Author: Emily Bechen

The intersection of technology and instruction in classrooms is valuable for many reasons. Since technology is so multi faceted and can be used in all subject areas, it provides access and engagement to content in new ways. Because of this, all students including those with diverse learning needs can access information, work collaboratively with others, create projects, and express their ideas in unique ways.

I think I have become a much more “tech savvy” teacher because of this class in regards to becoming more confident in creating technological tools, presenting information in unique ways, and sharing projects and information through multiple outlets. The tools I’ve learned in this class will help me help my students work with others, express creativity, and be able to show their thinking. I now have many ways that I can assess and work with students.

I really enjoyed the fact that the class was taught through hands on projects. I would not have been able to learn how to use the tools without the opportunity to make something on my own with it and have support in the classroom. I was motivated to learn the tools and will save my projects to remember how to use them because I can see how tools like Padlet, Clips, and ThingLink can provide extra support for students and get them using the computer or tablet to stay engaged, and motivate them as well when they have the freedom to create things they’re interested in and excited about.

This project was made for third grade students learning about health and nutrition. This lesson’s goal is to teach students the nutrients in the food groups, why they help us, and how to apply that knowledge to make a healthy meal. Through the use of Thinglink, students will practice guided research with a partner to find out what nutrients do for our bodies by following links to watch a video, listen to a song, read short informational pieces, and play games. Then, using Google Slides and the new information they have discovered, they will collaboratively make a healthy meal for an imagined Olympic athlete on one slide of a class presentation by searching for and inserting pictures of foods into the designated portions on the plate.

The technology enhances this lesson because the Thinglink site holds all the information the teacher wants the students to find, and the picture background provides a basis for what nutrients the foods connect with. It lets the students feel that they are in charge of their own learning and will get them engaged when they can explore and have options using a computer. The google slides presentation allows the whole class to work on the same page at the same time, collaboratively. It also makes it easier for the teacher to grade and monitor as the work is being done. Working with a partner on the same project on different computers makes the learning individualized and collaborative at the same time so students can work at their own pace but get insight from the students they’re working with.

In this EdPuzzle, I used a math video and added quiz questions to engage viewers while watching. I loved how easy this was to insert your own questions, find educational videos, and collect the data from students. I think being able to prevent skipping ahead in the video, using multiple choice and open ended questions, and adding audio (which I didn’t do in this video), would be a great tool to give students extra help, use as a formative assessment, or even as homework for reviewing a lesson. I also think making quick videos like this would act as good pre-assessments, if you were to assign a video to students a day before you were to start teaching a new lesson, it be a good way to introduce a topic. The teacher site is very helpful and easy to use, allows you to see how far students got and their scores, and assigning a due date. I can definitely see myself using this if I am in a classroom/community where computers are available!

This screencast demonstrates a quick and easy way to introduce students to Word. It could be extended to teach students how to use more features, but this video could be used to simply help kids get started in the beginning of the year to type up their work and start to become familiar with the computer. I can imagine this becoming a useful tool to create videos after a couple years of experience and making videos for lessons or things you know you will repeatedly do each year. Students could also use this for a final project to explain a concept to the rest of the class.

Thinglink was very easy for me to use when it came to adding points, descriptions, videos, pictures, and audio. This tool seems like it could be incredibly versatile and educational in the classroom. I can see students using these pictures or virtual reality on tour creators to explore places or things they’re curious about or as an introductory lesson to a new unit. These apps provide priceless opportunities for students who my not have access to experience some things in real life. It reaches all students and allows them to think outside of their own school, neighborhood, or city.

I think visual and kinesthetic learners will really enjoy navigating the apps, clicking on the links, and learning about different topics through many modes of communication. These apps could also be used by older students as well to make their own projects on what they learned or what they want to teach others. These could be easily used in state or animal reports, and act as an engaging and interactive teaching tool in a lesson. I look forward to using these in the future!

Above is a simple interactive picture to get to know orca whales!

Adobe Spark: Where I’ve Been

Sway: Where I’m From

After using both programs, I would have to say I prefer Adobe Spark over Sway. Although it was difficult for me to add text because of a problem pop up every time I tried, I still liked how there were so many options for displaying photos. I thought each layout looked modern, and fun to look at and scroll through. I also preferred using Adobe because you could more easily see what your final product was going to be like, unlike Sway, where you had to make edits on a page you had no idea how it would show up. I also thought that when I looked at Sway examples, they were much more elaborate than what I was able to figure out how to do, whereas Adobe was very user-friendly and simple. In the classroom, I think students would have an easier time figuring Adobe out than Sway.

Eugene, Oregon may not seem very exciting, but I loved growing up here! I thought this was a cool new presentation tool that is quick and easy to use. I think it’s great as another option over powerpoint. It could be a great way to introduce students, like we are doing, or for a final project on a topic. As a teaching tool, I could see teachers presenting lessons this way and making lessons a little more interesting.

This video made on Clips is a read aloud with pictures, and captions that appear as the words are said. Although I didn’t use every feature on the app, I liked the simplicity of it, how each slide is easily timed through however long you talk, and how easy it is to edit the words after. I think this tool can be used educationally for students to practice their fluency, write their own stories, explore technology, and get creative. The only downside is that it can only be used on a phone or tablet which is not always available.

This padlet uses a mindmap format as a tool to help students learn scientific classification. If a teacher was to invite students to edit the padlet, they could answer the questions as a way to help them study and review information. At the end, they are told to make their own flowchart to classify their favorite animal, which gets them using technology to study.

I love how this app is organized and easy to use. The flowchart is simple and customizable to fit any type of lesson. You can even insert videos, links, pictures, gifs, and audio. I will definitely use this app to get student feedback, vote on or rate certain things, make KWL charts, share one thing they’ve learned as an ‘exit ticket’ or brainstorm new ideas. I think mind maps especially are helpful for organizing information in a simplistic, visual, chronological or hierarchical way that is easy to remember.

This site displays the tools we’ve learned in class to help other teachers find ways to use them in their rooms. All these resources are really helpful in designing new and engaging activities for students and utilizes technology so I made it the tech savvy teacher website.

I can’t wait to use this to make a super useful class website that has updates, news, and student work on it!

In my classroom, I can see myself using this tool as a helpful resource for planning field trips and informing parents on where we will be going and what’s happening. Sending this to chaperones will be especially helpful if they can access the maps on their phone because the teacher can plan ahead and add any information they might need to know along the way like emergency numbers, meeting times and places, estimated arrival times, assigned groups, and obviously directions.

Starting at the University of Portland, students will meet at the Chiles Center to carpool and then follow the driving directions to the Oregon Zoo. After meeting out front of the zoo to group up with chaperones, groups will follow the yellow icons around the zoo to see certain animals and have a designated spot to meet up for lunch.

Note: these are not exact locations of animals, just examples of what you could do if you knew the real places.

This lesson is made for students in 3rd-fourth grade who have experience with computers. The lesson goals are to teach students the main food groups and serving sizes to eat in a meal. The teacher will first go through the basic food groups and what the recommended daily servings of each are. Then, it is the students’ turn to practice what they learned by dragging food and labels on the dinner plate to the correct areas to portion out the meal. Afterwards, students can click on the picture to follow a link to a website to play games and learn more about healthy food and lifestyle choices. Teachers aren’t meant to grade students, but observe as they get more practice with what they just learned as well as with the technology.