Written Transcript
“The lesson I will be adding technology to is a 2nd grade unit that focuses on the Presidents of the United States. In the past, students choose one President to research. They use library books to gather information about their president, and they write an oral speech to share their information with the class. This lesson is typically taught in the homeroom core class; however, the teacher has asked that I find a way to extend the project and add technology to it. The way I plan to integrate technology is through the tool ThingLink. By using ThingLink, this lesson will further their understanding while also meeting the ISTE Standards 1 Empowered Learner, 3 Knowledge Constructor, 4 Innovative Designer, and 6 Creative Communicator.
Thinglink is an interactive learning experience that provides a wide array of features that include interactive images, videos, and 360 images. First, students choose a background image that they want to use to add their links to. Students will search for information (either through library books or on websites) to find the information that they would like to share. Instead of writing it out onto a poster, they add “links” to their original photo. They will learn how to add links, add videos, add facts. They are able to type in the facts they are able to find. If they find a video, they can add the video in so that when someone visits their picture, they can watch a video to learn more information.
For example, if they want to add the day that George Washington died, they would copy that information, or write it down if they need to, go back to their original image, click where they would like to add that fact, and then they can add the text or information here. They also have the ability to change what the icon looks like – if they want it to stand out or if it’s a different type of fact – they can change the font; they can change the way it looks. And then when they are ready, they can save that fact. So now once we save the image and we hover over that fact, we can learn about when he died. Students are in charge of gathering the information, images, videos, and activities that they would like to link to their image. This technology tool allows for students to choose the method that they share their learning, and there is freedom to be unique and creative. No two finished products will look the same.
This project already taught students how to research information and present it to an audience. By incorporating ThingLink into this project, students not only learn those same skills, but they also strengthen their technology skills as well. This final project can be shared to all families.
They can be saved to Collections, like this, where students can then access each other’s projects at their own time, at their own pace. They can click on each student’s project and learn more about each of the presidents that were researched.
This final project can be shared to all families, and even to students and classes around the world, which meets the ISTE standard 7, which is being a Global Collaborator.”
Part 2 – Written Reflection
According to Roblyer and Hughes (2019), the RAT Matrix is used to assess a lesson that incorporates technology. The teacher should look to determine whether the technology integration Replaces, Amplifies, or Transforms the instructional methods, student learning process, or curriculum goals. For this lesson, I used ThingLink to replace and amplify the lesson. The finished ThingLink projects are a replacement for the former oral reports and posters that students would create. The lesson was amplified because it gave students the ability to learn and grow their technology skills while still researching and presenting their knowledge. It also allowed for them to share their knowledge with a much larger audience than the original project had.
References
Roblyer, M. D., & Hughes, J. E. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching: Transforming learning across disciplines. New York City, NY: Pearon.