REVISED PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT DETAILING MY BELIEFS ABOUT THE USE OF ICT IN THE CLASSROOM
What value, if any, will technology add to your classroom?
The use of technology will definitely be a step in the right direction in my classroom. Today’s students are a product of the technological age. The students in my classroom may not be able to read and write but they are experts when it comes to the use of cell phones, video games and hand held games. They are very interested in graphic interactive work. The use of ICT can harness this interest and encourage our students develop higher order thinking skills.
Students are constantly bombarded by visual stimuli and graphics as soon as the leave the school compound. ICT offers the possibility of using colour, movement, light and sound which is obviously more attractive and authentic to students. If we can make use of ICTs such as digital cameras, multimedia, televisions, radios, DVD and video cassette recorders students might be motivated to pay closer attention in class. They will also be able to use other learning strategies such as non linear thinking and make use of their multiple intelligences. The use of ICTs promote collaborative and co-operative learning as students generally have to work together to be successful. If a problem solving approach is used to infuse technology into the curriculum students will also develop higher order thinking skills like evaluation and critical thinking skills.
How would you and/ or your students use the technology?
What value, if any, will technology add to your classroom?
The use of technology will definitely be a step in the right direction in my classroom. Today’s students are a product of the technological age. The students in my classroom may not be able to read and write but they are experts when it comes to the use of cell phones, video games and hand held games. They are very interested in graphic interactive work. The use of ICT can harness this interest and encourage our students develop higher order thinking skills.
Students are constantly bombarded by visual stimuli and graphics as soon as the leave the school compound. ICT offers the possibility of using colour, movement, light and sound which is obviously more attractive and authentic to students. If we can make use of ICTs such as digital cameras, multimedia, televisions, radios, DVD and video cassette recorders students might be motivated to pay closer attention in class. They will also be able to use other learning strategies such as non linear thinking and make use of their multiple intelligences. The use of ICTs promote collaborative and co-operative learning as students generally have to work together to be successful. If a problem solving approach is used to infuse technology into the curriculum students will also develop higher order thinking skills like evaluation and critical thinking skills.
How would you and/ or your students use the technology?
In terms of using the technology currently available, we could utilize digital cameras and cell phones to tape video clips and sounds. The students could do their own tapings which they could incorporate into oral or written reports. Narration and animation could be used in presentations.
The five computers in my school could be used to teach computer literacy skills such as word processing, presentations and to a certain extent, databases and spread sheets. The off the shelf software could also be used as a form of computer-assisted instruction to reinforce learning of content being taught such as phonics, spelling and vocabulary.
If the school had other technology available such as internet access, then more problem solving and project type work could be done with the students being encouraged to do research through bookmarked sites. They could complete or design their own web quests. A school or class email account could be set up for students to participate in authentic communication. Students would have to initially be taught how to evaluate websites and software and agree to the school’s Accepted Use Policy as well as copyright and fair use guidelines.
What advantages do you see?
There are many advantages of using technology in the classroom. Firstly, it motivates students and engages their interest. It opens up new opportunities in teaching and learning by allowing teachers to use fresh, new approaches to deliver content. In the case of using word processing documents mistakes can be corrected without having to start over, work is easy to store and does not require additional physical space. It is flexible in that teachers can plan individual work for students based on their needs.
Teachers can also easily keep track of work done by individual students. With the use of the internet information is available immediately from all parts of the world. This is advantageous to both the teacher who can access teacher resources and to the student who can play games, participate in interactive research. Web quests, presentations and digital technology allow for the simultaneous use of multimedia which encourages creativity and critical thinking.
One of the biggest advantages is that technology based lessons facilitate group work which promotes cooperative and collaborative learning. Students begin to develop team spirit and learn to get along better with each other. Technology based lessons lend themselves to authentic, real world tasks and assessments. Students can be part of the assessment process through the use of checklists and rubrics to evaluate their peer’s participation and contributions.
How might your role change from your current practice?
My school has a computer teacher who teaches all the computer lessons to the students. Each class is scheduled once per week for computer science. If given the opportunity I think I could include in my remedial programme a few sessions with students in the computer lab where we could use the software available to reinforce lessons I have taught in phonics, reading vocabulary and spelling. I could also plan sessions where I use PowerPoint as an interactive teaching tool. The multimedia projector could also be used for interactive lessons in the library.
How might your students’ role change from their current roles?
Students’ role might change by the use of technology encouraging them to take a more active part in their learning. Instead of just being passive receivers of knowledge they could use ICT to generate their own knowledge and skills. This could be done through the use of the internet to do research and using Windows Office to present information in different ways such as graphs, graphic organizers, presentations and word processing documents. They could also through group work take on different roles such as leader, recorder, graphic artist or researcher and shoulder the responsibility for their part of assignments.
The five computers in my school could be used to teach computer literacy skills such as word processing, presentations and to a certain extent, databases and spread sheets. The off the shelf software could also be used as a form of computer-assisted instruction to reinforce learning of content being taught such as phonics, spelling and vocabulary.
If the school had other technology available such as internet access, then more problem solving and project type work could be done with the students being encouraged to do research through bookmarked sites. They could complete or design their own web quests. A school or class email account could be set up for students to participate in authentic communication. Students would have to initially be taught how to evaluate websites and software and agree to the school’s Accepted Use Policy as well as copyright and fair use guidelines.
What advantages do you see?
There are many advantages of using technology in the classroom. Firstly, it motivates students and engages their interest. It opens up new opportunities in teaching and learning by allowing teachers to use fresh, new approaches to deliver content. In the case of using word processing documents mistakes can be corrected without having to start over, work is easy to store and does not require additional physical space. It is flexible in that teachers can plan individual work for students based on their needs.
Teachers can also easily keep track of work done by individual students. With the use of the internet information is available immediately from all parts of the world. This is advantageous to both the teacher who can access teacher resources and to the student who can play games, participate in interactive research. Web quests, presentations and digital technology allow for the simultaneous use of multimedia which encourages creativity and critical thinking.
One of the biggest advantages is that technology based lessons facilitate group work which promotes cooperative and collaborative learning. Students begin to develop team spirit and learn to get along better with each other. Technology based lessons lend themselves to authentic, real world tasks and assessments. Students can be part of the assessment process through the use of checklists and rubrics to evaluate their peer’s participation and contributions.
How might your role change from your current practice?
My school has a computer teacher who teaches all the computer lessons to the students. Each class is scheduled once per week for computer science. If given the opportunity I think I could include in my remedial programme a few sessions with students in the computer lab where we could use the software available to reinforce lessons I have taught in phonics, reading vocabulary and spelling. I could also plan sessions where I use PowerPoint as an interactive teaching tool. The multimedia projector could also be used for interactive lessons in the library.
How might your students’ role change from their current roles?
Students’ role might change by the use of technology encouraging them to take a more active part in their learning. Instead of just being passive receivers of knowledge they could use ICT to generate their own knowledge and skills. This could be done through the use of the internet to do research and using Windows Office to present information in different ways such as graphs, graphic organizers, presentations and word processing documents. They could also through group work take on different roles such as leader, recorder, graphic artist or researcher and shoulder the responsibility for their part of assignments.
