Our Waiver Day was cancelled and instead made a calamity make up day, but there was some information that we planned to share on the day that we now have to find a new way to share.
One of those bits of information is for those still trying to get a grasp on their place in the whole 1:1 thing. For them, these two questions come up quite often: What should be my purpose for integrating technology, and How do I know when integrating technology into my lesson is a good idea?
Well there are a couple of mental "checklists" that I've found useful in helping me answer those two questions. I planned to share them, as well as illustrate them with digital tools as examples, on Waiver Day.
Since it's not something that could now be done in person, I thought, Hey, why not put them in a video? I share those lists in the video below, along with an email from the parent of one of Sara Lang's students (thanks for letting me share it, Sara) that I think is right on the money and proof positive about why what we're doing with our 1:1 program is so important.
Also, I've made a list of resources to illustrate one of those checklists. They include some sites and functions I incorporated in the video, as well as interactive sites I've found that you may want to add to your arsenal of digital tools (I also tested them all out on the Chromebook). I'll add more interactive websites as I find them.
The checklists give me a lens through which to view technology, and I hope they'll provide you with a little focus as you consider why & when to integrate technology.
Just a bit of FYI related to this video. I knew it was possible to add links (hotspots) in Youtube videos, and since I always like to challenge myself to learn/try something new on every project I start, I thought I would make the 1:1 video more interactive by adding places where the watcher could click on the actual video to get more information. I made the video with that in mind.
Well, to quote Gomer Pyle (remember him?!), Surprise, surprise, surprise! When I went to add those hotspots, I realized that now only certain types of links can be embedded in a Youtube video (like links to Google Sites, for instance) -- but not just any link I wanted to use. So I had to go back earlier this week and do some re-editing to the video to adapt to that little surprise. For this reason, the page of resources is linked under the posting date of the video on Youtube.
