Chapter 4 & 6 Reflections

The title of Chapter 4 of Gunning et al highlights the authors' view of the purpose of integrating technology in education.  "Integrating Technology and Creating Change" can come in many forms, they note. It is not necessary to have the latest equipment and most up to date software; in fact many classrooms do not have access to the ideal technology. Gunning et al notes that, "Teachers must be prepared to use the technologies they have in their schools-whethere those technologies are up-to-date computers in Internet-accessible classrooms or minimally adequate machines with limited accessories and older software programs" (p109). The school I work at is lucky enough to have a combination of older and newer technologies available to the students. In my classroom for example we have two desktop computers which are too old to support many new software CDs, but do have internet access. For my kindergarteners, I find many great literacy support games through ReadWriteThink and Starfall. We also have a class set of iPads that teachers can reserve for their class to use periodically.  HERE is a great list of apps that help boost early literacy skills. I would particularly recommend Story Kit and Puppet Pals. 

Chapter 6 focuses in on online resources that teachers can integrate into their classrooms and assignments.  Gunning et al highlights the use of virtual field trips as part of educational experiences. Virtual field trips can be used as an introduction to a unit to grab students attention, or can be used more extensively by as part of a particular lesson.   Virtual field trips can be used as a whole class experience or by a small group as other students work with the teacher or independently.  I have successfully used virtual field tips in my classroom to teach the story of the first Thanksgiving.  Plimoth Plantation has several virtual tours available for various grade levels to experience life as the Pilgrims did.  Teachers can further differentiate the experience by watching with students and pausing to provide necessary scaffolding and background information.  A virtual field trip to Plimoth allows students to learn with both their visual and auditory modalities and make more meaningful connections to the information. 

Two questions for the group:
1. Have you successfully used virtual field trips in your classroom? If so, which can you suggest to the group?

2. How do you organize websites, apps, and media to use with your students?  Do you know of any useful databases such as ReadWriteThink?