Help teachers develop their ICT by curating a list of digital tools that can be used for remote teaching or in-class teaching.
To develop the teacher’s ICT I have decided to curate a list of digital tools with videos that would hopefully be very useful to the community of teachers in my current school division. The goal of this project is to improve my fellow colleague’s ICT by offering them the information they need to access and use the tools that have been provided to them. The artifact offers the teachers the resources and information they need to integrate the use of divisional tech-tools during remote and in-class teaching. The focus of this project would be to create a list of tech tools offered by my current school division and to provide an overview video demonstrating some of the features of the tech tool.
This resource would be very useful to the teachers based on what I have observed. When collaborating with teachers to complete special projects, I offer my ideas and support and recommend a great technology tool to accompany the project. I am usually met with positivity but often the teachers express that they don’t know how to use the tool, that they don’t know where to find the tool or that they didn’t know that we had access to it. I think it is important to address their concerns. My artifact will help the teachers to gain confidence in the use of technology and offer the students new and engaging ways to learn. My current school division offers an impressive list of subscriptions to various tech tools and I want the teachers to be able to take advantage of them.
My project will explore most of the following technology tools:
-NetTrekker
-Mathletics
-Raz-Kids (Leading A-Z)
-World Book
-Visual Thesaurus
-Tumblebooks
-Encyclopedia Universalis Jr.
My project artifact will be geared for teachers but will benefit both teachers and students. The article written by Janelle Cox, Benefits of Technology in the Classroom highlights how integrating technology into the curriculum benefits the student by allowing them to connect with experts, deepens the learning process, and take responsibility for their learning. It states that the use of technology in schools is a necessity for students to acquire 21st-century technology skills and that it may affect student achievement. The use of technology promotes higher-order thinking and problem-solving skill. (Cox, 2019)
Not only will my artifact help the teachers to build their ICT and knowledge of using technology tools in the classroom, but it will offer the students the opportunity to acquire 21st-century digital literacy skills.
“Benefits of Technology in the Classroom.” TeachHUB, 25 June 2020, www.teachhub.com/technology-in-the-classroom/2019/11/benefits-of-technology-in-the-classroom/.
“What Are the Emerging Technologies in the Classroom?” TeachHUB, 17 Aug. 2020, www.teachhub.com/technology-in-the-classroom/2019/10/what-are-the-emerging-technologies-in-the-classroom/.
“How Technology Can Increase Student Engagement.” TeachHUB, 17 Aug. 2020, www.teachhub.com/technology-in-the-classroom/2019/08/how-technology-can-increase-student-engagement/.
10, et al. “Why Teachers Should Embrace Technology in Their Classrooms.” The Edvocate, 8 Oct. 2016, www.theedadvocate.org/why-teachers-should-embrace-technology-in-their-classrooms/.
“20 Digital Tools for Classroom for Innovative Teachers & Students.” GraphicMama Blog, 5 May 2020, graphicmama.com/blog/digital-tools-for-classroom/.
This sounds like a great project Jennifer. You must be feeling some relief after finalizing your decision. This sounds like a great tool to offer your teachers, and I am very interested to see your final project. I have lots of tech tools that I would love to be able to curate, with a goal of creating a toolkit for teachers. But having the “how to use” piece is the step that I am missing I am sure that I will be able to glean some great perspectives and strategies on how to do that by seeing what you do.
Alison
My apologies Kathleen for writing the incorrect name above. I got all the way through the blogs and when I got to Jennifer’s I realized that I had made an error here.
I’m very sorry. Alison
Hi Kathleen,
I am so glad that you decided to explore digital tools for the classroom. It had also been on my list of interests. I found the 20 Digital Tools for the Classroom very informative and I will be sharing some of these ideas with my colleagues. I am looking forward to seeing what you write about Tumblebooks, Mathletics, RAZ kids and World Book as we also use them at my school. Best of luck!
Jennifer
Kathleen this sounds like a great resource for the teachers at your school. I am interested in the resources that you have listed, especially: Raz Kids, Tumblebooks, and the Visual Thesaurus so I am looking forward to reading about them!
Your vision is really coming into focus and I am excited about the direction you are taking. I think it will be a strong support for teachers in your district as well as teachers from other districts who would like to use this as a model for what they could create to share and support the tools that their district uses. Looking forward to seeing what you create.