Digital Tools that Support Learning

   It’s amazing how much a learning environment can change when technology is added to the mix! While technology is not essential to creating authentic, learner-centered instruction, it offers a powerful resource for engaging students in authentic experiences, typically increasing both their motivation and their learning. In the last chapter, you learned about the importance of developing students’ creative thinking skills. You learned that creative thinkers generate a variety of original ideas then select the best one by analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating the various options available. Furthermore, creative thinkers are self-directed, confident in their knowledge, motivated, and flexible in their thinking. You also learned how authentic instructional methods can support the development of creative thinking skills by providing opportunities for students to engage in holistic, complex, and challenging activities that promote learner autonomy and active learning; how directed instruction can support authentic learning; how content standards can be taught through authentic learning experiences; how technologies could both support authentic learning and directed instruction. 

   In this chapter, you will think about designing learning experiences that incorporate digital tools and resources to promote student learning and creativity. Wegerif (2002) described three primary roles that the computer can serve: computer as a tutor, computer as mindtool, and computer as a support for reflection and conversation. This categorization provides us with a starting point for thinking about different ways we can use technology to engage our students in creative thinking. Although we use Wegerif’s language-computer- we’re not just talking about a desktop or laptop computer. Many of the applications and activities described in this chapter are supported by a range of technologies, from handhelds (PDA’s), to calculators, and even to some cell phones! And since we can often use the web to locate instructional resources, we’ll also discuss strategies to assist in locating reputable resources that can be used as tutorials, mindtools, and support for conversation.

ISTE Standards addressed in this chapter

NETS-T 1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity

Teachers use their knowledge of subject matter, teaching and learning, and technology to facilitate experiences that advance student learning, creativity, and innovation in both face-to-face and virtual environments. Teachers:

c. promote student reflection using collaborative tools to reveal and classify students’ conceptual understanding and thinking, planning and creative processes.

d. model collaborative edge construction by engaging in learning with students, colleagues, and other in face-to-face and virtual environments.

NETS-T 2. Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

Teachers design, develop, and evaluate authentic learning experiences and assessments incorporating contemporary tools and resources to maximize content learning in context and to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes identified in the NETS-S. Teachers:

1. Design or adapt relevant learning experiences to incorporate digital tools  and resources to promote student learning and creativity.

Outcomes

In this chapter, you will:

• Identify digital resources and design earning experiences that use technologies as tutorials, mindtools, and supports for conversations in order to facilitate student learning and creativity.
• Promote student learning by employing computer-based tutorials or creating online tutorials in the form of WebQuests.
• Help students represent, manipulate, reflect on what they know trough the use of databases, concept maps, or when using computer-based simulations or visualization tools. 
• Incorporate hypermedia activities in your instruction, such as digital storytelling and website development.
• Use technology as collaborative learning tools in support of knowledge construction and creative thinking in face-to-face and virtual settings.
• Locate and evaluate digital tools and resources found online in support of instruction in face-to-face and virtual environments.

1. COMPUTER AS TUTOR

In the role of a tutor, the computer is typically used as a teaching machine, that is, to teach new contents to students. If you’ve ever set up a new computer system using the CD-ROM that comes packaged with it or have worked your way through a tutorial to learn a new piece of software, then you’ve used the computer as a tutor. Although this role for technology is typically associated with directed direction in which the goal is for students to master new skills or to improve retention of new information, the tutor model can be adapted to teach more abstract and complex reasoning skills. In addition, many existing computer tutorials can be used to prompt student inquiry or to frame discussion and reflection, even though this was not the original purpose for the software program.

 

1.1 Characteristics of Effective Computer Tutorials

• Challenges and problems have meaning for students and provide a range of alternative choices worth discussing.
• Challenges engage learners with the content of the software, not its interface.
• A clear purpose or task is evident to the group and is kept in focus throughout.
• On-screen prompts ask group members to talk together, to reach agreement, and to provide opinions and reasons.
• Resources for discussion, including information on which decisions can be based, are provided. Opportunities are included to review decisions in light of new information.
• Students are not prompted to take turns, beat the clock, or establish competitive ways of working.
• For younger students, audio input or multi-choice answers minimize typing (unless the learners have keyboarding skills). Reported in Wegerif, 2002)

 

1.1.1 Characteristics of Compute Tutorials That Promote Creative Thinking

   With the right teacher input and software design, a computer tutorial can be an effective way to infuse activities that require and develop creative thinking into the curriculum. For example, the teacher can ask students to work in groups around a computer and then when the software prompts them with a challenge or a question, they can discuss the issue together before reaching consensus about what the response should be. In Figure 4.2, we include a specific list of specific software characteristics that Wegerif (cited in Wegerif, 2002) demonstrated to be effective in establishing and sustaining effective discussion among students when they were working around the computer. Thinking about how could you use these characteristics as guidelines to help you select effective software for your classroom. In addition, think how you could incorporate these characteristics into the other approaches ad strategies you use in your classroom, with or without the use of computer tutorials.

   Just like a teacher, computer tutorials can initiate or frame a meaningful discussion. Unlike a teacher, however, the software will never be intolerant or pass judgment on student’s responses. When used as intended, computer tutorials provide opportunities for students to learn new knowledge or skills. When used in more open-ended ways, they can provide additional opportunities for students to engage in activities that support creative thinking. (e.g. ,reflection, meaningful conversations).

1.2 Using the Game Plan

Using Computer Tutorials to Support Creative and Higher-Order Thinking

Set Goals

Learn more about computer tutorials and how you might use them to develop critical and creative thinking skills among your students.

Take Action

Locate a computer tutorial that is designed for your grade level or content area. You may be able to find them in your media center, lab school, or cooperating school, or you may be able to preview software online by using a search engine and entering the term “computer software” or “computer tutorial”.

Monitor

Review the software and determine the extent t which the characteristics listed in Figure 4.2 are incorporated. Yu may want to create a table, rubric, or checklist to guide your work.

Evaluate and Extend

Suggest ways to use the software to increase opportunities for students to engage in creative and higher-order thinking. Identify the type of thinking your activities best address.

1.3 WebQuests

One common way of learning new information is through searching the web. The web can provide access to numerous computer-based tutorial, but as you know, it can teach you new content in other ways as well. You can locate information on a variety of topics- how to train your dog to sit, prepare balanced meals, or use video in your classroom, for example. In order to scaffold or support your students’ use of the web as a tutor, you may want to create a WebQuest.

