I was subbing for a 6th grade class last week and during snack one student came up to me and said "Ms. Murphy, can I use the computer to play Sheppard Software?" and I told him that he could. Before I knew it a crowd was growing around the student and they were cheering him on. A few minutes later all the kids were clapping and cheering! "He got 20 out of 20!" said one of the spectators.
Sheppard Software is a website with educational and learning games over a variety of subjects. As an educator you can use this website in a variety of ways. You can use it as a way to help a student who is struggling in a particular subject. You can use it as a reward system: if you finish your homework before class ends you can go on Sheppard Software. At the school district that I sub in a lot of special needs learners use this tool a lot to help them learn.
As educators we must recognize that kids look at this educational tool as FUN not as WORK. But at the same time the kids are learning and doing repetitions in whichever subject they choose. And they are enjoying it! We must take advantage of this and utilize the fact that it is learning in disguise.
One of my favorite educational technology tools that I have learned about in this class is Wordle. I think there are so many great ways that students can use this tool. For example, lets say a student wrote a research paper. They could copy and paste their paper into wordle and create a tag cloud to put on the cover page to add a little something different! If students are studying poetry they could paste poems into Wordle by a certain poet and see which words appear the most. The opportunities are too many to name but I think it is a great way to integrate technology into learning!
Here is the link to Wordle! http://www.wordle.net/
Check it out!
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I just checked out that website. What a great tool. I think the idea of rewarding kids with this type of technological tool is great. It is free for the teacher and also good for them. Something I always struggle with is how to reward kids without candy! I also love wordle. I just took a position as a health/technology teacher and I am going to use it to get to know all the kids. I am going to ask them each to put a sentence in about themselves and have them create a tag cloud for each class and then have them create a cloud for themselves. It is a great tool and it allows kids to be creative too!
ReplyDeleteI agree as well. I think that educators and administration must embrace technology, not fight it. Students in today's world are surrounded by it, accustomed to it and know how to use it with much more ease than those of us that were not raised on technology. As you said in your 6th grade class, the students were excited and cheering on the student at the computer. If teachers, parents and administrators know how to properly use technology to enhance a student's learning, then meaningful learning can take place, ironically without the student realizing it.
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