Based upon your own teaching experiences (if any) and the contents of this lesson, what instructional media formats interest you? What instructional methods do you currently use this instructional media within an instructional setting? How do you anticipate using this instructional media within an instructional setting in the future? Make sure that you describe specific instructional methods.
The main instructional media that I encounter on a daily basis is a SMARTBoard. I use it for EVERYTHING. Students come into class and I have their morning work up on the SMARTBoard. I then have students come up to the board to solve the problems using the "pens." The SMART website has many templates for teachers (or anyone) to use along with the SMARTBoards. Many of these templates are interactive and involve having students "pull" objects away to reveal the answers. I can make a SMART template myself, but I'm all about not recreating the wheel.
Another type of instructional media that I have encountered lately is a virtual classroom. These classrooms are set up as computer labs and are overseen by a teacher assistant. The teacher assistant doesn't instruct the students, but is there as a tool for helping the students with technical issues. The point of these virtual classrooms is to offer students the opportunities to take courses that are not currently availabe in thier current setting. For example: Jane Doe is very interested in taking different language courses. She has taken and mastered Spanish and French, but those are the only two offered at her high school. If Jane goes to a virtual classroom, she can take classes for any language in the world. These classes are pretty much set up like our own in that an instructor is paid by the school for the student(s) that take their course. These teachers can teach as many students as they can. One teacher in Georgia may be teaching students from California, Nebraska and New Jersey. This is a growing trend in high school settings and is definately the instructional media of the future. Just think about it. 15 years ago, could we take online classes for a college degree?
I also think (even though I don't necissarly agree with it) that we are moving away from standard textbooks and moving to computerized textbooks for teaching. This may work well with older students, but we already have tons of accomodations for reading that I think this may be difficult at the elementary/middle school level. Honestly, if I could put all of my books onto one computer and ditch the carrying of 5 huge textbooks, I would in a heartbeat because I have learned to read online. I have found, oddly enough, that this skill is not for everyone. Either way, the time will come just as "Thomas Edison expressed in 1922 according to which the textbooks in the schools would have been at last replaced by the movies." Hmmm... Not quite, but something like that.
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4 comments:
We are definitely getting away from textbooks mentality. There is a school in Texas that provides a laptop for each student. Textbooks, assignments, readings, etc. are all on CDs. They come into the classroom and the teacher is directing them where to find lesson plans, etc on the laptops. Obviously group work, discussions, and scenarios cannot be mimic on a computer, but it is nice to have a book bag with only a laptop.
I have not had the opportunity yet, but I would love to work with a smartboard. It is exciting to see how technology is being used in the classroom. Like you mentioned, the virtual classroom is providing opportunities for students to extend their knowledge. Technology is providing students with possibilities we could have never imagined ten years ago.
Your comment about the textbooks and learning disablitites--there are several programs availabe that will read the text aloud for the special needs child. One is universal reader. Open up the textbook, webpage, essay written by the student--and the program reads it aloud. I think it is wondeful tha tools are being developed for a variety of reasons that can be adapted for the classroom.
I share your trepidation about moving to a completely e-textbook environment and agree with you that reading large volumes of text from a computer screen is not for everybody. I do like the world of reduced paper, but completely paperless is a stretch. Just consider how many of us still print out a hard copy of a paper for proofreading and editing.
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