TECHBYTE 1
EXEMPLARY INSTRUCTIONAL TECHNOLOGY TOOL
Technology is playing a huge role in the education field; many schools implement it as a tool to teach and learn in the 21st-century learning design, because it could match the needs of 21st-century students around the world. In fact, we have a variety of technology tools that we can use as teaching and learning tool. Therefore, I am going to introduce one of exemplary instructional technology tools that teacher can use with her/his students.
The 21st Century Skills
Before I begin, introduce the exemplary instructional technology tools. I would like to mention the 21st-century skills that should link with the exemplary instructional technology tools:
- Creativity and Innovation
- Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
- Communication and Collaboration
- Information Literacy
- Media Literacy
- ICT Literacy
If the tool has more of the 21st-century skills, it is better for teaching and learning in the 21st century.
How to Use Padlet?
1- Sign up
2- Click on the "New padlet"
3- Edit and share address
How to Apply Padlet in Curriculum Design?
Teacher can apply Padlet in by several ways:
- The teacher can do summative and formative assessments, so she/he can know the students prior knowledge and understanding. For instance, if language teacher wants to find out about students’ writing skills and grammar, she/he can ask students to write once sentence about what they do in their free time, and post in Padlet. That will help the teacher to plan for her next or plan differentiated activities for the next lesson.
- Students can create own Padlet board and post all their notes and materials on it so it will be excellent way to review quiz or exam. Then, they can share it with a teacher or their classmates.
- The teacher can create Padlet board and post the necessary information in a different format such as image, video, PowerPoint...etc. Students can view and comment or reflect on it.
- The teacher can ask students to post anything she/he wants in Padlet board such as the mind map. Then, the teacher can give feedback on posts.
Video of How Padlet Support Learning & Teaching
Padlet and 21-Century Skills:
- Creativity and Innovation: Padlet gives students different opinions to post what they want because Padlet support various formats such as video, image, and PDF...etc. For instance, if teacher ask students to write about a history of USA, they can get different thing and post it on Padlet page such as a video show the history, a PDF file (information or PowerPoint slides), mind map or brainstorm show the understanding of the history or an image (pictures of USA history president, timeline of USA history)…etc.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving: Padlet may not include this skills unless if a teacher asks an open-end question or introduce a topic that make students think and use different resources to find an answer. So, they can post their answer there.
- Communication and Collaboration: Padlet support written and audio forms. Therefore, students can write or record their voices to communicate with each other. Also, they can work in groups, pairs or individual and that depend on the teacher’s activity or structure. So, they can collaborate to collect information about a certain subject such as (e.g. information about learning centers in the classroom). Then, they can write a report using the information that their classmates collect.
- Information Literacy: Padlet would be a nice tool for the teacher, if she/he collect all the information literacy in one page and send it to students. That means a teacher can create a Padlet page and post all information Literacy there for each lesson or unit. For instance, if the unit or lesson about animal under the sea, teacher can post video, e-book, article and story about animal under the sea.
- Media Literacy: Padlet does not support the media literacy directly. However, students still can post links or picture of media literacy website such as social networking (e.g. Twitter and Facebook) that talks about a certain topic. For example, students can collect Twitter pages that talks about the useful technology in education and post it in Padlet.
- ICT Literacy: Padlet is a great example that support ICT literacy skill because students use technology and digital technologies as a tool to research, organize, evaluate and communicate information and apply their understanding.
Example of Using Padlet in My Class
Lesson Topic: KG Classroom Environment
Students Profile: Semester 1 students (most of them direct entry – they did not go to the foundation).
Background knowledge: they know all the KG learning centers but they never apply their knowledge.
Time: 2 sessions (two days)
Lesson Outcomes:
- Identify the best location for the learning centers in KG environment.
- Recognize what each learning center include and what children learn from it.
Activities:
Session 1: (Individual Activity)
- Watched video of how to create floor plan for KG classroom
- Each student designed a floor plan by using www.floorplanner.com
- Posted it in Padlet (you can view it HERE)
- Presenting
Session 2: (Group Activity)
- Applied what they planned in groups at the HUB (an education lab where students have KG classroom, and they can move furniture smoothly). Each group decided where to place their learning center and added all material that they think are needed in the learning centers.
- Took a picture of what they done.
- Posted the pictures in Padlet and write about what children learn in this Center (e.g. skills) and the materials. (you can view it HERE)
- Presenting
References
Byrne, R. (2013, September 10). How to use padlet [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuzciL8qCYM&feature=youtu.be
Framework for 21st century learning. (n.d.). Retrieved from Partnership for 21st Century Learning website: http://www.p21.org/about-us/p21-framework
Scheiwe, K. (2014, March 6). Educational benefits of padlet [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kcMu46wYe4&feature=youtu.be