with Technology: A Practical Guide for Teachers, by Teachers:
1. Keep yourself moving.
If you are teaching while your students are at their computers, you
need to be constantly circling the room, looking at what students are
doing, watching for the telltale signs of illicit programs being
quickly minimized. Consider the layout of tables and chairs in your
classroom and be sure that you are able to move around the room
quickly and unimpeded. If you do this regularly, you=92ll find that you
end up doing a lot of teaching from the back of the room, where you
can see everyone=92s screens. Teaching from the back of the room has the
added benefit that you can see the class, the board, and the
projection screen from a student perspective. (With a handy pointer
device that can be bought at a computer store, it is even possible to
control your computer and projector from a distance.) Plus, all that
circling and hovering can be great exercise!
2. Keep the subject moving.
If the activity and conversation are moving fast enough and the
material is engaging and challenging enough, students won=92t have time
to mess around. Of course, some students might not
be able to keep up. Use this one carefully, and think about whether
the primary purpose at that moment is for the students to amass
information or reflect upon it to gain understanding. If it=92s the
latter, consider asking the students to lower their laptop screens and
focus more acutely on the conversation.
3. Hold students accountable.
If you do have problems with students misusing machines, often
punishing one or two can have a quieting effect on the rest of the
group, at least for a little while. If you do so early in the year,
you send a strong message to the students that the computers are to be
used for academic purposes and nothing else.
4. Make each screen visible.
If possible, set up the room in a horseshoe with you at the center so
you can watch the students work. If you must have students seated in
rows, sit in the back of the classroom where you can see their
screens. Screens create a barrier. It=92s subtle, but there is something
about the laptop screen that creates a barrier between students and
teachers.
5. For better discussion, lower laptop screens or close desktop monitors.
Whenever you want to just have a discussion with students to flush out
an issue, make them lower their screens. If you use laptops, teach
your students to =93close to a thumb=94 which means that they don=92t quite
close the laptop, keeping a thumb=92s width between the keyboard and the
screen so that the computer doesn=92t go into sleep mode. When the
conversation ends and you want them to start taking notes again, give
them a few minutes to type up a summary of the important points from
your conversation before moving on. If you are in a computer lab where
students are working with computers, have them shut off the monitors
when you want to speak to them.
6. Check Web Browsing history.
Direct them all to the same Web site at the beginning of the class.
Then check their Internet history at the end of class. See where they
have been during class!
7. Have homework waiting in their email inbox.
That's likely the first thing they'll open when they get on the
computer. Have lesson web links ready in the email message.
8. Be sure that your students=92 work is easily portable.
It doesn=92t make sense for students to take notes on computers if they
cannot access their files in class, at school, and at home.
Suggestion: Use online portfolios. Make sure students have somewhere
they can reliably store their notes online. Suggestion: Use a thumb
drive. Some schools mandate that students purchase their own thumb
drives, or flash drives, to bring to school. At the very least, you
might suggest to your students that they purchase an inexpensive thumb
drive to move electronic files quickly from computer to computer.
9. For tests or quizzes require students to make their word processor
full screen.
Make sure that students are not working in windows that allow them to
look at anything other than their work.
10. Save, save, save.
Remind students to save their work every five to ten minutes.
11. Write cheat-proof questions.
When you ask students common or standard questions about literature or
time periods, they can use the Internet to find common answers. If you
ask creative questions, students will have a harder time finding
ready-made answers.
12. Get your IT staff on call.
Tell your school=92s IT staff when you are giving an assignement or
test, and see if they can spare someone to help you.
13. Practice with smaller, low-stakes assignments.
Before you begin that "big project" in the lab, give a shorter
assignment so that you and your students can practice in the computing
environment.
14. Remember, it's about them; not you.
You don't have to be a master of technology, nor do you have to
understand everything kids can do with technology. Create a framework
for an engaging, student-centered assignment and let students surprise
you with their innovative contributions!
On Thu, Mar 12, 2009 at 11:06 AM, Ed Owens <drsloomis@mac.com> wrote:
> Can anybody point me towards a set of best practices for lessons involvin=
g
> the computer lab? I'm not talking about best practices in integrating
> technology, but literally using the computer lab (i.e., walking around,
> concrete objectives / assignments, etc.). We're working on something we c=
an
> point teachers towards to help make the best use of their time in the lab=
.
> =A0Thanks in advance.
>
> Ed Owens
> Director of Technology
> Episcopal Day School
>
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--=20
Tom Daccord -- educational technology trainer, speaker, and author.
Co-Director, EdTechTeacher
Chestnut Hill, MA
tom@edtechteacher.org
http://edtechteacher.org/
http://besthistorysites.net/
c: 617-455-8716
EdTechTeacher.org & Boston University Summer Workshops:
http://edtechteacher.org/workshops.html
[ For info on ISED-L see http://www.gds.org/ISED-L ]
Submissions to ISED-L are released under a creative commons, attribution, non-commercial, share-alike license.
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