Integrating Multimedia
Integrating Multimedia slide show
Concerning videos and other materials brought into the classroom an instructor has need to watch or read them first to make sure the content of the work is age appropriate for their learners. Since our class is tenth grade all materials and sites are relevant to the context of the prompts and are made age appropriate by making mandatory sites available through research beforehand and adding those sites to the prompt also give a wealth of information to the student. Consequently, as a teacher without the foresight that YouTube can also be filled with racism and hateful remarks young researchers and learners can become discouraged.
Therefore, keyword searches may be discouraged in the classroom for these prompts which is a disadvantage. Hence, questions are to be considered when video is integrated into lesson planning. According to the Sociological Cinema (2012), teacher should determine relevance, and ask does the material advance learning? Does the material illustrate or amplify? There is also need to evaluate it, according to author, that is, does it meet student, university, or community standards? Is it offensive? Is it disparaging? Is the material disturbing? (Sociological Cinema, 2012).
Other important needs to address when incorporating video in the lesson are venue, video time, and how to test on the subject of watched outside of the classroom.
Other challenges of integrating technology in the learning environment
It may seem less of a challenge to design and or implement a technology based lesson if one is a per subject teacher [i.e, history teacher], but what about the homeschool parent as teacher, or homeschool teachers who instruct on every topic? Will parents have a greater chance of integrating technology into their lessons if they use it? Yes, they will but parents need to learn the what, when, how and why of technology and then move on to the integration more so than the teachers in a public school classroom. Hence, there remains a challenge of teaching out of ignorance. It is the case, that there are still homes that are not technology literate other than using the phone to talk.
The goal then is to use technology at home as a teaching, and learning tool and if one teaches elsewhere then they too are more likely to integrate that literacy of technology. In an Edutopia (2009) article, Technology Integration begins at home the author wrote:
At home — that’s my answer. You see, I think many educators are more apt to carry technology use over from their personal lives into their professional ones than to take it on as a new part of their job. A teacher who uses a digital camera to share images of a home remodel as email attachments with her grown children has begun to understand the power of digital communication in a personal way. A teacher who uses online resources to plan a trip has begun to understand the power of the Web in answering any question one is curious enough about to ask. Once they experience the power and ease of current digital photography or Web-based research in their personal lives, the stage is set for helping them bring technology into their classroom teaching (Edutopia, 2009, para.4)
Conclusion
The integration or use of the internet in the classroom promotes literacy of research, use of browsers and URL’s while invoking critical and logical thinking among all personalities of learners. The use of mind mapping tools allows students to access subjects and or concepts through step by step capabilities, and allow additional material and thought to be added born from that. The use of PowerPoint or presentations through technology in the classroom promote fun, engagement, and graphics to what could originally be a bland topic; and allow, freedom of expression which can help educators to see what the student knows. The use of internet video as a technology in the classroom can be used to introduce subject content, and thus, eliminate boring or uninteresting lectures.
Related Articles & Suggested Readings
United Nations Educations, Scientific and Cultural Organization
Technology Integration Begins at Home
Harnack, A & Kleppinger, E., (1997). Online! A Reference Guide to Using Internet Sources. St. Martin’s Press, Inc. New York, NY. ISBN: 0-312-15023
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. B. (2015). Teaching and learning with technology (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education
What is Mind Mapping? (and How to Get Started Immediately)
Multiple Intelligences
The Arab Muslim Slave Trade of Africans
The African Slave Trade and the Middle Passage
Organization of the Slave Trade
The Transatlantic Slave Trade Database
PowerPoint in the Classroom
Best Practices for Using Video in the Classroom
Effective Use of PowerPoint
Islam: Empire of Faith [Documentary]
Creating Mind Maps from Google Docs
The Dailey Grind 