Nearpod
The first thing that Audina had is do for her presentation was log in to her nearpod presentation that she had created. Nearpod is a great tool for the classroom when a computer is available for each student. The students are given a code to sign on to the presentation and they have their own personal presentation right there on their screen. They can follow along with the slides created by the teacher as well as participate in answering questions and taking mini quizzes throughout the lesson. The results of the quiz or questions can be seen on the main screen and the teacher will know who is and who is not participating. This helps with the classroom management part of the lesson. Nearpod helped me to stay engaged in Audina’s presentation and it is definitely useful for student engagement in the classroom. this program also has premade presentations that can be downloaded right to your computer! I was nervous at first to use this in my math classroom because I didn’t see this relating well to teaching students math. After I was able to explore the website and see all of the available presentations for the variety of math topics, I have hope that this will work as effectively in a math classroom as it will in any other.
The 4 C's
The 4 C's are critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and communication. When we as teachers are using technology in our classrooms, we are to make sure that our students are engaged in all 3 C's. Critical thinking is not typically encouraged when students are using technology in the classroom. All i have seen so far at my school site is that students are using chrome books to write essays in English class. This skill of being able to type an essay now does meet the fist level of SAMR, substitution, but does not go much beyond that to get students creatively thinking about what they are learning. The goal of using technology in the classroom is to put in the hands of the students and to ask that they be creative and show how much they have learned.
SAMR - Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, Redefinition
SAMR is an acronym that goes through the steps to redefining how technology is used in the classroom. Here are the 4 steps to redefinition:
S - Substitution: Have students type their essays and not hand write them.
A - Augmentation : This step is as simple as having students use computers with spell check as a tool to write essays and responses to questions in class as a way to substitute hand writing and peer editing.
M - Modification: Modify assignments such as book reports to have students create a news letter about the book they read using technology.
R - Redefinition: This is where we want to be with technology. it has totally changed how we teach and the way that the students are learning. Technology is a necessity in this stage and no longer seen as an addition to the learning taking place. This type of learning would not be possible without the use of technology.
S - Substitution: Have students type their essays and not hand write them.
A - Augmentation : This step is as simple as having students use computers with spell check as a tool to write essays and responses to questions in class as a way to substitute hand writing and peer editing.
M - Modification: Modify assignments such as book reports to have students create a news letter about the book they read using technology.
R - Redefinition: This is where we want to be with technology. it has totally changed how we teach and the way that the students are learning. Technology is a necessity in this stage and no longer seen as an addition to the learning taking place. This type of learning would not be possible without the use of technology.