Engaging, Enhancing, and Extending Learning



Engaging, Enhancing, and Extending Learning

Engaging Student Learning with Technology

What does it mean to engage students? Engaging students means the teacher trying to find a way to motivate or interest disengaged students. When teachers engage students using technology, it provides motivation to the students to actually do their work and be able to focus on the assignment at hand with less distraction.  When students are engaged in a topic, they actually want to learn about it and absorb the information. If students are presented the information in a way that can help them understand it then the learning environment becomes more enjoyable as well. For example, in a health class, the teacher could be going over a lesson on healthy relationships and when the lesson is done, the teacher can put some scenarios about different types of relationships up on the Smartboard and the students can use their phones to text in the respond to the scenarios at hand to see if they think that it is a healthy relationship or if it is not a healthy relationship.  This gives them the freedom to have their phones out in class and use them in a productive way.

Enhancing Student Learning with Technology

What does it mean to enhance learning? Enhancing learning is using technology to develop understanding of learning goals that could not have been accomplished without those bonds. When teachers use technology to enhance education, they use it to compliment the lesson for the day and help the students learn and understand the lesson better. For example, to accompany the lesson in health, the teacher could give them an assignment on Glogster to go through which might include various videos and activities to check understanding of the lesson. This gives them the ability to practice applying the material in the lesson online instead of on paper.

Extending Student Learning with Technology

What does it mean to extend learning? Extending learning is using technology to learn outside the classroom walls and continue to grow academically after they leave school.  Teachers can assign homework for the students to do that involves using technology such as apps on iPads and iPhones.  Students can take pictures and videos to upload to the class website for a project or as evidence that they visited somewhere that they were suppose to outside of class one day. For example, to accompany a basketball lesson in physical education, the teacher could assign the students to take a video of a basketball clip on Sportscenter and upload it to blogger and write a blog about what the players did right and what the players did wrong as far as the skills and techniques used.

It is critical that all of these elements are used by teachers so that students can get motivated and interested in learning.  Teacher can be more creative with assignments based on the technology that is available to them and the students as well. 


References

Bonnett, Cara. (2011, December 9). Capturing and extending learning through mobile technology. Retrieved from http://today.duke.edu/2011/12/mobilecapture

Keren-Kolb, L. (January 01, 2013). Engage, enhance, and extend learning! Learning and Leading with Technology, 40, 7, 20-27.  

Nesbitt, Barbara. (2007, November 28). A Vision of K-12 Students Today. Retrieved September 3, 2013. From http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8&feature=youtu.be

Richtel, Matt. (2012, November 1). Technology changing how Ssudents learn, teachers say. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/01/education/technology-is-changing-how-students-learn-teachers-say.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

[Image of students using iPads in class]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.padgadget.com/tag/classroom/

[Image of students using a Smartboard]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/sis/newslog/default,date,2010-02-07.aspx

MyFitnessPal App

MyFitnessPal iPad App

 

At the beginning of this semester, Dr. Bell had all of the physical education majors download the MyFitnessPal app which counts your daily calories and it also will assist you is setting an appropriate daily calorie intake depending on whether or not you want to lose or gain weight. She wanted us to keep up with our daily diet for the whole semester to see how and what we ate throughout the semester and if it helped reach our individual weight levels.

 

 

Throughout the day, you can easily and quickly add food by the brand that you have eaten and it will go directly in to your daily calorie intake amount and will tell you how many calories still need to eat by the end of the day.  

 

 

 

 

As you enter in each food item, it also calculates certain types of nutrients such as calcium, fats, and iron and gives you a percentage of how much you have taken in and how much you have left to get throughout the day. If you exercise during the day, you can also enter that information in such as what type of exercise and the length of time that you did it. This will affect your calorie intake and most likely increase your daily amount needed because when you exercise you burn calories so you need to make up for the calories you burned.

 

 

Friends can also hold you accountable for your diet if they have the app as well. You can add contacts from your phone, facebook, or email so that they can help you stay motivated and on the right track to maintain and achieve your health and weight goals. As you weigh yourself periodically, you can also input that information and monitor your progress to your weight goal.

 

 

This app is very useful for health teachers. If you want students to keep a journal of everything that they ate for a week and also how much they exercised, this would be an easy way to do it. Also, if they went out to eat, instead of guessing the calories in the food they can just look it up through this app and it can help the overall diet and assessment be more accurate. I have used this app throughout the semester and I would highly recommend it.

Using iPads in the Classroom

Using iPads in the Classroom

Can the iPad be classified as an appropriate educational tool in today’s classroom? This question is currently being debated throughout many school districts but there is no definite answer.  Arguments could be made both ways in favor and against using the iPad in the classroom. In my opinion, there are three ways in which the iPad enhances the classroom which are multimedia, portability, and apps.

Multimedia

Yes, many desktop computers and laptops in the classrooms have webcams, microphones, and movie maker programs but the iPad has a huge advantage in that department because of its portability and accessibility. Let's say you have a movie making project. Normally, you would need a video camera to take the video, a wire to transfer it to a computer, and a computer to edit and publish the video. I had a project like this in my communications class and it was so hard trying to transfer files to a computer, edit it, and then publish the video. If we had been able to use the iPad, we would not have had this problem because it can do all of this in one device with the help of the video apps available. It makes digital learning not just a special project but something that could easily be incorporated into any lesson.

Portability

Kids today already have to carry around a huge amount of textbooks from class to class and some school districts even require students to have a laptop and bring those to class as well. Instead of carrying around all of these books and extra weight on their backs all day, all they need is the iPad.  Students can load their textbooks on to their iPad, take notes, and carry it from class to class. This will also help students become more organized. Instead of keeping up with multiple notebooks and multiple textbooks, it can all be on one simple electronic device.

Apps

Perhaps the most appealing feature of the iPad are all of the apps available through the App Store. Many apps can be used in the classroom and can be personalized based on the user of the iPad. For example, the Edmodo app automatically keeps you logged in so all you have to do is open the app and your personal homepage is there with information from classes you are currently enrolled in that use this particular app. Another useful app is the google drive app. It allows students to store documents and information on the iPad and then you can open up your google drive account on a computer and view the documents on a computer as well. These, along with many others, can have a positive impact on students and their learning.

The iPad is revolutionizing the way that teachers teach and students learn and will continue to do so in the years to come.

References

8 Useful Video Apps for Your iPad. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/12/8-useful-video-apps-for-your-ipad.html

The device that changed everything is now changing the classroom. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/ 

Thousands of apps. Endless potential. (2013). Retrieved from http://www.apple.com/education/apps/

SomeiPhoneHelp. (2011, September 3). Apple - iPad 2 - TV Ad - Learn **New Apple Commercial**(Video file). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjqSsScRCwQ

Pittinsky, Tzvi. The Advantages of Using iPads in the Classroom. (2012, November 25). Retrieved from http://techrav.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-advantages-of-using-ipads-in.html?m=1