Creating to Learn: Integrating Technology Into Your Classroom, Grades 5-12

This is a presentation by Jacqueline Keane. The session begins with a recap of where she has come from and how she began to incorporate technology into her classroom. She found that when she assigned students to create PowerPoint slides, there would be too much emphasis on the bells and whistles of PowerPoint instead of on the content that was being delivered. To try and learn more, she began visiting other teachers, schools, and attending conferences. She found that there were many schools that were doing the same thing she was. One problem that was prevalent was that there was no curriculum plan for the computers! The schools would brag about having the equipment, but there was no plan to incorporate them correctly!

There was a book and folder that was distributed, but there weren't enough for everyone. The handouts in the folder were shown on the overhead. This session is feeling a lot like it is going over the main ideas behind properly incorporating technology into the classroom. Don't focus on the technology, focus on what it is being used for.

CIDE Process:

Begin with a Concept. The kids will need to continuously refocus on this to remember what their goal is.
Investigation. The students need to do this themselves. If you want them to use data, have them collect it as well. Of course, all sources need to be verified.
Jacqueline says she often has her students reject one of the sources they find and give a reason as to why they are discarding it. It could be a personal webpage or is not verified as a reliable source.
Design. Students will lay out their project, including synthesizing the data and choosing how to put it together.
Execution. This is the phase where the students create their final project.

As an educator, when you are choosing a concept, you need to focus on the core concepts of your curriculum. The first day, you need to introduce the concept. Students will create graphic organizers and reflect on the goal. Students should vary their sources for an investigation. As a student designs their project, it should be something that showcases their talents and vision, not someone else's. Help them to embrace their strengths. The execution phase should be divided into separate tasks to keep the student on task. They should do this themselves.

In her book, there is a rubric on CIDE to help guide the use of the process. This process requires students to demonstrate refined research, critical thinking, communication, and analytical skills. I am having trouble keeping up with a lot of the info that is on the PowerPoint slides. There is some good info on it, and she's not just reading off the slides, but it is difficult to try and get all the info I want off of them. I hope I can get some more of this info from the Creating to Learn website. The session has ended by 12:30. Maybe she could have slowed down a little more to better allow more of the info to sink in.