Tech Teks
Something I believe that is very important in both Technology Integration and curriculum alignment with Tech Apps TEKS is that whenever Technology is used in the classroom it should be as SEAMLESS to the student and teacher as a pencil and paper. The focus should be on the Learning at Hand, not on the technology. Today’s students can Snap Chat in their sleep. Go to any Whataburger after a Friday night football game and a group of kids can snap chat, text, tweet and take a picture without even taking a breath. Our classrooms should be the same way.
A personal example of what not to do with a project and technology, because hopefully, my teachers have been taught this over and over and would never do this on our campus is my daughter and her group had to video interview 3 professional about their career. They had to edit the interviews and add some slides in-between. With a relatively short turnaround time, these students were more caught up in the technology process then they were the interviews and what they were learning and exploring. The activity was not a springboard to opening their minds. It should have been educational and the technology just a tool to pick up. They should have already know how to spit, slice, edit, upload, and manipulate the videos if learning about career opportunities was the objectives, students should have already practiced/played with the video part at least three times in the year.
A personal example of what not to do with a project and technology, because hopefully, my teachers have been taught this over and over and would never do this on our campus is my daughter and her group had to video interview 3 professional about their career. They had to edit the interviews and add some slides in-between. With a relatively short turnaround time, these students were more caught up in the technology process then they were the interviews and what they were learning and exploring. The activity was not a springboard to opening their minds. It should have been educational and the technology just a tool to pick up. They should have already know how to spit, slice, edit, upload, and manipulate the videos if learning about career opportunities was the objectives, students should have already practiced/played with the video part at least three times in the year.