It is without a doubt that many students want their teachers to incorporate technology into their daily teaching activities. Unfortunately, these teachers are always busy prepping students for tests, meeting standards, and some are not knowledgeable enough about the use of computers. This essay is going to shade light on some easy ways the teacher can use to bring the classroom up to speed technologically.
Technology is ever-changing, and this change has led to the development of new terms including a blog, tweet, web quest and many more which are going to be defined and featured in this article. As I progress, one will be able to realize that technology enables the teacher to achieve his or her teaching goals more easily while simultaneously making the learning process more enjoyable and fun.
Use an online grading system.
Teachers nowadays no longer have to wait anymore for their schools to mandate their shift to a web-based grade book as they can try it out and exploit its full benefits. Sites like MyGradeBook offer the opportunity to record attendance and seating charts, track grades, and compile reports on student progress. Teachers can also email parents and students directly thus allowing them to view their updated grades. With this method, the worry of bringing home ones grade book is dealt with as it can be accessed from any computer.
Listen to, or create, a podcast.
The number of podcasts available on the web is in the thousands. Teachers should be able to search for ones that will be able to meet their students’ needs.
Nowadays, some colleges have been able to offer lectures via podcasts which can be a good thing for advanced students. The teacher is also able to find interviews of the authors of books that their students are reading or even other supplemental material. They can download it and play it for their students thus making the learning process a more interesting one. As for those who are ambitious, they can have their students create their podcast which will allow them to document their progress over the year or even discuss their ideas on some issues about the course.
Create a class blog or wiki.
This cannot only be a great way to integrate technology in the classroom but also develop student knowledge. Blogs offer a great platform for outside-of-class discussion, which is particularly helpful for busy students that are short of class time but are motivated. On the other hand, a wiki is a website that makes use of software that allows different people to make changes on it (just like Wikipedia). By motivating their students to work together, the teacher will enable them to create a wiki on topics that they are studying. Collaboration and correction of each other’s work will make the entire process a success.
“Publish” your students’ work.
Nowadays, there are tools that allow students to create professional looking work by just using a desktop computer. Also, the teacher can run an ongoing class website which feature students’ opinion and work, have students create short films, or even raise money which will allow them to professionally publish their work by a self-publishing company such as Lulu or iUniverse.
The teacher or the students can give multimedia presentations.
The teacher can liven up a traditional lecture by incorporating a PowerPoint presentation that has diagrams, photographs, music, video clips, and sound effects.
As for high school teachers, they can have the students do the presentations as one way of reviewing them for semester exams. The students might end up producing excellent work that they may want to use it in their future classes.
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