Engage, Enhance and Extend Learning

In the classroom there are many ways to engage, enhance and extend learning using technology. The problem is teachers have trouble defining these terms and actually using them correctly in the classroom when they are integrating technology. In the Article Engage, Enhance and Extend Learning, by Liz Kern-Kolb, she discuses the difference between the three.

When a teacher wants to engage a student, "the teacher is trying to find a way to motivate or interest disengaged students" (Kern-Kolb). By allowing students to be active while learning it makes them focus and stay motivated.

Enhancement is using technology to develop an understanding which could not be accomplished without these tools. "This lets students develop a more sophisticated understanding of the content" (Kern-Kolb). By doing this it creates a way to make it easier for the students to understand the concepts in a way they could not do without technology.

Extension in the classroom is bringing learning outside the classroom into the students everyday lives. This is an important one because learning needs to happen even when they leave school as well as applying it to their daily lives. "It helps them grow as lifelong learners, without the need for the teacher or school" (Kern-Kolb).

Now that I will be in the classroom teaching my Social Studies unit I have to look into ways to use technology to engage, enhance and extend learning. In the Article Engage Students by Embracing Technology, by Brad Kuntz, he brings up good points on using technology to our advantage. "There are still some teachers who think that including technology simply means occasionally using a PowerPoint. We can do better than that" (Kuntz). There is so much available to us nowadays that we should not settle for simple things like PowerPoint. "We need to find a way to embrace all forms of technology in the classroom and use them to our advantage" (Kuntz).

Instead of using PowerPoint, make a SmartBoard activity. This allows students to get involved and enhance their learning. They also could make a Website about a topic and share it with the class. By doing this it engages them in a way that they are not used to doing, but also extends their learning outside of the classroom.

Using technology in the classroom should benefit our students. Not only will it excite them, but it will jumpstart their learning. There are so many ways to do this, that do not even have to be for teaching purposes. Make a class website, to let people know what your class is doing as well as display some of the work the kids have done to share with parents. "A class website can be anything from a basic site where you post announcements, to a much more elaborate one that contains photos"(Haynes).

We have to remember technology is not our enemy even though at times we think it is. There are so many ways it can benefit learning and that is what will help our students not only learn, but remember and enjoy the material.


References:

 Haynes, K. (n.d.). 12 Easy Ways to Use Technology in the Classroom, Even for Technophobic Teachers. Retrieved September 3, 2014.

Keren-Kolb, Liz. "Engage, Enhance and Extend Learning." Web.

Kuntz, B. (n.d.). Engage Students by Embracing Technology.

Image:
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGQ06y6-CJMC9P4Ztn4J-8RO2nVZBqMsT1o_jhGJO8l-ccbLH7ivBR-uHLpAmRugEDsMLrjJw-jTmfelIaa0xLzUh-d-4R9Vc20ghyphenhyphenXSgPavPpoutMcCOu7eXgJRlitY3UxdxRr_n-hMXC/s1600/technology+in+the+classroom.jpg

Twitter and Evernote

Twitter and Evernote are two programs that are great to use in the 21st century classroom. Twitter is most commonly used as a social media site, but is becoming more popular as a professional learning network in the classroom. Evernote is a software used for easy note taking that can be exported.

About Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking service that allows users to read tweets which are made up of 140 characters. By using Twitter we are able to engage in sharing, collaborating, brain storming and problem solving (Dunlap, 2009).

An amazing thing about twitter is you can search a "hash tag." A "hash tag" is something that can be tagged in tweets and allows you to look at what people are talking about based on their "hash tag."

When students are reading something in a textbook they can tweet a question with a certain hash tag in order to get responses from other students or the teacher (Dunlap, 2009).

Another way to use twitter in the classroom is for students and teachers both to post videos, links and pictures of related material that they believe is worth sharing. This can be helpful to gain more knowledge about topics as well as feedback.

Personal Use of Twitter

My personal use of twitter is used to post to my friends or about my day. I know as a future teacher all post need to be appropriate, but still as a safe social media user my account is private. I have a non private account that is for me as a teacher in the education field. I will use this account to re tweet necessary tweets, post information and respond to parents and students.

I personally know that having discussion boards in the classroom is beneficial while doing work outside of class when you need assistance. This is why I feel twitter is a great classroom tool to discuss while out of school.

Due to my busy schedule I get most of my news from Twitter. Since I am on technology a lot, Twitter is the perfect place to see what is going on with the news as well as be one of the first to see it. Although it is sad that radio and TV news are starting to dwindle in our time, it is nice to know that social media is keeping up with it.

About Evernote

Evernote is a cloud web based app that allows users to capture and store text, images, videos and files on your device. It is the perfect tool for organizing notes, lesson plans or anything else you might need. Evernote allows you to sync it with all your devices.

The nice thing about Evernote is it can be used for just about anything you would like it to be used for.

Once you download the Evernote app you can use it on your phone, computer, i pad or any other devices you might need. With that being said Evernote can be shared with other people by email or social media sites.

One thing that really stands out to me is the fact that Evernote remembers writing in pictures. If you upload a photo of a whiteboard to Evernote, you can find the file again later by doing a search for one of the words on the board (Freedman).  

The reason I like the idea of sharing is because it is perfect for sharing lesson plans with team teachers as well as with substitutes for last minute plans.

Personal Use of Evernote

I used Evernote for my Reading Processing class as a Book Buddy Digital Journal. This was such an easy way to take notes because it allows me to do it on the go as well as include images of the books if need be. The best part of Evernote is that I can turn it in by simply sending the link to my teacher.

I feel that in my classroom Evernote will be a great tool not only for me to use, but also my students. As students take notes I can have them send them to me to answer questions as well as make sure they are keeping on task.

Conclusion
In the 21st Century kids are so familiar with social media that it only makes sense to integrate it in the classroom. It is easier for kids to use this since they are already used to working with something relevant in their lives. Using social media not only benefits the students, but also the teachers. Teachers can get ideas and updates as well.

Although people have mixed feelings on social media being brought to the classroom, remember that social media is starting a new path in school systems and learning internet safety is a good lesson. The only way to keep students interested and engaged is to incorporate social media into the learning experience.


References

Dunlap, J. C., & Lowenthal, P. R. (2009). Instructional uses of Twitter. The CU online handbook, 45. 

Freedman, D. H. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/magazine/201112/evernote-2011-company-of-the-year.html