Blended Learning
What is Blended Learning:
Blended LEARNING is student centered instruction that has student working with quality instructional materials in both a mix of paper-based activities, hands on activities, and technology integrated activities. Technology integration should be used to get to higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy and DOK Quadrants 3 and 4. Think about using technology to appeal to students Wants, Interests, and Needs (WIN).
Quick Tip: You need to ensure you are focusing on STUDENT learning with technology. With that said, all use of technology should be a tool to facilitate the students mastering the learning objective. Technology should not replace good instruction and should always come after good teaching strategies. So, good lessons aligned to standards first and technology integration second.
Finding COMFORT and JOY in digital learning.
Increase Student Engagement,
Blended Learning, Go Paperless with Learned Lessons.
Find some JOY in going paperless or just
get our of your COMFORT zone by trying DIGITAL resources!
Guide to what a digital classroom
looks like:
Are
you contemplating stepping into the digital world? Well, let me give you a few quick tips that I
learned the hard way.
You need to ensure you are focusing on STUDENT learning with technology, With that said, all use of technology should be a tool to facilitate the students as the work towards mastering the learning objectives. Technology should not replace good instruction and should always come after good teaching strategies. So, good lessons aligned to standards first, and technology integration second.
First, decide your
current level.
►Beginner Level- Not Familiar
-Start
small. Try a blended learning approach
with paper and digital resources. A good
start would be to use a no cost online program such as www.CommonLit.org or ReadWorks.
Both of these programs are easy to use and will allow your students an
organized online platform for reading information and other test aligned to
your content and to common core standards.
► Middle Level- Can Easily Get Around in a Digital World
-If
you are familiar with some use of digital learning, then you probably have a
google classroom set-up or can easily set one up. I recommend using online learning for projects and activities throughout your unit.
Maybe you don’t have a device for every student in your class, but your
school has computer labs and/or laptop carts available. Also, if you have a set of iPads or other
devices within your room, you could run center rotations to get projects or
activities done throughout the unit. I would suggest timeline relays, puzzles,
profile projects, or choice boards activities to eliminate the use of paper and
to engage students in the content. Click here for ready to go digital products.
► Advanced Level- Google Certified Level 1 or 2
-If
you are ready to eliminate most paper from your room, then you are ready to go
100% digital. You are also ready to get
your kids creating new products using great digital software available. Think about have your students create digital
portfolios, making movies, coding, and creating their own blogs.
Do your homework before you assign
digital work:
Second,
check the
activity, make sure all links work, have a backup plan for internet outages,
make sure you can monitor the students while they work (turn screens or use a
program such as GoGuardian
or Nearpod).
Make sure the activity aligns to
the objective or standard:
Third,
make sure
the activity requires students to submit proof of their learning and measures the objective for the day.
•Have
a set of guided questions, a writing prompt, a graphic organizer.
•Whatever
they turn in can be in a digital format or a print format using a digital
resource. This depends on how
comfortable you are with the activity.
•Checkout the great American History, Civics, Geography, Science, and ELA digital products below.
Make sure you model the
expectations and explain digital safety:
Fourth,
ensure students understand how to stay safe and use online content
appropriately. An easy
way to do this is to send students to Scholastic’s 10
Digital Safety Commandments for Students for a
fun take on digital
responsibility and safety. My favorite
from the site is below:
“V.
Your local library is offering a PlayStation 4 to the best neighborhood poet.
You
happened to find the most amazing Minecraft poem
on the web last night.
Do
you cut and paste the poem into a Word document?
No. Thou
shalt not steal. Plagiarism
is a crime!”
And
last, but certainly not least, remember the overall purpose of digital
learning. MIT said it best,
“Digital
learning technologies can enable students to grasp concepts more
quickly and fully, to connect theory and application more adeptly, and to
engage in learning more readily, while also improving instructional techniques,
leveraging instructor time, and facilitating the widespread sharing of
knowledge. Digital technologies will enable this in new and better ways and
create possibilities beyond the limits of our current imagination.” _MIT EDU
So,
kick back and enjoy the Comforts
of a paperless classroom with a few digital activities from Learned
Lessons. Or if you are new to digital
learning, I challenge you to step out of your Comfort
zone!
