SSD Technology News
September 2014
Technology Integrator Philosophy
As a Technology Integration Specialist, I work with teachers, other staff members, and students to enhance instruction through the use of technology in the classroom. The effective use of technology fosters 21st century skills students need to acquire such as collaboration, inquiry-based learning, critical thinking, creativity, and problem solving. The Technology Integration Specialist can assist in this by:
- Researching appropriate classroom technology and applications of technology
- Collaborating with teachers to research curriculum materials, plan a lesson, co-teach or model that lesson using appropriate technology, and assist in assessment when the lesson is complete.
- Creating training content and providing professional development in a variety of formats
- Communicating between the teachers and the technology staff
Technology needs to enhance lessons, not distract from them.
- Share Docs for collaborative work: Send a file or folder to someone so that they can view, edit, or comment on it. Encourage peer editing by having a student start a document and share it with another student. This is a great tool for collaborative group work. Anyone you share the file or folder with will see changes made as they happen so that everyone can be on the same page and get feedback quickly.
- Revision history and Commenting: The revision pane allows you to view at a glance all changes made to a document by each collaborate. Revert to earlier versions of your document, spreadsheet, presentation, or drawing and see which collaborators made edits to any of these versions. Comment on work for quick feedback.
- Google Presentation: An alternative to PowerPoint, students can work collaboratively to create a presentation in Google Drive. Creating presentations together is easy because you can see what others are working on and edit with your team members simultaneously from different locations.
- Research: Under the Tools Menu, click on research. This will open a small window to search for web results, images, maps, reviews, and more!
- Go paperless!: Students pass in work assignments using Google Drive. Never hear the excuse that a student lost their paper again!
Padlet
This summer students in the Literacy Through Technology Summer Camp used Padlet on the interactive whiteboards to share feedback. Padlet can be used in your classroom to collect ideas for exploration, showcase student work, or answer the question of the day. For a back to school activity, students could post their goals for the year. Check out my Padlet and please add a comment: Welcome Padlet
Google Drive
Students in the Literacy Through Technology Camp learned to access files on Google Drive. The interactive whiteboard made it easy for the whole group to follow along.
I can create and name a document!
Learning the importance of creating and naming documents, students created a presentation in Google Draw to showcase all they learned during Literacy Through Technology Camp.
Looking for some ideas to engage students with the interactive whiteboard?
Check out the tab for Interactive Whiteboard Resources on the IT Website.
Check out the tab for Interactive Whiteboard Resources on the IT Website.
Technology Integrator Contact Information
Amy Chartrain
K-12 Technology Integrator
amy.chartrain@sau57.org