   A WebQuest is an organized format for presenting lessons that utilize web resources. (see example in Figure 4.3 ). The origin of WebQuests is attributed to Dr. Bernie Dodge and Tom March at San Diego State University. As outlined on Dr. Dodge’s website (Dodge, 2006) a WebQuest consists of five parts and a teacher page. As you will notice in Table 4.1, a WebQuest contains elements that most educators agree compromise sound instructional design components: 1) an introduction that motivates and prepare the students for the activity, 2) a clear statement of the intended outcome of the lesson, 3) the steps that the students should follow, 4) criteria on which they will be evaluated, and 5) concluding activities where students reflect on and extend their learning. You may want to create your own WebQuest using simple web development software, or access one of the many WebQuests available online. Like any lesson plan that you find on the web, you may need to modify WebQuests to meet the needs of your class. However, be sure you credit the original source.

Table 4.1   Developing a WebQuest

The following descriptions are from the WebQuest website at San Diego State University. Visit the text’s companion website for this URL and other WebQuest resources.

Component	Purpose	Task
Introduction	The purpose of this section is to both prepare and grab the student’s attention	Write a short paragraph to introduce the activity or lesson To the students. If there is a role or scenario involved (e.g., “You are a detective trying to identify the mysterious poet.”) then here is where you’ll set the stage. Also, in this section you’ll communicate the Big Question(Essential Question, Guiding Question) on which the WebQuest is centered.
Task	The task focuses learners on what they are going to do- specifically the culminating performance or product that drives all of the learning activities.	Clearly describe what the result of the learners’ activity will be. Don’t list the steps that the students will go through to get o the end point. That belongs in the Process Section.
Process	This section outlines how the learners will accomplish the task. Scaffolding includes clear steps, resources, and tools for organizing  information	To accomplish task, what should the learners go through? Learners will access the online resources that you’ve identified as they go through the Process. In this section, you might also provide some guidance on how to organize the information gathered.
Evaluation	This section describes the criteria needed to meet performance and content standards.	Describe to the learners how their performances will be evaluated. The assessment rubric(s) should align with the culminating project or performance, as outlined in the task section of the WebQuest. Specify whether will be a common grade for group work vs. individual grades.
Conclusion	The conclusion brings closure and encourages reflection.	Summarize what the learners will have accomplished or learned by completing this activity or lesson. You might also include some rhetorical questions or additional links to encourage them to extend their thinking into other content beyond this lesson.

 

The teacher page includes information to help other teachers implement the WebQuest including descriptions of target learners, standards, notes for teaching the unit, and, in some class, examples of student work.

2. COMPUTER AS A MIND TOOL

Mindtools are computer applications that enable learners to represent, manipulate, or reflect on what they know, rather than to reproduce what someone else knows (Jonassen, 2006). By requiring students to think what they know in different, meaningful ways, mindtool engage students in critical thinking about the content they are studying. By functioning as intellectual partners with students, mindtools enable them to act smarter than they would without the tools. For instance, in order for students to create database, they must engage in analytical reasoning; in order to create web page, they must actively construct representations of their thinking. Students cannot use mindtools without thinking deeply about what they are doing.

Jonassen (2006) describe a number of different types of mindtools including data bases and concept-mapping tools (also referred to as sematic-organization tools); simulations and visualization tools; hypertext and hypermedia (referred to as knowledge-building tools) athough other computer application may also be use as mindtools (e.g., programming software, expert systems, modelling tools), our goal is not to present an exhaustive description of all the possibilities, but to introduce you to the idea of how you can use common softwar.e applications as mindtools to promote creative thinking among your students

2.1 Databases and Concept – Mapping Tools

Databases and concept-mapping software are computer applications that help students think about, and then communicate, the underlying structure of a content area. Since structure is intrinsic to all knowledge, tools that rquire students to identify that structure can help increase their understanding of the content.

Have you ever made a grocery list and then organized it by isles in the store so that you could find the items you needed more readily? On a relatively simple level, you structured your list based on your understanding of two things; 1) how the store (content) was organized (e.g., by food types) and 2) how to classify the items on your list into the different categories. Now, if there were many different ways to classify the items on your list (by quality, supplier, brand names, etc.), and all of them were relevant to your shopping needs, then you would have to think more carefully about how to organize your list.

2.1.1 Databases

Databases are a type of computer software that organizes information. When we use a computer database we can search for information in a variety ways and receive the results almost instantaneously. Although databases are most often used for the purposes of organization and retrieval of information (i.e., as productivity tools), they can also function as mindtools, especially when students are asked to create them. that is because in order to build a database, you must first understand which relationship facilitate its use and then search for, and locate the information needed to fill it. This require the integration and organization of the content domain, which requires creative thinking skills. For example, if you were asked to create a date base of all educational videos available on your school library, what are some of the categories you would use to classify each videos? Of course, you’d want to be able to locate a video by its title and subject area and also by grade level but would it also be important to know the release date or the production studio? And what about being able to relate the information in the video database to information in a teacher database that would allow you to find out if a teacher in an earlier grade level had already used it? As you can see, the planning stage of designing a database is one of the most crucial parts of the process, and it is the aspect that requires students to engage in the creating thinking skills of analysis and evaluation

Databases have been used to help students understand the organization of a range of content areas and can be used to teach thinking skills. The youngest students probably need help actually developing a database, but you can guide them through the planning process during a group activity.  For example, students in a second or third- grade class can help you classify different types of clipart images you typically used that are then stored in a database. Students from upper elementary grades, and higher, can access, and sometimes add to, a range of databases online.

Collaborative databases are a special type of databases that support a shared process of knowledge building. The goal is to engage students as scientist in the problem solving process. That is, students generate hypotheses about a given problem situation; gather information through research and observation in order to confirm, modify, or refute their hypotheses , and then seek feedback from others who either collaborate in the investigation or review their published work. An example of this collaborative database is the Knowledge Forum, formerly known as CSILE (Computer Supported International Learning Environments).

To help you understand why this is called collaborative database, picture an environment that consist of text and graphical notes, all produced by students, and accessible through typical database search procedures. Students are given a question, search for and find information, and then record it via notes. Before students can send a message, however, they must label the message using a limited set of categories (e.g., claim, evidence, and counterargument). So, for example, if students post an opinion, they are prompted to support that opinion with evidence, an example, or reasoning. Teachers have used Knowledge Forum effectively in many different areas of the curriculum.

2.1.2 Wikis

An example of more public collaborative database is the popular online encyclopedia, Wikipedia (see Figure 4.4). Based on the format of an encyclopedia, this website utilizes a database that can be accessed through web pages by multiple users who create and store information that is then reviewed, revised and added to, and linked to other information.

