Digital Blog Post #B

Using Technology to Enhance Teaching- Instructional Practices
Active Learning
Online Problem-Solving Environments

According to the authors, there are two different categories that the use of technology to enhance learning in the classroom can fit into. One of the two categories mentioned by the authors is the use of technology for instructional practices, which is when technology is utilized during direct interaction between the teacher and students . I believe that technological instructional practices are significant in the classroom because it engages the students in the subject matter, which may also allow them to be entertained while learning rather than being inactive and doing worksheets. I made a Kahoot quiz as an example of the type of technology I would like to use in my classroom here. I made questions using information from the textbook (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 29-30). I also made a question asking about favorite types of music as a fun discussion before class officially started, as well as a question about the curriculum learned that day to see how well students understood the material.

Active learning, described as the act of students learning both "physically and cognitively," is another concept that is significant to the classroom (Maloy, et al, 2013, 48). This act goes beyond worksheets, lectures, note-taking, and textbook readings. I find active learning incredibly important. It can provide a solid foundation for students to build their knowledge upon, and it can be used in most, if not all, subjects. I also think that with the inclusion of technology throughout a lesson, active learning could be achieved easier, and possibly subconsciously, for students. In this article titled "Engaging Students with Active Learning," Waters states how active learning can be achieved through technologies that college students use as a staple in everyday life.

The last concept I want to talk about is online-problem solving environments. This concept is important for three reasons, as highlighted by the authors. It helps students accomplish tasks that are impossible without digital means, it can help students visualize or "experience" problems, and it can help mix learning about technology while also engaging in the subject matter (Maloy, et al, 2013, p. 53). When I was in either elementary school or middle school, I remember my teachers telling me and my classmates to play on sites like Cool Math Games as a way to encourage us to learn math. While I believe that online-problem solving environments belong in all age groups, I am not sure i would include games like this in a high school setting unless there was a free day or a class was ahead of all the other classes.

These concepts really distinguish how technology can be used in the classroom, and in what context they could be used in. I personally love the concept of active learning, as I was not shown how to do it until the latter years of my high school education. I feel like this concept should be more prominent in early education, and it could encourage deeper and more meaningful learning for students.

Resources

Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

Steuber, S. (2016, January 7). Quiz for Digital Blog Post #B. Created with Kahoot https://getkahoot.com/

Waters, J. K. (2015, April 15). Engaging Students with Active Learning. Retrieved February 5, 2016, from https://campustechnology.com/articles/2015/04/15/engaging-students-with-active-learning.aspx