Integrating Digital Technology in the Classroom
- Nicole Watts
- Feb 28, 2016
- 3 min read
This year I have been blessed with 10P - the year 10 digital class. As the name suggests this class have opted in to learning digitally.
As a digital technology fiend I never imagined how hard integrating digital technology (DT) into the classroom could be! Coming from a main teaching background of health and physical education - where DT was very easy for me to integrate - I have had to completely adjust all of my thinking on the matter.
Over the past four weeks I have been working closely with Kylie Gorrie (Norcom) who has be an absolute angel in showing me how to integrate DT specifically for a mathematical learning environment.
I feel like I know every inch of Google Chrome - it's a lot more complex than meets the eye. Who knew that Chrome actually has more features than a search engine, email, and word processing suite?! Not me! I now not only have more skills in adapting the settings to suit my needs but I can use the programme to create online survey's, generate forms, generate shared documents, share resources, interact with my students....the list goes on!
I have also had a crash course in working Waiopehu's classroom dashboard, Hapara. Can we just take a moment to appreciate the programme that is Hapara? It is, hands down, the most superior educational tool I have EVER come across. Lets go ahead a list the pro's of this programme:
It's run through Chrome so naturally everything syncs without a hitch and it consolidates all my resources into one easy to access location.
On the main screen I have access to see the current document each student is working on, their inwards and outwards gmail correspondence, and what documents they are sharing. Yes, I know this sounds like a massive invasion of privacy, but this site is only linked to their school address and if they're obeying the school rules no personal agendas will be linked to this.
The workspace. This section of Hapara is where all the learning happens (see image below). In the workspace I can add multiple pages based on what we are focusing on. On each page I can organise students into groups (based on abilities or projects), I can share topic specific resources, create learning rubrics and goals, and of course assign work.
Highlights. This here is where I can, at any time during the period, pull up each students screen to see exactly what they are seeing. In an age where Facebook rules the world this is quite handy! I can also send students messages, open tabs to websites directly in their browser (removing the frustration of writing up a stupidly long URL on the whiteboard), and also block websites that I just don't want them using.
Now, this is merely a brief overview! In no way has my description done this amazing programme justice. I guess you'll just have to trust me on it.
On top of this I have been exposed to numerous apps and educational tools that I can use to supplement the learning in Hapara. Some of which I have tried out - EdPuzzle and Explain Everything. So far, so good!
I can't quite believe all that I have learnt in a short few hours spent with Kylie but I do know that I am so inspired to continue learning about DT and how I can find the most innovative ways to engage and excite my learners in the mathematical world.
Each individual workspace allows me to share appropriate resources and assignments with students based on their group, allowing me to easily differentiate learning.
I can create multiple workspaces based on sub-topics with each unit of work. This allows me to provide an organised learning space for the students.
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