A wiki is a piece of server software that allows users to create, edit and link web pages quickly, which is what wiki means in the Hawaiian language – quick or fast. According to it’s creator, Ward Cunningham, a wiki is the “simplest online database that could possibly work” (cited in Wikipedia, 2007). Wikis are great tool when students need to complete a task together – whether doing research , writing a paper , or planning a presentation. If they aren’t all in the same class or if works need to get done in the evening or in the weekend, wikis allow them to coordinate their efforts much more efficiently than sending a bunch of emails back and forth and they don’t have to know web authoring languages or other complicated things to do so.

Most wikis work the same way. With the click of a button, each student can make changes to a webpage. Because changes are attributed to specific users, the community can verify the accuracy of the information or ask for additional details. So, for example, after Emilie creates web page, she simply saves it. Then when her classmate, Scott, access it, he clicks an “edit” button, makes some additional changes, clicks save and it’s a webpage again, ready for the next student to access and modify. Edit – Write – Save! Following this simple process, it’s easy for the students to coordinate their writing efforts.

Wikis have not yet received widespread acclaim as it can be difficult to determine the accuracy and authorship of the information posted, especially in large public wikis. Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist, usually credited with coining the term “virtual reality,” suggest that just because these tools give voice to a new “online collectivism,” it doesn’t mean the collective s correct. The anonymity these tools provide can sometimes erode authority and even accuracy. Just as with any technology tool, you and your students should takes steps to ascertain and evaluate the accuracy of information that a specific wiki contains.

While some teachers are cautious about – or outright forbid the use of – online resource wikis, you can use wikis on your classroom in a variety of ways. For example, you and your students can use wiki to create your own resources or projects on a closed network, to provide space for group journaling, or writing, or to engage students in debates on course topic. Specific websites – including some wikis – are available to help teachers create and use wikis in the classroom.

 

 

2.1.3 CONCEPT MAPS

Concept maps are “graphical tool or organizing and representing knowledge”(Novak & Canas, 2006, p.1). For example, Figure 4.5 presents a sample concept map about the seasons. Concepts (e.g, amount of sunlight) are included inside of circles or boxes, relationships between the concepts are represented by lines and arrows, and labels are used to describe the relationships as links.

There are many ways to use concept maps: Students can use them to access prior knowledge, to organize and represent current knowledge, and to explore new information and relationships. Creating a concept map involves 1) identifying the important concepts in a domain of knowledge, 2) arranging those concepts spatially 3) identifying relationships among the concepts. Because students have to manipulate information, and think about the relationships among different concepts, creating a concept map encourages convergent thinking. Students are forced to think about how concepts in a domain fit together and to identify additional ideas or concepts that need to be included. There are a variety of software tools that facilitate concept-mapping including MindMap, Inspiration and Kidspiration, and SemNet. Interestingly, even though Inspiration was developed for K-12 students and teachers, many scientist, engineers, and other professionals have adopted it as a powerful way to visualize their thinking.

Figure 4.5

 

 

2.2 Simulations and Visualization Tools

Simulations provide simplified versions of phenomena, environments, or processes, it allow students to interact with, or manipulate, variables and observe the effects of those manipulations (see Figure 4.6). if you’ve used Oregon Trail, Sim City or Operation Frog, then you have an idea of what a computer simulation is like. However, not all simulations promote creative thinking (at least not automatically). While simulations have the potential to promote creative thinking, their usefulness will depend on why and how you and your students will use them.

One type of simulation software that can be especially powerful is a microworld, which allows learners to manipulate, explore and experiment with specific phenomenon in an exploratory learning environment. Think about some of the video games you and your friends have played. Typically, you must master earlier levels of the game in order to move on to more complex, advanced levels. These adventures occur in a microworld, a lifelike context in which you manipulate objects and observe the effects of your actions on other objects on the environment. As more academic example, consider that of Interactive Physics, which enble learners to build and test mechanical design models. Through the use of demonstrations, car crashes, and falling objects, students explore such topics as momentum, force and acceleration. Students can change any aspect of the environment (friction, incline of the surface, etc.) and observe what happens to the other aspects of the environment. This, then, enables them to generate and test hypotheses about relationship among the objects in the microworld. According to Jonassen et al. (2006) microworlds can foster the development of problem-solving strategies, critical thinking skills, and creativity.

 

Figure 4.6

Visualization tools allow learners to picture, or represent, how various phenomena operate within different domains. While these tools are often used to help students visualize scientific phenomena, other tools are available that helps students understand other types of phenomena, such as the structure of an argument. For example, computer tools are available that enable students to manipulate complex data sets as a way of gaining understanding of a statistical arguments.

Graphic organizers are a type of visualization tools that can help learners sort or record information. There are many different types of graphic organizers including data grids, tables, diagrams, flowcharts, storyboards, and Venn diagrams. Concept-mapping tools, described earlier, can also be used as graphic organizers. While most of this organizers have been used long before computers were invented, today we have computer software that can simplify the creation of many of them. For example, the ReadwriteThink organization makes a tool available on their website that allows users to create Venn Diagrams and popular inspiration concept-mapping software include a Venn diagram template. Organizations that create visualization tools often provide a number of descriptions of how their tools can be used in the classroom. Inspiration Software’s newer tool, InspireData, is a data visualization tool that allows you and your students to easily map and manipulate data, such as what you might collect from a survey, and then share that information with the concept mapping software.

2.3 Hypertext and Hypermedia

You are probably very familiar with hypertext and hypermedia from your experiences with websites. Hypertext refers to a non-sequential, or non-linear, method for organizing and displaying text. Hypermedia is basically hypertext with media elements (i.e., images, sounds, videos, animations, etc.). While reading hypertexts not likely to lead to noticeable learning benefits, creating or constructing effective hypertext and hypermedia tends to require creative thinking skills. That is, when developing hypertext documents students need to think about the conceptual structure of a content area and then reflect on the nature of the links between the content. Designing multimedia products, such as websites, is clearly a complex skill requiring the ability to analyze, evaluate and synthesize information.

Wegerif (2002) lists a number of different kinds of creative thinking skills needed in order to design effective multimedia presentations (see table 4.2). Can you think of different ways that you could help your students master each of this important skills?

