1. How do I plan an integrated lesson that will work with my students?
There are many factors in creating an integrated lesson plan that will work with my students. "The length of the lesson depends on the complexity of the problem the students investigate, the specified instructional objectives, the content you intend to cover during the lesson, and the capabilities of your students" (p. 29). It is important to be sure that the lesson and objectives are are appropriate for the age and the grade of the students that are being taught. Another important factor is to keep in mind the attention span of the students that are being taught. A Kindergarten class may not be able to attack the same lesson plan as a 1st or 2nd grade class, and they may only be able to stay focused for a matter of minutes compared to a higher grade, which may be able to work on a lesson for several days.
2. Why do I need objectives to help with planning and lesson development?
There is really no way to plan a successful lesson without specifying the objectives of what the students are expected to learn with the lesson. With having objectives and showing the students the objectives for the lesson, the students tend to better understand what they are supposed to learning. When the teachers are sure about the objectives for the lesson, they are better able to ensure that the lesson stays on track.
3. How can I encourage my students to engage in the processing of information?
"It is critical that this problem is highly motivating and interesting, because as students strive to solve the problem they will develop the thinking skills and gain the knowledge specified in the objectives" (p. 34). There are several ways that the teacher can be sure that they problems that students are investigating can keep the students engaged in the processing of information. One way is to keep the problems related to real-life and to keep them in the realm that they students are already familiar with. For example, in a problem that involves places, use places that the students already know about. Another way to keep the students involved, is to let the students feel like they "own" the problem. Students could help in the creation of the problem, discuss the information that they already know, and then discuss the solution and new information that they have learned.
4. Do I have to use a different lesson plan when I want my students to use computers?
When using the NTeQ guidelines to to plan a lesson, it is not necessary to use a different lesson plan when I want students to use the computer. When using the NTeQ guidelines, there are several different activities integrated into the lesson plan. It is important to decide how you want the students to research, gather, analyze, and present their findings. All of these steps in working a problem, should be able to be completed by both using a computer or other research resources.
5. What is the relationship between objectives and computer functions?
The only way to create a great lesson, is to find ways to connect the objectives that you are trying to teach, with ways to investigate and solve these problems using computer functions. By finding the relationship between these objectives and computer functions, the teacher can guide the students to different programs that they can use on the computer. Using these programs to complete the lessons and assignments, may make collecting and sifting through data easier.
6. Can you use a computer for every objective or lesson?
"...you should not expect to teach all of your objectives with a computer" (p. 29). The texts talks about how it is still important for students to learn from other resources, such as textbooks, books, magazines, and working together. If the only way that students learn is through the computer or technology based, they will be lost when in a situation in which they have no technology to use. I liked the example given in the book, "For example, a pencil and paper are tools that are used extensively in almost every class. However, we would not expect a student in a language arts class to write all period every day" (p. 29). I think that it is sometimes easy for teachers to get carried away with the amount of technology based learning that is done in the classroom, it is important for students to learn other ways to research and/or solve problems.
Lowther, D., & Morrison, G. (2010). Integrating Computer Technology into the Classroom. Pearson Education, Inc
No comments:
Post a Comment