E-learning is a huge factor in the 21st century classroom.
It is rare to walk in a classroom and not see at least time of technology being
used either by the teacher or the student. When I first started teaching, I had
a document camera and a teacher laptop. I was also able to check out portable
labs to use in my classroom. Now, I have 1:1 ratio of students to tablets, 4
laptops, interactive whiteboard, teacher laptop and document camera. This is
now my third year to teach, so if we can grow that rapidly in just 2 years, I
can only imagine what the classroom will look like in the future! With the
tablets, we take tons of pictures and post on our classroom blog. Apps are
another great resource I use on the tablets to engage students. The laptops are
a great resource to produce pieces such as stories or projects. Keeping
students engaged and active is one of the hardest jobs a teacher has, and I
have noticed over the past 2 years e-learning experiences help tackling the
issue a little easier.
Reusable objects make my planning life so much better! I
really like to review for tests using a game of some type. In my classroom, I
have a mimio which turns my whiteboard into an interactive whiteboard. Through
different sources, I found different games where you can edit and put in your
own questions and answers. My students love this during review week. It is a
fun way to keep students engaged but learning at the same time. It is also much
easier on me because I don’t have to create an entirely new game or program each
time. I also really like blogging as a reusable resource because students
become familiar and independent with the task. It is an easy check for
understanding that after practice doesn’t require much prep time.
Rich media is a very huge part of my everyday instruction. I
am a third grade teacher, so we learn a variety of different step by step
processes. It is imperative for students to both hear and practice those steps,
but they also need to see sometime of visual, whether it be an example of fun
little graphic. I also love to use different videos in my curriculum. I use a
majority of my videos from United Streaming or Brain Pop. Incorporating these
videos not only engages my students, but they also give them something to refer
back to when completing different projects or assignments. Rich media is a
great resource to use within e-learning and reusable resources.
Virtual learning give students the opportunities to have
those experiences they might not get to have to do. My students love a gaming
website called Sumdog. It covers both math and writing. The students create
their own avatar and play different games. As they play the games, they receive
points which can be used in the store. The students have the ability to play against
different classmates or people around the world. I have really enjoyed this
resource because I have control on what skill or skills they work on during the
games. The students also enjoy playing against each other and competing. I also
love to use Google docs. It is great for writing and giving feedback. It is
easy enough for students or teachers to give the feedback to others. This has
been a great resource because critiquing others helps students get ideas and
make their own writing better! Web 2.0 tools can be overwhelming based solely
off the newness and lack of experience, but the best thing to do is get in there
and try!