 

Table 4.2 Incorporation of Creative Thinking Skills into Multimedia Development Projects

Types of Skills Needed

 

Project Management Skills

 

 

 

 

 

Research Skills

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Organizations and Representation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Presentation Skills

 

 

Sample Skills

 

Creating a timeline completion

Allocating resources and time to different parts of the project

Assigning roles to team members

Monitoring and evaluating progress toward the goal

 

Determining the nature of the problem and how research should be organized

Posing thoughtful questions about structures, models, cases, values, and roles

Searching for information using text, electronic, and pictorial information

Developing new information with interviews, questionaires, and other survey methods

Analyzing and interpreting all the information collected to identify and interpret patterns

 

Deciding how to segment and sequence information to make it understandable

Deciding how information will be presented (texts, pictures, videos, audios)

Deciding how information will be modified to meet the needs of the audiences (e.g, reading level, age level, context)

Deciding how the information will be organized (hierarchy, sequence) and how it will be linked

 

 

Mapping the design onto the presentation and implementing the ideas in multimedia

Communicating information effectively

 

 

 

Reflection Skills

 

 

 

 

 

Attracting and maintaining the interest of the intended audiences

 

Evaluating the program and the process used to create it

Monitoring the pace and effectiveness of the strategies used

Revising the design of the program using feedback

Source: Adapted from Carver, S.M., Lehrer, R., Connell, T., & Ericksen, J. (1992). Learning by hypermedia design: Issues of assessment and implementation. Educational Psychologist, 27 (3), 385 -304. Reprinted by permission of Taylor & Francis Ltd, http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals

 

2.4 Creating Multimedia Websites

Websites are the most common form of hypermedia in use today. Many schools and districts are contracting with web services that provide teachers and their students with web services that provide teachers and their students with simple tools to create web pages quickly, sometimes even providing an optional or mandated template for teachers to use. If you’ve never created a website before, the following discussion will alert you to several things that you and your students should consider. By following these steps, you and your students can benefit from the creative processes involved in analyzing, evaluating, and synthesizing information to create multiple effective paths through a relevant content area (see Figure 4.7).

Define your site. As with any form of communication, it is useful to begin by defining your audience. Who is the primary audience of the site? The secondary audiences? Next, define your goals: what is the purpose of the site? What communication goals do you hope to accomplish? Then, define your content. What information do you want to include? How should the information be linked within and across webpages? And finally, identify your web development tools.  Investigate whether your school or school system has a specific content management system or web development software that you are required to use. Each web development system has its unique limitations in the way that content can be displayed.

You should be careful about information you post on your class or school website to prevent identification of individual students. While many schools like to include pictures of students and samples of students work, many will use only student’s first name or no name at all – using phrases to identify them in pictures such as students from “Mr. Mann’s class” or “students from our school”. Parents should be made fully aware of the need to provide signed consent prior to including pictures of students or their work on website. Generally, you should not include always have parent and student consent before displaying any pictures of your students or samples of their work. You’ll learn about this in Chapter 10.

 

Design your site. After you determine exactly what the audience, goals, and content will be, you can begin to plan the structure of your site, determining the most effective way to display and link the content, while also keeping in mind the limitations of the web development tool you’ll be using. The web, itself, contains plenty of resources that provide guidance in treating high-quality websites.

One useful way to organize your content is to create a storyboard of your web pages. To storyboard content, create an individual “page” that corresponds to each screen in your program you can physically represent individual web pages with pieces of paper, index cards, or self-stick notes, or digitally by using presentation software, concept-mapping software, or even drawing tools in most word processing programs (see Figure 4.8). On each storyboard “page”, sketch where you will place your text and graphic elements. After you have some sense of what will be on each page, you should also plan the navigation. Traditionally, this has been done with flowcharts that indicate the hierarchal organization or branching structure of the site. Again, you can use software, such as concept-mapping software, or draw the flowchart by hand. By storyboard or flowcharts don’t have to be fancy. They are primarily planning aids. Even rough sketches of the page layout and linking relationships among pages will help you plan your site.

 

Develop the site. Once you have planned your site, you need to actually develop it. Fortunately, there are several tools available that make it easy to do so even if you aren’t familiar with common web programming languages.

            The simplest solution is to convert your content to HTML for display on the web.

HTML--- Hypertext Markup Language--- is the programming language that provides web browser with instructions on how to arrange information on a web page. Web-processing and desktop publishing software often provide you with the option of saving your document in HTML format. Open a word-processing document and check out the “save as” options you have. One of them is probably HTML or “web page”.

            Websites programs with a  graphic interface--- sometimes referred to as WYSIWYG, meaning “what you see is what you get”--- are available that allow you to quickly create tables, insert tables, format text, and create hyperlinks much like you would use word processor. If you’ve ever created a word-processing document that includes a word-processing document that includes images, you already know the basics of creating a web page. As you know, websites typically consist of text, graphics, and links. You create the text and add graphics, sound files, and movies in much the same way you create a document using word-processing software. Graphics sound files, and movies need to be in an appropriate digital format and may need to be converted to PDF format to allow them to be viewed by the widest number of users. After that, it’s simple to insert text, links, graphics, movies, and sound. Image manipulation, media compression, text conversation, and web development programs are often easy to use. Typically, they rely on some of the same skills you apply when using other productivity tools such as copying, pasting, and saving as different formats.

            Some software, such as Amaya from the World Wide Web Consortium, Netscape Composer, Nvu, or Mozilla’s SeaMonkey Composer is freely available online. Commercial web development software, such as Dreamweaver or GoLive, both from Adobe, or Microsoft’s Expression Web, offers a variety os sophisticated options but may take more time to learn. Many of these programs include templates that provide predesigned formats that students can use for their web pages. They may also include interactive “wizards” that guide them through website creation using a question and answer format. Most software companies offer online tutorials to guide you through the process of learning their software.

 

Deliver. As you create your HTML pages, you are creating a series of files that are stored on your computer. You can view them, but you need to upload your files to web server before they will be available for others to view on the web. A web server is simply a computer, connected to the Internet, and running special software that allows it to respond to requests by web browsers. Although many servers are dedicated to that purpose only, any computer can function as a server and be used for other computing tasks as well. There are many server software programs available, including some in the public domain. In addition to web servers, there are other types of servers that have been set up to handle different types of files. For example, there are mail servers, file servers, video servers, and so forth.

            Many schools provide teachers with space for their class websites on the school or district server. Often, especially for school and district servers, there is a web master who is responsible for uploading and maintaining pages on the server. You’ll need to send your files to the web master and sometimes wait for a few days before your pages are available on the web.  If this is the case at your school, it will influence the way you use your class web pages.

            In other cases, schools that use a hosting service or content management software allow teachers to have access to their web pages at all times. Your hosting hosting service will provide you will provide you with specific instructions as to what you need to do to get your web pages onto its server. For example, you may need to use an FTP program to upload your files. FTP means file transfer protocol and, as the name suggests, is simply a way to transfer your files from one computer to another. Some services have simple upload pages that allow you to directly transfer files through your favorite web browser. Regardless of the method, it’s usually a very simple process, usually no more complicated than sending an e-mail message with an attachment. When you upload your files, make sure you upload your HTML files and all the other files that may be linked to your web pages. Don’t forget to upload your images, sound files, and movies, as well as files that you may want available for download such as PDF or Word files.

