Incorporating Technology into the Classroom
How Smart is a Smart Board?
For my second and third field experience I was lucky enough to have a Smart Board in my classroom. They are great tools for learning and are also a useful resource that greatly supported my teaching skills. With a Smart Board in the class, the sky is the limit for what can be brought to school!
Below: The Smart Board allowed us to watch the Olympic Torch Relay live in Quebec City. A staff member's brother was running, and the school was doing a collective unit about the Olympics.
Computers as Tools for Learning
On my third field experience, my cooperating teacher borrowed mini laptops from the school board for a month. They enhanced the students’ experience as they worked on animal projects because they were able to look up pictures of their animals and then draw their own using special software. We also had the children playing interactive math games if they finished their math work early. Since I was teaching grade 2, the laptops were a great introduction to computer technology.
Below: Using the mini-laptops!
The Value of Videos
I believe that occasionally using videos as a support for teaching can be very beneficial to students. It allows them to be submersed into a world that sometimes the teacher alone cannot achieve. I have used educational videos found on the internet to introduce units, as well as showing movies as part of a language arts lesson.
Below: Click on the image to see a sample lesson.