Technology & Learning - January 2009 - (Page 22)

FEATURESTORY Download this FREE series today! Fundamentals of K-12 Technology Programs Brought to you by Tech & Learning and sponsored by HP, this new series covers the educational technology topics that matter most to the profession’s leaders, practitioners, and innovators. Topics include: focus on specific tasks. Working as a team allowed us to generate more materials than we could individually. 5 CONSIDER YOUR AUDIENCE. As you build your skills and choose the tools you’re going to use, think about how your students will access the material. Do they need special software or an upgraded version of a common program to view the files? Saving simple documents in easily accessible formats such as rtf, html, or pdf are your safest bet, but you may also include a link to software (such as Adobe Reader) that will allow students to access the material just in case they don’t have specific software. Size also matters. Files that are too big (often complex or high quality images and sound are the culprits) may take a long time to load, particularly if your students have only dial-up access. learning outcomes? Such reflection can help guide revisions to the current material or inspire future additions. They also can give you an honest assessment of the value of your investment of time and effort. In the project described above, we discovered that a lack of technology skills on the part of the instructor did not directly translate to diminished learner outcomes. Rather, we confirmed that quality teachers know how to effectively work their craft regardless of whether or not they used technology, so don’t 6 HAVE A BACKUP PLAN. Leadership You may have ambitious goals. Make sure you break your complex plans into small, sequential, manageable bits. expect students’ gains in learning to precisely parallel your own increases in technological knowledge. The speed with which new technologies emerge can be intimidating, but should neither deter you from trying new teaching tools nor make you feel you have to do it all at once. Like adopting any other new methodology, the use of technology in the classroom is simply a means of enhancing the material to promote interactions between students, the teacher, the content, and other students. It has the potential to add to but doesn’t take the place of quality teaching practices. A conscientious, measured approach to implementing technology in the classroom can provide students additional means of access to course material and boost your own skill and comfort level with new techniques. Don’t count on technology being your only means of delivering necessary information. Servers go down. Files delay in loading or take too long to load altogether. Meticulously acquired images appear as a red X. Students have compatibility issues with browsers. To deal with unexpected problems, make sure you have more traditional means of providing students with information, whether it be paper copies, transparencies, CDs, etc. as you work to resolve the issues. Sponsored by: 7 HAVE A WAY TO MEASURE YOUR SUCCESS. Sign up today at http://www. techlearning.com/ K12/Fundamentals Don’t make the mistake of claiming victory simply by reflecting on the personal challenges you overcame in incorporating technology. Think about the reasons you wanted to use the particular technological format you chose in the first place and formulate a plan to get feedback on it. Are the students actually accessing the information? Is the information easy for them to assimilate? Is the presentation format useful, aesthetically pleasant, and intuitively arranged? Is the students’ access to the information improving their Dr. Patricia MacGregor-Mendoza is an Associate Professor of Spanish and Linguistics at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM. 22 | TECH & LEARNING http://www.techlearning.com/K12/Fundamentals

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Technology & Learning - January 2009

Technology & Learning - January 2009 Contents Editor’s Desk News & Trends Put to the Test VS Revo Group Mimio Studio 6 Software NewTek TriCaster Type to Learn 4 Pure Digital Flip Mino Video Camera Get Better With Your Tech The Future is in Your Hand Write On! A Guide to Buying Printers January 2009 What’s New What They Said

Technology & Learning - January 2009

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