            In the unlikely event that your school or district does not provide you with access to server space, there are many web hosting services available thatprovide a certain amount of personal server space for free. There are also several free web hosting services just for teachers. of course, most “free” services are paid for by advertisers who sometimes expose your users to ads as they access your site. If you plan to use a free service for your website, it’s advisable to check with your school administration to make sure it’s acceptable to do so.

2.5 Digital Storytelling

Another popular use of computers as mindtools is through the creation of digital stories. As with other mindtools, digital stories enable learners to eflect, represent, and communicate what they know. Based on the premise of oral storytelling, digital storytelling involves stidents’ creation of a short movie that represents a compelling personal perspective. It may be story from their own experience, such as describing the importance of a place or how they overcame adversity--- or from their research as when they “become” settlers in the new world. Typically, stories are told from a personal perspective to allow the viewer to see an event, moment, or place from another’s point of view; yet effective digital stories also have a theme to which viewers can relate. It has as its basis the writing of a strong personal narrative that begins with a “hook” or “lead” to draw the viewers into the story. They proceed through illuminating specific events or moments in time and conclude with a wrap-up that often is presented in terms of lessons learned.

            Throughout the years, digital storytelling has involved into a recommended series of steps and procedures. Students first develop a personal narrative, then select the most powerful point in their written work to develop into a script. Based on the storyboard, students select images through digital photography, videotaping, or scanning images, they often select images from those available in the web or from the royalty-free clip art collections. The next step involves recording the narration--- often the most challenging step. Using readily available software such as iMovie or GarageBand on the Mac or MovieMaker on the PC, students arrange their images, synchronize them with their recorded narration, and output the file as a movie. Some teachers may use more widely available presentation software, such as Microsoft Powerpoint or Apple’s Keynote software, for supporting digital storytelling activities, especially with younger students. Presentation software allows even very young students to insert pictures, text, and record audio in support of digital storytelling. As with the development of other types of multimedia, students are required to apply project management skills, research skills, organizational and representational skills, presentation skills, and reflective skills

            Each step in creating a digital story is elaborated upon below.

Step 1. Write a Script

Solid writing is at the core of digital storytelling. As with other writing activities, you should provide students with a writing prompt or specific assignment. For example, you may want them to describe a particular place or moment in time that is important to them.

            Students need to clearly identify the purpose of their stories and messages they are trying to convey. They may need to be guided in the development of “hooks” through other models of digital stories available online or written works to determine what makes an effective story lead. It’s also important for them to learn how to write an effective “wrap-up”. Different students learn in different ways so you may want to provide a set of question to guide them in their writing and storytelling, ask them to draw or otherwise create a visual image of the main point of the story, or have them create concept maps in order to clarify and focus their writing. Typically, digital movies are 2 to 3 minutes in length so it’s a good idea for students to read their stories aloud at this point and time them to make sure they are within the recommended time limit [Jakes and Brennan, n.d.). As they read aloud, students may become aware of grammatical errors or other things they want to change [Buckingham ,2003] . This revision process is a natural and appropriate part of self monitoring.

Step 2. Develop a Storyboard

After students are comfortable with their scripts, they should create their storyboards. Storyboards should contain the narration, a description or sketch of the associated images, any text that may appear on the screen, and a note about any music or sound effects required. At this stage, students begin to visualize what their narratives should look and sound like. As they read over their scripts, they need to identify sections that lend themselves to supplemental images. For each chunk of the sscript, students need to write and draw descriptions of an image that they want to use to illustrate the idea. At this point, students will not have actually collected the images; intead, the storyboard ensures that their image searches will be productive and effective by focusing their research efforts. Typically, twenty to twenty-five images are needed to illustrate a 2- to 3-minute story (Jake & Brennan, n.d.).

            If your students are not familiar with storyboarding, there are a variety of activities you can use to acquaint them with this process. You might want to have them engage in “backwards storyboarding” by watching a commercial and creating the matching storyboard. Or have them use comic strips as an example of a storyboard, and then create a video movie of the comic strip. Through storyboarding, students learn to think in new ways as they visualize written work.

Step 3. Locate Images

After they have identified the images they want to locate, students can begin researching, finding, or creating images. Students may use digital images from their own collections, scan images or graphics that are not in digital form, or download images from the web. When selecting images and video clips, make sure that your students pay attention to copyright rules and regulations. Fortunately, they are a variety of websites such as Pics4Learning.com, SURWEB, and the American Memory Project from the Library of Congress that provide images and video segments that can be used for such projects legally. Digital storytelling projects provide a wonderful opportunity to teach your students about copyright regulations within the context of a realistic application. However, students should not begin researching images until their scripts and storyboards are well developed.

Step 4. Create a Digital Story

The script and the storyboard are written anf the images are located. Now it’s time for students to put it all together. Using a variety of commonly available software, students need to record their narration, load the audio files and images into a moviemaking program, and output the finished product as movie files.

            It’s commonly accepted that recording the narration can be the most difficult part of the story creation process in the terms of classroom management. Students must record narrations individually in a quiet place--- something that can be challenging in a room full of students. One option is  to have a parent volunteer, older student, or another student go to a quiet place and record the student’s narration on videotape, with the lens cap on. (Banaszewski, 2002). The video can be then loaded into the moviemaking program and the audio extracted. Another option is to use microphones such as the Sennheiser PC-130 that eliminate background noise (Jakes & Brannan, n.d.). Experienced teachers recommend that to students record their narration in two-to three-sentence chunks so that if they make a mistake, they don’t have to go back and record the entire script.

            Following this, students will use moviemaking programs to synchronize their sound files with the appropriate images and then output the results as a movie file. Several of these programs are available for free (such as iMovie for Mac or MovieMaker for the PC), while others are commercially available. Most of these programs are easy to use and require a minimum of prior instruction. Still, some authors suggest that students work together on a group project prior to producing individual projects so that they become acquainted with the software and production process. And as with the development of other types of multimedia, students are required to apply project management skills, research skills, organizational and representational skills, presentational skills, and reflective skills.

            After students are satisfied with their sequence of images and accompanying sound files, they render their projects  into movie files. Rendering can take a while, so some authors suggests that students first render their movies at a low quality so that they can determine if it’s satisfactory to them before taking the time to render as a higher-quality file.

