Design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners.
Learning
and researching has greatly changed over the past few years from the methods
that many current teachers grew up with.
No longer are students memorizing facts about each subject through rote
learning. Today’s students are
expected to understand the material and be able to apply their understanding to
answer open-ended questions, conduct research, create experiments, and be a part
of classroom discussions. The
years of memorization seem to be coming to an end and the dawn of a new
learning method is entering the education world. Teachers are beginning to put less focus on content and more
focus on problem solving skills.
How can we find the answer to that question? Using what I know, how can I create a science experiment for
the science fair? Where can I look
to find more information about the topic being studied in Social Studies? Knowing facts is great but with
technology growing at a rapid pace, everyone has all the fun facts they could
ever need at the tips of their fingers all through their phone or tablet. Resources are available to help all
people grow as learners using their learning style.
Many
great WebQuests have been created based on what students are learning in class
and to further their knowledge by using technology and the Internet. A WebQuest is a student-centered,
project-based way of teaching students about different topics that are being
covered in class (Halat, 2008).
They allow the teacher the flexibility of using the Internet in a very
concentrated way. The websites the
students will choose have been pre-chosen, they have been checked to make sure
they are appropriate and will help the students meet the objective for the
lesson or project. The teacher has
either created her own WebQuest or found one that has been created by someone
else, She then introduces the students to how it works and lets the students
work through the tasks on their own.
The students can spend more time on what interests them, and are also
provided with extra links if they finish early or if they want to know more. Activities can be tailored to fit all
learning styles by using videos for the visual and auditory learners, articles
to read for the intrapersonal learners and simulations for the kinesthetic
learners.
Supporting the Needs of all Learners
In EDU649: Technology for Teaching and Learning
our assignment was to create a lesson that used the Internet as a learning
tool. The expectation was to also
use the Internet to help different learning styles reach the same end goal. Every student learns in a different
way. How can we as educators
expect to teach only using one-way when that will not help all students to be
successful? As adults we know how
we learn best and it is only fair that teachers provide the same chances for
their students to show their understanding.
According to Gardner’s Theory of Multiple
Intelligences, how students differ in class is based on their way of learning (Dabbagh, 2006). Some
students might like working with a group, while others would just rather do the
project on their own. Within this
WebQuest, students are able to do both.
They each have their own part that they are responsible for but they are
also putting together a larger project.
They don’t always need to work as a team. Putting together a Power Point slide can easily happen
independently and then at the end be combined with the other parts of the
project. The same is with creating
a video. One student in that group
might choose to explain their chosen branch through pictures while another
students might want to act it out.
The options are endless and everyone is accommodated for their learning
style and with how the project is put together.
Not only do learning styles differ from student to student
but so do reading skills. Some
students are strong readers and can read high-level resources, while others
struggle with reading and might need help with understanding the
information. WebQuests can be made
to include sources of different reading level and amount of information. For example in a WebQuest about the
United States government if the objective is to only gain a basic understanding
of the branches of the United State government, the reading level can be quite
simple for everyone. Giving the
students the chance to watch videos about each branch, gives the lower level readers
a chance to hear the information and see what it would look like.
The Learning Activity
A
fourth grade classroom at an American International school is about to begin to
learn about the basics of the United States government for their Social Studies
unit. Through the unit the student
will be gaining a basic understanding of the three branches of the United
States government and how they work together as the government. The learning outcome for this project
is: Students will gain a basic
understanding of the United States Government by working together through a
WebQuest to learn about the branches of the government and by creating a
presentation based on their understanding of the branches. To begin their understanding of the
branches of the United States government students will break up into groups of
3. Together they will work through
the WebQuest that can be found here: http://zunal.com/webquest.php?w=176081. The WebQuest has been created for the students to work on
over a span of seven days. Within
those seven days, students are watching videos, working through simulations and
reading information to learn about the different branches of government. The student’s start off together by watching
a video and creating a KWL chart based on what they already know and what questions
they have about the branches of government. By first writing down everything that each team member knows
about the government, the students can see who knows what and can from there
decide on what they should focus on and who might need extra help along the
way. Once they have an
understanding of what they know, they begin working through the tasks. The first three days the students are
all working on the same information; they all start by watching the same videos
and playing the same games. This
way they can build a solid basic understanding of how the government system
works. All the students are
receiving the same information but they are able to work through the videos at
their own pace and re-watch any videos if they need to along the way. They will test their understanding
through the quizzes on brainpop.com that go along with each video they
watch. From the quizzes, the
students can see each other’s results and help one another better understand
the concepts that they each struggle with. If they all missed the same questions they can together
re-watch the video to see if they can all find the correct answer. The students will also be introduced to
each branch by taking a look at the basics of each one. From that information, they will create
a bubble planner where they will display the basics of each branch.
Once the students have a basic understanding of the United
States government and the branches, the students will each choose a branch that
they would like to focus on and be responsible for. From this point, the students are working
independently. They each have
their own links to explore to learn about their chosen branch. For this section, that could last
either a day or two, the students are watching videos, reading a bit of information,
and finally working through a simulation that allows them to take on the role
of one element that is related to that branch of government. The student who chooses the Executive
branch will work through a simulation of what it would be like to be
president. Through this
simulation, students will get a first hand experience seeing what are the
day-to-day tasks that a president might have to do or take care of. The student who chooses the Judicial
branch will work through a similar simulation but will be playing the role of a
Supreme Court justice. Through
this simulation, the student will find out what it would be like to be a court
justice and what kinds of court cases they work on. Finally, the student who chooses the Legislative branch will
follow the steps to creating a law.
