Research

Pete's PowerPoint There are many benefits of using a resource like Pete’s Power Point ([]). Students today are accustomed to having all types of technology surrounding them in their daily lives. However, in school, the technology does not reflect the students’ daily lives. Pete’s Power Point is one way to bring technology to our students so that they can make better connections to the content and skills that they are learning. Carlin and Guthrie discuss how we need to “wake the dead,” that is wake our students up with interactive technology. “Modern students are primarily active learners… lecture/fact-memorization courses may be increasingly out of touch with how our students are learning to engage their world” (Carlin & Guthrie, 2004). Instead of lecturing and requiring students to take notes on math methods, why not allow students the opportunity to actively participate through power points and games. Teachers can adjust the pacing of the power point so that the students may have time to think and interact with the questions that are being addressed during the presentation. Carlin and Guthrie made a great realization in their article and that is they “suspect that passivity in the classroom isn’t mass “couch-potato” syndrome, but instead is reflective of a group of students waiting for something they can interact with in a way with which they are familiar”(Carlin & Guthrie, 2004). Think about the number of students who fit into the category that Carlin and Guthrie just portrayed. Interactive learning, such as Pete’s Power Point, will give students something that they are familiar with and help make connections to their learning.

Pete’s Power Point and other interactive learning resources can be effectively presented on a smart board, or on individual computers. If a school does not have computers for individual students, then the use of a smart board can be very beneficial. According to William Beeland, smart boards impact students’ motivation to learn. Beeland discusses how interactive white boards, smart boards, can reach three different learning modalities: visual, auditory, and tactile. “Visual learning through the use of a whiteboard can range from the use of text and pictures to the use of animation and video,” (Beeland, 2002) which students can easily relate to their lives. Auditory learners can benefit from interactive whiteboards by being able to hear clips of music, sounds, pronunciation, and literature. Tactile learners can physically interact with the whiteboard to play games or practice skills through sites such as Pete’s Power Point. “The extent to which each of these three modalities is incorporated into a lesson may determine the extent to which students are engaged in the learning process and, thus, are motivated to learn,” (Beeland, 2002).

Please visit the links below for more information on how interactive learning is beneficial for the 21st century learner. WakingDead082003(2).pdf or search for “interactive learning Guthrie and Carlin” teach.valdosta.edu/are/Artmanscrpt/vol1no1/beeland_am.pdf or search for “Beeland interactive whiteboards”

The Flip Students in today’s classrooms are exposed to technology on a daily basis. Many students, even in elementary schools, have cell phones and digital cameras. The Flip camcorder is a natural extension of the cameras featured on cell phones and digital cameras. The Flip is designed so that even the youngest or most technologically challenged person can operate it. Flip cameras are inexpensive and simple enough for students of all ages to use in a variety of ways. Flip cameras can be used in instruction or for assessment. They are particularly well suited for assessments in which a demonstration of a procedure or task is required. The Educause Learning Initiative explains, “students who use the Flip in academic exercises that begin as lifeblogs or citizen journalism may find that their learning opportunites have extended beyond the classroom” (Educause, 2008).

The Flip camcorders are used in a variety of ways by students, teachers, and administrators. Students use them to create movie trailers for favorite books, record (in a foreign language class) a tour of the school, and in digital storytelling activities. Teachers can use the cameras to record mini-lessons to be posted online for students who were out sick, take photos of what classroom procedures look like for a “Looks like/Sounds like” chart, and record presentations, skits, and performances for later evaluation. Administrators are also using Flip cameras as a means of capturing best practices being used in the classroom to be played at faculty meetings as a means of positive feedback. The uses of the Flip camera are only limited by one's imagination! For more examples of how educators are using Flip cameras and other small camcorders in the classroom, visit Many Ways to Use Flip Cameras in the Classroom or Forty-Three Interesting Ways to Use Your Pocket Video Camera in the Classroom.

Please check out the documents and links below to find more information about Flip cameras and their uses: Using Video with Younger Students

Spelling City
Spelling City ([|http://www.spellingcity.com]) is an interactive and engaging educational website that can be used as a replacement for "drill and kill" approaches to studying for, and memorizing, spelling words. Spelling City is a recipient of the following awards: iParenting Media Award, Abacus Cool Tech Award, Teachers' Choice Ward For The Family, ClickSchooling Award, Teachers' Choice Award For The Classroom, and the Parents' Choice Award. "SpellingCity.com has been selected for inclusion in the American Library Association’s Great Web Sites for Kids. Great Web Sites for Kids are those considered the best web sites for ages birth to 14, outstanding in both content and conception. As applied to web sites for young people, “great” should be thought to include sites of especially commendable quality, sites that reflect and encourage young people’s interests in exemplary ways (SpellingCity, 2010)." Phonemic awareness, phonics, reading fluency, and reading context/comprehension are all intricate and important components of a child's ability to read with understanding; all of these areas are addressed in an engaging manner at Spelling City (Spelling City (b), 2010). Phil Slechty of the Schlechty Center on Engagement describes student engagement as the following: 1) "The student sees the activity as personally meaningful." 2) "The student's level of interest is sufficiently high that he/she persists in the face of difficulty." 3) "The student finds the task sufficiently challenging that he/she believes that he/she will accomplish something of worth by doing it." 4) The student's emphasis is on optimum performance and on 'getting it right (Schlechty, 2009).'" I have witnessed all four of the aforementioned descriptors of engagement in my classroom in regards to Spelling City. My students, and the parents of my students, have expressed to me that they love Spelling City, and that the website has helped to turn what used to be boring "drill and kill" memorization into fun and engaging educational experiences. I have also witnessed an increase in Spelling scores after implementing Spelling City in my classroom.

References:

Schlechty Center. (2009). //Schlechty Center on Engagement//. Retrieved from @http://s3.amazonaws.com/www.schlechtycenter.org/tools/prod/4046/original/sc_pdf_engagement.pdf?1272415798

Spelling City (a). //Educational awards//. (2010). Retrieved from []

Spelling City (b). //Resources and Articles about Spelling City//. (2010). Retrieved from []

﻿SMART Response Interactive System
SMART Response is an innovative system that can be used with students of all ages to enhance curriculum and improve student motivation. Research finds that interactive whiteboards enhance the quality and effectiveness of instruction because of the visual appeal and interactive nature. The SMART response system provides students an opportunity to personally interact in lessons. Because the responses are confidential to teachers, all students feel comfortable participating in lessons and providing answers. Having used the devices in my own classroom, my experiences support the research findings. Not only does this tool increase student engagement, but teachers are provided with immediate assessment data, allowing them to adjust instruction instantly. Whether it is used for formative or summative assessments, teachers are able to organize and export the data easily, which aides in future lesson planning. Assessment reports can also be generated to track student progress over time.

The following links and documents provide additional information and teacher reviews.

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