Wednesday, May 27, 2009

The instructional strategies described in this weeks resources; the spreadsheet tools, the interactive savings and investment tools, the data collection tools and the web resources, correlate extremely well with constructivist/constructionist learning theories. All of the tools covered in this chapter allow the students to "create" their data for a very hands on approach. The teacher in most cases creates the "skeleton" of the tool and the students fill in the necessary infomation on their own.

These tools are a great way for students to get the hands on experience they need to really help them understand a concept. One thing that stood out was the comment that the teacher did not want to spend time teaching the students how to use a spreadsheet, the teacher wanted to use the spreadsheet to teach the students a certain concept (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn and Malenoski, 2007). That is a problem I have run into at times. Even though my students are probably more technological savvy than me at times, I have had to spend significant amounts of time getting my students to understand the tool instead of how to use the tool. Unfortunately, the computer classes that teach my students how to understand the different tools are being cut because of a lack of budget.

Tiffany


Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

3 comments:

  1. Tiffany,

    I smile every time I open your blog site. The pictures are precious! I know you are very proud!

    The hard economic times are causing schools and school systems to make hard choices. Unfortunately, several schools in my system have made the same choice your school has. The students will suffer in the long run. The question is will teachers, who are pushed for time as it is, continue to utilize some of the technology if it takes up more time than to teach the concept a different way. Also, will the schools be able to continue to upgrade the technology available? We all know how important it is for the students to experience technology in today’s world.

    Terri

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  2. Terri,

    I don't know what is going to happen. It is kind of scary to think that education is in the same boat as a lot of businesses in trouble. I never thought I would have to worry about the same things as my husband does not being a teacher. I don't think schools will keep up with technology because it is an easy way to save money. They are looking to cut wherever they can and unfortunately the kids are going to suffer.

    Thanks for smiling at the pictures.

    Tiffany

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  3. The students really do benefit from being able to use the technology but like you we do not have technology classes available and I have to spend a lot of time teaching my students how to use the technology. Since I teach third grade we unfortunatly have to start with basics such as the parts of the computer before they can even begin to understand how to use a concept map. It is worth the time but we could do so much more if they came to me with some background knowledge.
    Emily Laturell

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