Technology+Integration

There are many ideas for what it means to integrate technology. First of all, let's think about what the technology might be integrated "into." I have in mind a portion of curriculum content, for example a grade 3 unit of fractions, perhaps focusing on equivalence. We need to have some kind of example to work with so let's pretend for now that we are all about to start planning a unit on fractions for grade 3 and that one of our topics is equivalence. How do we start planning and how do we make any kind of curricular decision that might involve the use of technology.

I believe that any resource, be it a poem, a manipulative, a website, a journal article, whatever, to be used effectively and appropriately, it should (in our minds) provide "added value" to the learning experience, perhaps help children conceptualize the topic in a way that would not be possible should that resource not be used. Once we have made the decision to use a resource we need to weave it into the lesson in such a way that the focus is on the topic (in this case equivalence) and not on the resource. For example, we might find a great website that has a pattern block java applet that can be used to illustrate pattern block fraction concepts.

Think about how you might use technology to teach equivalent fractions--or any area of curriulum content (I just gave equivalent fractions as an example). Please contribute to this wiki on technology integration

Shawna - To begin the process of planning a unit on equivalent fractions I could go to the Internet and locate various websites on teacher resources and ideas. There are great ideas and different strategies to teach fractions on the web. I could also try to locate Webquests on equivalent fractions. As we all know, our students have different learning styles and I try to focus on the various ways children learn. The Internet is a great resource, but I always go through all of the sites before students do to identify appropriateness of content, level, benefits, etc. Then depending on what objectives I was trying to achieve I would implement various ideas that I have obtained from Internet resources. Many of these ideas and resources would have to give a hands on experience for the students so they could use various manipulatives to gain an understanding of fractions. I would also allow students to go to various sites, programs, and Webquests so they could use them for introduction, practice, enrichment, etc. I would make sure that these sites were suitable to the scope and sequence of the curriculum. Monitoring the students on the computers is also necessary and I could facilitate their learning. Another idea for integrating technology is to journal or even create a podcast explaining the definition of equivalent fractions and what purpose they serve in the real world. They could also give examples of these real life experiences and relate them to equivalent fractions and give examples. These are just a few ideas. I know there are so many more, but I just don't have enough time to dedicate to this right now. I am looking forward to receiving others' ideas because I will be teaching this concept in the near future. Also, I have included a few websites that I located on the Internet. [|__http://www.funbrain.com/fract/index.html__] [|__http://www.learningplanet.com/sam/ff/index.asp__] http://www.harcourtschool.com/activity/con_math/g04c20.html