Carroll County Times Articles
Technology in Classrooms
Helps Teachers and Students
by Kris Hayes – May 7, 2006
In a world of growing technology, it is vitally important that parents and educators do their best to keep up! Many of you know how hard it is to get a child's attention and how much harder it is to keep that attention. As an educator in Carroll County Public School's, I've found that using technology to teach isn't as intimidating as it may seem.
Visual Society
America is rapidly growing into a visual society. We are a ‘show-me’ group of people: “Seeing is believing.” and “Actions speak louder than words!” are two great examples of this truth. We need to take this knowledge and apply it in the classroom. To try to educate students with methods such as, “Read this passage, and then apply what you've read.” or “Just follow the directions on the page.” aren't as effective as they used to be. Today, we can incorporate technology by using computer presentation programs, such as PowerPoint, to teach a new topic, or to give a set of directions.
By using PowerPoint, students who need to visually see what is expected can attain the goal much more effectively. PowerPoint, a program readily available on most computers today, allows the creator to include pictures with text. Not only pictures, but animations as well. The students can follow step-by-step directions with the click of a button. The text is there for them to read what is to be done, but there are also animated clips to show them how to do it.
Step by Step
For example, I tried to teach my students how to make an origami bird following a lesson highlighting the importance of following one direction at a time. Having them look at the black and white illustrations on the paper of what the bird should look like after every three or four steps did little good. I found myself running around trying to show each student how to make the fold. If I had created a step-by-step PowerPoint, they could have seen how to make each fold, one at a time. The beauty of this technology is that the students have the power at their fingertips. They can go back and repeat a step as necessary, until they get it right.
This technology isn't just for those who are visual learners. I've noticed that when I use PowerPoint to introduce a new topic, to give directions, or for teaching a lesson in depth, students are much more receptive. They are excited about having the ownership of learning at their own pace, one slide at a time. I'm still meeting standards, covering the assigned curriculum; all I'm doing is changing the format in which it is delivered.
We have the wonderful tool of technology right under our noses, it's time to take that tool and apply it, use it, and make it do it's job… work for us!
About the Author
Kris Hayes is a fifth-grade teacher at Runnymede Elementary School, and an advisor for the Carroll Technology Council, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating businesses, government and residents about technology issues. Questions are welcomed and may be addressed in future articles. Email advisors@carrolltechcouncil.org or go to www.carrolltechcouncil.org for a list of Advisor categories.