Step 5. Share with Others

The final step is to share their movies with the others. As students view the movies created by their peers, they develop a deeper understanding of the perspective of others. One way to structure the class viewing is through following the steps used in “writers workshop” (Banaszewski, 2002). Following the viewing of a digital story, the audience first comments on the things they appreciate about the movie, and then offer suggestions for improvement. The movie’s creator simply accepts these appreciations and suggestions without comment. Following the audience’s response, the movie’s creator can ask the audience about things that she or he wonders about relative to the movie. There are also a variety of websites where students can post their movies to share them with a global audience.

If you have limited access to technology, step 1, 2, and 5 can occur in the classroom using traditional materials, but if you have access to technology more frequently, a variety of software can enhance the process (Jakes and Brennan, n.d.). Prior to scriptwriting, students can use a timeline program to create a timeline of the event (Bukingham, 2003). They can create concept maps of the ideas they want to develop, adding details through nodes and links. As they develop their scripts and storyboards, they can use word-processing software to write the scripts, then cut and paste from the scripts and storyboard--- which can be as simple as using a table in a word processed document. And with the right equipment, movies can be output to videotape or DVDs to be shown in the classroom using commonly available VCR or DVD players.

As a mindtool, digital storytelling helps students learn to write more effectively through visualizing their stories (Jakes & Brennan, n.d.). As such, it provides authentic, personal learning experience to the students. Additionally, throughout the process, students learn skills that are important to a variety of content areas such as writing for an audience, researching information, communicating effectively, as well as technology and information literacy skills.

The opportunity to develop a personal story is extremely motivating for students, and the tangible outcome of the process contributes to confidence-building necessary for creative thinking. Students need to be self-directed in their efforts to plan their action, monitor their progress toward achieving the goals of their projects, and evaluate their efforts. You can help students in the evaluation process by providing them with rubrics in advance that allow them to self-assess their projects. And viewing digital stories can help students identify with the perspective of others.

Computer as a Conversation Support

While the previous two sections focused primarily on how the computer can be used to increase individual learning outcomes, in this section we discuss how the computer, as an interactive tool, can contribute to conversations among learners, and thus contribute to group and community learning outcomes. That is, when used as a support and resource for the communicative process of teaching and learning, computer can be used to increase creative thinking process among groups and communities. In the next two sections, we talk about more specifically about how the computer can be used to promote collaborative learning outcomes among learners who are both near and far.

Computer as a Collaborative Learning Tool

Imagine if you will, two students working at the computer to complete a simulation game, such as Oregon Trail or Sim City. As the pair work together, they engage in a heated debate about the pros and cons of different decisions. They make predictions about which steps to take next. In this scenario, the computer acts merely as a prompt or resource for students’ conversations, and therefore, as a means to illuminate their thinking. It is this use of the computer, as a mediator of conversation, we discuss here. Whereas in traditional classrooms, teachers may have discouraged students from talking to each other during individual seatwork, here we recognize some of the positive outcomes that can result from the conversations that occur among students as they work through complex problem-solving situations. For example, in a study conducted in early 1990s. Teasley and Roschelle (described in Wegerif, 2002), observed pairs of students using a simulation, called the “Envisioning Machine,” that was designed to teach Newtonian physics. The authors described how the computer program provided a shared focus, the means to uncover the true meaning of the language used to represent the physics concepts being addressed (velocity, acceleration), as well as the means to resolve conflicts by testing out alternative views. In interpreting the results, the authors claimed that it was the conversation between the learners, as prompted by the computer simulation, which led to the observed learning gains.

            When used as a collaborative learning tool, computers are used not only for simulating effective language use but also for focusing children’s learning activities on specific curricular tasks. What seems to be important here is not the computer software, per se, but the quality of the conversation that occurs around it. this, then, prompts us to think about the teacher’s role in an “engaged” classroom and how she/he is responsible for supporting high levels of meaningful conversation.

            As noted, earlier in our discussions about supporting collaborations, it is important that you prepare your students to work together effectively, whether around the computer or not. As you will learn later in this chapter, many teachers accomplish this by engaging students in a series of conversations that are designed to establish ground rules for collaboration (e.g., listening with respect, responding to challenges with reasons, sharing and reconciling disparate views). Through these activities students learn not only learn to work together but also to use language as a tool for collaborative reasoning, problem-solving, and knowledge construction. Research suggests that, in combination with the right instructional strategies, the computer can support the development of transferable creative thinking skill (Wegerif, 2002).

Computer as a Conferencing Tool

Communication in an online forum is different from face-to-face (F2F) communication; in some ways worse, and in some ways better. While we lose important information (facial expressions, body language, tone of voice, etc.), we also eliminate information that can cause bias or prejudice (knowledge of age, gender, disabilities, etc.). Computer conferencing can open up many new possibilities for participation. There are many claims that electronic conferencing can be an effective support for the development of creative thinking skills. The reason for this tends to relate to 1) the ease with which everyone can participate, and 2) the ability to be able to think through your responses before responding. Furthermore, having several conversations occurring simultaneously can prompt more metacognitive reflection. Think about the relative ease with which you participate in multiple conversations with your friends using instants-messenger software. Now, put that into a context where you are all focused on making decision, or solving a problem, and you can see the potential for developing good thinking (a well as communication and management) skills.

            There are variety of ways in which you can use the computer as a conferencing tool with your students. CSILE, described earlier, is one way. E-mail, listservs, blogs, wikis, newsgroups, and forums all offer additional possibilities. For example, e-pals can connect your students in other countries through written exchanges through written exchanges on topics of mutual interest. In a similar fashion, but oon a classroom level, Kidlink offers a network run by 500 volunteers in over 50 countries who provide free educational programs related to helping children understand themselves, identify and define goals for life, and collaborate with peers around the globe, individually or through schools. Interaction between participants takes place through hundreds of discussion rooms, mailing lists, chat channels, and Kidlink’s website. The Global Schoolnet is another example of using the computer to connect students from around the world to explore community, cultural, and scientific issues that prepare them for the workforce and help them to become responsible and literate global citizens.

            Additional conferencing activities that can support collaboration among students include those that focus on the joint collection, analysis, organization, and presentation of information. Typically, students at geographically, dispersed sites collect local data and then compare and contrast patterns (e.g., related to health, climate, plant and animal species across locations. This, then, allows students to look for overarching patterns in the data requiring creative thinking. For example, Journey North engages students in global study of wildlife migration and seasonal change. Students share their own field observations with classmates across North America. As one example, students followed the migration of the monarch butterfly as it journeyed north from Angangueo, Mexico to Washington, DC. Other seasonal changes that students have helped track include the first frog heard singing and the first maple syrup sap run.

