There is probably no better expert on the effectiveness of tool integration on K-12 learning outcomes than teachers themselves. The professionals responsible for masterfully perfecting the intersection of technology tools, content knowledge and pedagogy should surely be called upon to voice their opinions on the case for the use of tools such as blogs, wikis and podcasts in the K-12 educational environment. We are on the front lines of the technological revolution sweeping through education, and our opinion on specific tool integration matters.
Imagine your child, sitting in her sixth grade social studies class, is feverishly taking notes on the causes of the American Revolution from the George Washington re-enactor that her highly-effective and innovative teacher brought in from Mt. Vernon. This guy is good. He is great. He is so believable he could BE George Washington. As his presentation ends, your daughter’s teacher says, “make sure to keep your notes because this information will be on next week’s test.” Your daughter comes home in tears, not because she will be tested, but because she realizes that about halfway-through George’s speech she became so enthralled, so engaged, that her notes just sort of stopped. Now you, the parent, are consoling a stressed-out tween who just wants to do well and surely life as we know it is over. WRONG! This amazing teacher who predicted that the kids would be jaw-droppingly engaged and focused, unable to even put pen to paper because they were so engrossed in 18th century America, recorded the presentation and has made a podcast. Not only did she put George’s presentation on the podcast, she also edited it so she could add in her own commentary and thoughts for the students to hear. Now your freaked out daughter can take a deep breath, get our her half-done notes, and re-listen to the presentation as many times as she wants: from your dining room table, from her bed, from the family van on the way to soccer. REJOICE! Life is good. Kids are learning and re-learning and have information available to them from anywhere, at any time. This is just the beginning. Podcasts allow teachers to deliver content, provide enrichment (kids want to know more about the American Revolution? They can listen to a podcast about it), or explain topics in a different way for students who do not get a concept the first time around. It is not just teachers who can use podcasts to fundamentally modify the way they teach, but students can produce podcasts to use to show understanding themselves or even as an assessment. What if students narrated their science labs? Or recorded and instrument tour of all the stringed instruments in the orchestra? Further, students could listen to or create debates, interviews, “tours” of other countries and more. The classroom applications of this technology tool are vast and integrating this tool into K-12 classrooms is a win for both educators and students alike.
Wikis are perhaps the least understood and the least utilized of the group of tools however, that does not lessen their potential for impact on student learning. If you are wondering what a Wiki is here is an article and a video to get you started. Wikis are a content management system similar to blogs however, they allow more people to collaborate on one project where blogs tend to be managed by one person posting and others can respond. Everyone can agree that literacy is a fundamental skills students need to learn and through the incorporation of Wikis students learn not only about reading and writing, they are learning about effective communication, collaboration and build digital and network literacy skills as well. Wikis not only provide a space for collaboration as they co-create the content but they are collaborating as they negotiate and edit the space effectively as the world is their audience. The product they produce is the sum of all group members knowledge. Writing for an authentic audience allows the students to connect their learning to the real world and connecting their work with hyperlinks further instills digital literacy skills. Wikis can be used in the classroom for debates where the teacher posts a questions and moderates responses, as a newsroom to keep parents informed about interesting activities in the classroom from the students perspective, to track books read and create summaries or book reviews, write stories that have hypertext or links to additional content there seem to be endless possibilities.
In an era when children are growing up with technology all around them we are finding more and more that the manner in which students learn and interact is changing. Students are no longer the sequential thinkers of yesterday, instead, they develop minds much like hyperlinks - jumping from site to site. What better way to take advantage of this “hyperlink mind” than blogging? Blogging has the potential to accomplish many aspects that 21st century educators strive for - higher level thinking, collaboration, creativity, and the ability to share and interact globally. Students think at higher levels as they synthesize various information out there and put it together in their posts. They collaborate as they comment and reply to each other’s posts. Creativity occurs as students use their own writing styles, and blog posts are often shared on sites that can be accessed globally. The power of blogs stems from the fact that blogs are a person’s reflections. People put time and effort into what they post on social media sites. Stop for a second and think about how much time people invest in their selfies, having the perfect filters, perfect captions, perfect status updates, and so on. The same is true for blogs. Blogs become yet another way we display our virtual image. Even better, students are still getting practice with writing skills as they create their blog posts and comment on others’ posts. With a little teaching children how to blog (maintain safety, evaluate validity of sites, basic expectations) a blog can become a very powerful medium where students can put their thoughts into writing and share their thoughts globally.
Incorporating the use of technology in a classroom can be a complex question to tackle that does not always have a straightforward answer. When considering the use of of Podcasts, Wikis and Blogs, we have done our best to explain the many benefits of the individual tools. While the basic fundamentals of learning have not changed, learning to read, write and do math, how these tasks can be accomplished through the incorporation of current technologies has changed the relevant way to teach them. Each of these tools “create the potential for connections in ways that were simply not possible even a few years ago (Richardson, 2010).” Students today are expected to learn how to use technology appropriately to interact with the world and teachers today need to provide learning opportunities for students.
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