbled up sort of way. For example, here is one I did for my school website:
There are a few tricks to Wordle I will share with you! To make Ms Wilson large I typed it several times and also to link Ms and Wilson I put this ~ in between the word Ms and Wilson. A fun way to do a report on France would be to make a WORDLE of all the places in France or landmarks you find in France. There is no end to the ways you can use this fun program.
Another fun program to use is a Wiki! Wiki is the Hawaiian word for fast and some say it stands for "What I Know Is." You probably are familiar with Wikipedia. It is a widely known and used place for finding out information. To start a wiki, one would post a question or topic and others would add their answers or knowledge on the subject. It is a great way for teachers to get feedback and for students to post information they research. A great link is 50 ways to use Wiki's in the classroom. Wikispaces.com is a great place to start creating wiki's.
A couple of other ways to incorporate technology into learning are to use SKYPE and iPods. First, SKYPE is an awesome way to talk to people in other cities, states or countries and its free. You can skype with another class in China and learn all about their culture or school day. You could also skype with family members around the globe and go on an instant field trip to where they are. Everyone has iPods now and why not use them for learning also. You can download books and listen to them or make a podcast of a presentation and let everyone listen to it on their ipods. The possibilities are endless.
Of course we all know the power of a blog! Blogging has become one of the fastest ways to get thoughts and ideas on the internet. Blogs can also be used for learning. Teachers can use a blog to get students more engaged in learning. They can have students write reports on their blogs because typing it and it showing up on the internet is way more fun than typing it on paper and turning it in. Blogs can also be used to engage students that are bored or need that extra push.
I hope this helps you as a parent or teacher engage your children in learning in a new and tech savvy way. The next time your child has a report or presentation to do help them use one of these programs to transform their project into an exciting presentation.