Quick and Easy Ways to Integrate Technology into Your Teaching Kim Peacock, B.Ed., M.Ed.

Some Common Complaints About Technology Integration I don’t have time to figure out how to do things. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to use computers well enough. I don’t have enough time in the computer lab with my class to do anything major. It’s hard to find stuff that fits with the curriculum. The list goes on...

The Best Way to Integrate Luckily, you don’t really need a lot of experience to make some great technology oriented lessons. The computer should be a means to an ends - the “tool” not the focus of the activity!

The following methods of technology integration are “no skills required” (well, pretty much…)

Scavenger Hunts Scavenger hunts are a fun way to get students looking up facts or resources. They often provide very clear questions and locations (links) for where to find the information. Some higher level scavenger hunts have students use learned searching skills in search engines to find the correct information.

Integrating Scavenger Hunts Scavenger hunts are well suited to any type of course. Scavenger hunts are only effective at grade levels where students have basic Internet skills (i.e., they know how to enter a URL and follow a link) and basic reading and writing skills. Scavenger hunts can be very short or very long depending on the number of questions they contain. It is reasonable to assume that a standard scavenger hunt will take one full class period.

Scavenger Hunt Examples Science ELA Social Studies Math

Teaching Tips If you are doing a higher level searching scavenger hunt, do not assume that students know how to search the Internet effectively or properly. Leaving students on their own to search when they have not been taught searching techniques can lead to a great deal of student frustration. If you are short on time and/or want to make sure students aren't slacking off, make it a competition - whoever finished the scavenger first with all the right answers gets some sort of reward. Having students who are ahead in their studies create a scavenger hunt for the rest of the class is an excellent enrichment activity. If you are able, let the student have a free class period when all of the other students are doing the scavenger hunt.

Virtual Field Trips Virtual field trips are exactly what they sound like - a trip to another place or time without leaving the computer. Virtual field trips allow students to explore another location or period in time, often using images, sounds and movies to make the experience more realistic and enriching.

Integrating Virtual Field Trips Virtual field trips are well suited to any subject area except math. Students can explore anything from Shakespeare's Globe Theatre to the Royal Tyrrell Museum! Virtual field trips are well suited to students in grades 3 and up, as long as the students have appropriate Internet navigating skills (entering a URL, following a link, etc...). Virtual field trips can vary in length, but a realistic amount of time to allot would be one class period.

Virtual Field Trip Examples Landscapes of Nova ScotiaLandscapes of Nova Scotia Museum of CivilizationMuseum of Civilization The ExploratoriumThe Exploratorium The South Pole Our Solar System

Teaching Tips Like any real life field trip, virtual field trips should have context. They should be relevant to the curriculum and meaninful within the context of what you are currently teaching. Follow up activities are essential to create meaningful links to what is going on in the classroom. Virtual field trips can be very effective if students are working in pairs. Make the field trip itself "purposeful" rather than a "browsing" experience. Have students look for a favorite artifact, or something to do a project on later in the unit. Give them a reason for looking, or they may lose interest quickly.

Educational Games Educational games are a great way of teaching either rote skills (i.e., practicing multiplication tables) or even higher order thinking (i.e., playing a survival game). Although educational games have been created in every subject area, they tend to be more prevalent in areas that require rote memorization, such as math, science or social studies.

Integrating Educational Games Educational games have been created for and are well suited to any grade level as long as they are used appropriately. An educational game is very well suited to a smaller time frame such as part of a class period. A common problem is actually allotting too much time to playing a game and then finding that after a bit of time, students are losing interest. Make sure you judge realistically whether your students will have the attention span to play the game for the time you have allotted to it.

Game Examples Leon Math Movies Power Proofreader Math Baseball Spelling Match Game Goo

Teacher Tips Although promises of games are seductive to younger grades, junior high and high school students may not be as keen if they think the game isn't entertaining or valuable. You're working with students who sometimes have very short attention spans - make sure that if you are going to spend time playing a game, it grabs their attention and has something to teach them. It is unwise to spend a whole class period playing an educational game unless the game takes that long. Make sure that you take some time to provide context for the game and to outline clearly how your game fits in with what students are learning. Basing a follow up activity on a game is also an excellent way to get students connecting what they learned by playing the game to what they are studying in the classroom.

Simulations Simulations take students through a scenario. Unlike games, where students must be actively involved throughout, simulations often either just show a process or have students make a series of decisions at the onset and then show the results of those decisions. Simulations are well suited to courses that teach students scenarios, such as science or social studies, or to courses where there is a great deal of technical/mechanical knowledge to learn such as math, science or industrial arts.

Integrating Simulations Simulations tend to be more appropriate for students from grade 4 and up. Students at lower levels sometimes have problems understanding the cause and effect nature of simulations, though this isn't always necessarily true assuming the simulation is clear and well developed. Simulations are excellent for very small time periods (10-20 minutes). They are very effective as an introduction to a new concept, or as a final activity after students have learned about a new process or scenario.

Simulation Examples Virtual Lemonade StandVirtual Lemonade Stand Soda Constructor Virtual Pig Dissection Virtual Frog DissectionVirtual Frog Dissection The Human Body

Teacher Tips Simulations work very well for students working in pairs. Let students share discoveries about the simulation they are doing. Sometimes creative students find unique solutions or scenarios to run through the simulation and sharing those ideas with the rest of the class can provide meaningful learning opportunities. Some questions to ask students after doing a simulation: Did anything about the simulation surprise you? Was anything about the simulation unclear? Was seeing the process different from how you imagined it? How?

The End... These are generally the easiest methods of integrating integrate technology out there. These four work especially well when you have limited amounts of time (like in your APT and IPT). There are lots of other, more complex ways to integrate technology, but those are for another time...