Through this simulation the student gets to see how a law is made and
who sees the bill along the way.
Through these three simulations, the students will be learning about how
each branch works and what each branch is responsible for. They will also be able to see how the
three branches are connected and how they work together to create the
government that the United States has.
As the students wrap up their independent work about the
three branches, they will come together to create one presentation for their
group. Each student will be
responsible for their branch and the information for their presentation about
that branch. Each group is
responsible for explaining what type of government the United States has and
the basics of each branch of the government.
The students are given three options for how to complete the
project. By giving the students
the option, the students take ownership of the project and from that are more
excited about creating it. Even
though every group in the class is using the same information, the students
still have the choice to personalize it and use the program that their group
feels most comfortable with. The
first choice is to create a Glogster poster. With this project option, the students will create a digital
poster that represents the basics of how the United States government works and
then some information about each branch.
They are able to add videos, music, and pictures to explain the
different parts of the government. For the second option, the students are able to create a
Power Point presentation. Here,
once again, the students will work together to create the beginning slides that
explain the basic ideas behind the government. From there, students will create their own slide that will
later be incorporated into the group’s presentation. The third, and final option that the students can choose is
to create a movie using Microsoft Movie Maker. With this option, the students can create an informational
video where they either explain the government system using pictures or they
themselves can be in the video explaining how the United States Government
works. They can also create a
combination of pictures and acting to create their project.
The final element of this project is to present the project
to the class. By presenting
the information, the students are displaying their understanding of the
material to the class and showing their creativity in taking the same
information as everyone else and making it look different. The presentations also help solidify
the information for the students.
They are focused on presenting the information that they take the extra
time to memorize so that they can look like an expert in front of their
classmates.
Individual
Needs
Each
student learns in their own way, whether a students needs to hear the
information, see how it works, or write down the information, they are all
gaining the same information but in their own way. By learning about the United States government through a
WebQuest, the students are working independently but in a group at the same
time. Everyone is doing the same
amount of work but they are managing themselves and pacing their work on their
own. The videos that the students
are watching, they can re-watch them as many times as they want. They can even go back a few days later
to clarify their understanding.
Once the students get past the whole-group parts, they divide into
smaller subgroups. The entire
class is divided into three larger groups. If a students who is working on the Legislative branch needs
help understanding something, that student can turn to another student in
another group who is also focusing on the Legislative branch for help. The same is for any other student in
class. The students are not just
locked into their group. They can
turn to anyone in class who is working on the same topic.
Choice is sometimes a hard decision to leave in the hands of
students. The teacher has to trust
that the groups will work well together and that they will remain on task. The student’s first work in their
groups to gain a basic understanding of each branch, they are then choosing
which branch they want to focus on.
By giving the students the choice, they are able to better connect with
the branch that they would like to know more about. They are also able to choose the one that interests them the
most. Some students are natural
leaders and they might want to know what it would be like to be president and
choose the Executive branch. While
other students, are good judges of character and level headed enough to make
good judgment calls, these students might choose the judicial branch. Finally, some students might like to be
in control of the rules and regulations, have a solid understanding of what
kinds of rules might be good, and which ones need to be followed, those
students will veer toward the legislative branch. From that point, they are responsible for that branch
and teaching not only their group but also the entire class about their chosen
branch.
Reflection
When
looking back at all the assignments that had been created during this program,
this project stood out from the rest.
The original project wanted an activity that was based on using the
Internet to further student learning within the classroom. This one easily allowed for using the
Multiple Intelligences Theory created by Gardner (Dabbagh, 2006).
Not many changes needed to
be made to the actual activity.
The only real changes that where made were within the written work to
add evidence to show how Multiple Intelligences are being used within the
assignment by including Multiple Intelligences within the introduction and
reasoning behind using this activity.
Multiple Intelligences are constantly on teachers' minds, especially
within the elementary school system.
These students are just starting out on the road to becoming strong
students and they need to be shown that there are many different ways to learn
the same material. Whether they
are reading, watching a video, playing a simulation, or having a discussion
about the given topic, they are all learning. Learning happens in different ways and students need to
understand that. WebQuests are
just one of the many ways teachers can use the different learning styles within
their classroom to help their students become successful. Elementary school teachers are laying
the groundwork for students to be successful in their lives. If they can understand that they each
learn in a different way and that it is OK to do so, then they will be able to
start to take the learning into their own hands to become stronger students
based on their own needs as they get older.
References
Dabbagh, N. (2006). Instructional design knowledge
base. Retrieved from http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/IDKB/models_theories.htm
Halat, E. (2008). A Good Teaching Technique:
WebQuests. Clearing House, 81(3), 109-112.
Newby,
T., Stepich, D., Lehman, J., Russell, J., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2011).
Educational technology for teaching and learning. (4 ed.). Boston, MA.:
Allyn & Bacon.
Panter,
S. L. (2009). Teaching Elementary Students to Be Safe on the Internet. Library
Media Connection, 27(6), 32-33.
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