Videoconferencing and Webconferencing

Videoconferencing and Webconferencing tools are becoming more affordable and can be found in many classrooms. Videoconferencing tools can connect teachers and students across designated networks designed specifically to support video or--- increasingly--- over a high-speed internet connection. Virtual schools were some of the first schools to employ videoconferencing, especially when the real-time interaction between teacher and student was critical, as when learning a foreign language. Now many districts use this model to provide courses in advanced topics or courses that might not normally meet enrollment requirements in a single school by combining students across a district or state in a single virtual class. Webconferencing tools

CONSIDERING WEBCONFERENCING

You and your students can engage in aspects of web conferencing with a range of investment in time and funds. Multifunction and web conferencing tools such as Horizon Wimba, WebEx, or Adobe Connect, put a multitude of functions at your fingertips. Depending on your needs, you may also be able to use the limited functionality of low-cost or free software such as Skype, Microsoft’s NetMeeting, or iChat from Apple. Some common web conferencing features and their educational applications are listed below.

• Presentation Slides. Share your class lecture with students at a distance. The most universally accepted presentation software is Microsoft Powerpoint.
• Desktop Sharing/Shared Control. With sharing, you or your students can reach out and touch someone’s desktop—virtually. This is helpful for guiding students through a complex process or when students are presenting to you or the rest of the class.
• Document Sharing. Instead of just posting a word processed, spreadsheet or other document, document sharing allows real-time collaboration on documents in support of peer-to-peer or small-group work.
• Web Tour. So many instructional resources are available on the web that is important to be able to visit and show websites to your students at a distance.
• Shared Whiteboard. Just like a chalkboard or whiteboard in the classroom, you and your students can write, draw, or annotate images displayed on a whiteboard space. You may need to practice your mouse skills, however, to take advantage of the palette of tools available with most whiteboards.
• Lecture Mode.  You can’t always control the quality of phone connections, and some users cannot mute their phones. The background noise from poor connections increases in volume with the number of students connected. Lecture mode can allow you to mute all lines while you’re presenting as well as designate individual lines as the primary speaker for questioning or students presentations.
• Chat.  A chat feature can be helpful for allowing participants to ask questions or otherwise interact without interrupting the audio connection.  You may want to establish policies for using chat, however, so students continue to focus on learning outcomes and don’t get too distracted with side conversation.
• Webcam Support.  Having a webcam can increase visual cues for participants that are sometimes missing in text- or audio- based distance learning.  Some options for webcams include showing multiple webcams, facial tracking if participants move, as well as webcam shifting that displays the stream of the participant who is currently speaking.
• Polling, Quizzes, and Surveys. Take a quick pulse of the opinions in the room or collect formative assessment data to measure student understanding through these features that usually include common forced-choice response types.
• Recording and Replay. Did one of your students miss class due to illness or travel? Or maybe one of them would like to review a complex discussion or check the accuracy of his notes. Web conferencing services can offer both audio as well as screen recordings.

 

 

 

THE GAME PLAN

(Web conferencing tools)

Set Goals – Learn more about web conferencing tools and investigate ways to use them within an educational context, either for your own professional development or for use by your students.

Take Action – Explore one or more options that are available for conducting web conferences (i.e., meetings or presentations) or webinars (web seminar) over the Internet.

Monitor – Make a list of the features available in the program (e.g., video, whiteboards, chat, etc.) What are some of the advantages and disadvantages to each program? Will it be easy to use?

Evaluate and Extend – Compare notes with your peers. Which programs would best meet your current needs? How do you think the program could be used in the classroom?

 

Weblogs

Weblogs or blogs as they are more commonly referred to, belong to the realm of journaling and threaded discussion tools. The following points are designed to help you decide whether and/or how to incorporate weblogs into your classroom.

            Use blogs to achieve an instructional goal. Blogs can help students practice and demonstrate different styles of communication, especially through writing. As part of your GAME plan, determine how the use of the blog can meet specific goals. In a writing-intensive class, have students post entries using different forms, such as writing a persuasive paragraph or posting an interview of a friend. A haiku blog posting might be relevant to your instruction, as well as an interesting variation. In terms of communication, you can emphasize design elements to guide the organization of entire blogs, posting by your students, and the incorporation of media. You can also support collaboration and help students develop critical communication skills by guiding their responses to classmate’s postings.

            Students will need guidance on what and how to post. The blog you use in your classroom may be different than a personal blog as it will have to meet instructional purposes. Help your students understand the form of language that is appropriate, which may require avoiding the use of common Internet acronyms and shortcuts. Set a reasonable goal for posting, perhaps once a week, and use clearly stated writing prompts to guide your student’s posts. And by all means, create your own blog as a model for students. The best way to determine the match of a technology to your instruction is to do it yourself.

            The nature of a blog is to share personal reflections, opinions and feelings. At the same time, blogs and shared discussion spaces have sparked controversy because students have shared personal information such as pictures and contact information. Help your students understand how to make their blogs personal without revealing personal information. Your students should understand that they can provide personal reflections and voice opinions using a blog but should always refrain from posting personal information.

            To find exemplary blogs, review trusted resources. Review how other teachers are using the technology by attending conferences, reading journal and magazine articles, or searching the web. In the case of blogs, there are online and print publications that review educational blogs and guide you toward exemplars. There are even some awards for exemplary blogs. Find and read other blogs and determine what characteristics best suit your teaching style and the requirement of your curriculum.

            You shouldn’t be surprised that we recommend that you have a GAME Plan for using blogs in your classroom. Just as with any other new technology, you shouldn’t select it just because it’s novelty. Whatever technology you decide to investigate, you should have a clear goal that you want to achieve. If being used with the students, your goals should be related to your instruction; however, you may have some supporting goals related to your own personal communications and collaboration.

 

Online Resources

            As you noticed in the previous discussion, the web provides access to a variety of sites where the computer is used as a tutor, mind tool, or support for conversation. Fortunately, or unfortunately, anyone can publish on the web through personal or organizational websites, posting on message boards, blogs, wikis, and more. In contrast, printed information often has to undergo strict reviews prior to publication. Academic journal articles are subject to peer review by other professionals in the field. At a minimum, the content found in books, magazines, and newspapers is reviewed by the publication’s editor.

 

Productive Searches

            You probably have your favorite search engine, such as Google.com, but you should realize that not all search engines work the same. Some use keywords that were provided by the website developer to identify sites that meet your search criteria. Others use software programs to “crawl” the web, searching for specific information on various sites. It’s best to experiment with several search engine has slightly different guidelines for searching, and a quick look at the “help” or “advanced” search sections of a particular search engine will certainly assist you in perfecting your search strategies. However, be sure to look beyond the first few results. Sometimes the sites featured at the top of the list are simply those that have paid a fee to be displayed them. Other search engine will feature the most popular sutes at the top of their list. If your search is unsuccessful using one search engine, try another-you may get different results.

