Tuesday, September 8, 2009
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Combining Literature and Language with Technology
TechnoLang provides an easily accessible site to explore and share resources and ideas that enrich the effective integration of technology with language and literature. Because language is an integral part of every academic discipline, enhancing the study of language benefits most teachers. The five members represent a broad range of experiences, levels of expertise, grade levels, and subjects. By collaborating and developing their media literacy, group members will have the confidence, skills, and disposition to empower their students for more effective and motivated learning.
3 comments:
http://digitallyspeaking.pbworks.com/Voicethread **Great site for voice thread
This helpful site begins by addressing why students are so drawn to Voicethreads: they love to interact socially. To encourage teachers to integrate Voice Thread, step-by-step directions are given for creating effective, thought-producing projects. Details include how long initial comments should be and how to phrase comments. One great idea is to post a political cartoon and ask for comments. The author also provides assessment tools and guidelines --- valuable considerations for teachers just trying this technology. Another downloadable document provides tips for teachers such as "join in the conversation" in order to model good commenting, and "highlight comments in class" in order to keep the thread in students' minds and to provide commentary on good work.
The introduction to the Sir Ken Robinson thread (from a TED convention) provides good ideas for introducing a VT. In fact, Sir Ken Robinson's speech about generating creativity is inspiring --- and funny if you like to joke about Shakespeare. One lady's insightful comment agrees that the current school environment that focuses on testing reduces opportunities for creativity. Another man addresses the 21st-Century learning principles that are neglected. Sir Ken Robinson says that we have to be prepared to be wrong if we are going to be creative. He adds that we have to prepare students for their futures because none of us knows what that may be. This speech was included on the Voice Thread site because using Voice Threads creates a safe environment for students to share and to expand their creative potential.
I am bookmarking this site because of its practicality and insight. This is definitely a go-to site, even more than the Voice Thread site because it goes further in its explanations. The sample Voice Threads are great.
I have really enjoyed completing the Voicethread project. The instructional possibilities are endless. With GPS standards encouraging teachers to complete ongoing informal assessments, VT is a novel method for students to pose their questions, comments, and demonstrate their understanding of a given topic.
I have been wondering how Voicethread could be used in a high school setting. The political cartoon example is a great example that could be used in higher grades. It seems with Voicethread that the possibilities are endless. I look forward to sharing this with other teachers as well as my students.
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