 

Evaluating Information from Online Resources

            Students should learn how to verify the legitimacy of content on the Internet. You should aso be especially careful to review websites in their entirety before using them with your students.

            There are numerous examples of web pages that appear to be valid resources but that provide incorrect and sometimes extremely inflammatory information. Some hate groups have been known to post information about historical events and figures such as civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. that appears to be authentic, at least on the surface. Students who do not take time to review all of the material closely, who are naïve or do not realize the information is incorrect, or who unknowingly copy and paste information from these websites can turn in projects with information that is not only biased but full of hate speech and prejudice.

            Web developers who develop sites with URLs that are just slightly different from a legitimate source are using the practice of typo squatting.

 

Who created the website? Is the source credible? What credentials or background does the author have that qualifies him or her to write about this topic? Does the author provide credentials such as occupation, affiliations, and years of experience, position and education?

            Search the web for additional information about the author or look for information through other reputable sources. Can you find a personal homepage or campus listings for this author? Can you find another publications through a source such as the Educational Resources Information Clearinghouse (ERIC), sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education? Information about the background of the author of a web page is sometimes found on the bottom of a page or through a separate link.

            If the source is website, look at the URL to learn about the sponsor and location of the site. What does the ending of the URL tell you? Is the page sponsored by a professional organization, school, school district, university, company, government, or commercial company? What can you find out about the organization? Does it seem logical that information such as this world reside on this site? It’s a good idea to examine the credentials and reputation of the organization or organizations affiliated with a website.

 

What is the value of the information? Does the information appear accurate based on your prior knowledge? Does the information appear to be well researched? Is the information well documented? Are primary sources of informations indicated? Are there references or links to supporting information on the same server? If so, be especially aware of potential biases. Most importantly, does the information agree with other information you have found? It’s always a good idea to cross-check information using print and non-print sources, as well as websites.

 

When was the information created? What was the date of original document? When was it last updated? Information such as this helps you determine if the content is up-to-date and timely. If using a website as the source of your information, check to see if the links work properly and lead to related materials.

 

Why was the website created? What is the purpose of the information? Was it created to sell a product, make a political point, or have fun? Is it to inform, persuade, explain or entertain? Was it designed to summarize existing research, advocate a position, or stimulate discussion?

 

ACTIVITY

• In two minutes, write down anything that comes to your mind the tools that support digital learning. Write them on piece of yellow paper.

Questions for Discussion

• Of the words written on the yellow paper, what is most common?
• Are there words that are related? If yes, how are they related?

 

 Identify the following. Use the box below to answer the following questions.

_______________1. These are type of computer software that organizes information. When we use it, we can search for information in a variety ways and receive the results almost instantaneously.

______________2. These are “graphical tool or organizing and representing knowledge”.

______________3. . _____________or blogs as they are more commonly referred to, belong to the realm of journaling and threaded discussion tools.

______________4. . _________ refers to a non-sequential, or non-linear, method for organizing and displaying text. _________________ is basically hypertext with media elements (i.e., images, sounds, videos, animations, etc.).

_____________5.  These are computer applications that enable learners to represent, manipulate, or reflect on what they know, rather than to produce what someone else knows.

____________6. These are special type of databases that support a shared process of knowledge building. The goal is to engage students as scientist in the problem solving process. That is, students generate hypotheses about a given problem situation; gather information through research and observation in order to confirm, modify, or refute their hypotheses , and then seek feedback from others who either collaborate in the investigation or review their published work.

_____________7. It allow learners to picture, or represent, how various phenomena operate within different domains. While these tools are often used to help students visualize scientific phenomena, other tools are available that helps students understand other types of phenomena, such as the structure of an argument

____________8. Softwares that are computer applications which help students think about, and then communicate, the underlying structure of a content.

___________9. It is a piece of server software that allows users to create, edit and link web pages quickly, which is what wiki means in the Hawaiian language – quick or fast. According to its creator, Ward Cunningham, a wiki is the “simplest online database that could possibly work”.

____________10. It enable learners to reflect, represent, and communicate what they know. Based on the premise of oral storytelling, it involves students’ creation of a short movie that represents a compelling personal perspective. It may be story from their own experience, such as describing the importance of a place or how they overcame adversity--- or from their research as when they “become” settlers in the new world.

 

Application

1.

ü  Group the class into five.  Each group will explain and give their insights how these following steps assigned to them according to ISTE Standards for Teachers will help the students

ü  Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity. –GROUP 1

ü  Design and develop digital age learning experiences and assessments. –GROUP 2

ü  Model digital age work and learning. –GROUP 3

ü  Promote and model digital citizenship and responsibility. –GROUP 4

ü  Engage in professional growth and leadership. –GROUP 5

2.  

ü  Group yourselves into five.Collaborate about the topic “Digital Tools that Support Learning”. Make an outline out of it. Add more information from books or online resources. Use any software for preparing the outline. Don’t forget to site resources.

ü  Analyze and create a concept map from the outline your group had created from the previous activity.

ü  Make a collaborative database on wiki about “Digital Tools that Support Learning”.

 

3.  

ü  Group yourselves into five. Write a short script

ü  Prepare a digital story telling.

ü  Present it in front of the class.

Chapter Summary

In this chapter, we described how computer software could serve as a tutor, mind-tool, and a support for conversation (Wegerif, 2002). When technology is used as a tutor., the software explicitly teaches or provides practice with a specific body of content. When technology is used as a mindtool, it serves as an organizational tool, stimulation and visualization tool, or knowledge building tool. As a support for conversation, the computer software contributes to conversations among learners, and thus facilitates group and community learning. Since the web is a popular way to access computer-based tutorials, mindtools and conversation supports, we also discussed techniques for productive web searches and evaluation strategies.

            Although there are many ways that technology can be used to promote creative thinking skills among students in your classroom, it should be fairly clear from our discussion that simply using technology will not accomplish this goal. Rather, technology needs to be used purposefully in the ways discussed in this chapter. And in an environment that explicitly supports student’s efforts to be good thinkers. For example, computer tutorials by themselves, will rarely have enough depth to develop student’s creative thinking skills, but when used as the basis for a discussion, students ca achieve these higher levels more readily. The same is true for computer tools such as concept maps and simulations: effectiveness as a thinking tool depends on how the tools are used.

 

References

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