I've seen my fellow teachers re-invent the wheel regarding the incorporation of technology in the classroom. It's not a pretty sight - they'll stay up all night fabricating a lesson that involves a program they're only half-way proficient, and the students can't get on board with it anyways. A failed tech lesson can be a most disheartening event.
The past three years, I've utilized a fantastic timeline-making program called "Timeliner 5.1." Events, pictures, titles, summations, dates, etc. were all parts of a project during our North America Six Weeks. The students appreciated the software, and more importantly, it helped them learn North American history. Unfortunately, the district stopped paying for this software in June 2009 - and I didn't realize this change until the night before I assigned the project!
So I adjusted, and quickly. I took a Microsoft PowerPoint slide show of historic events involving North America (since Columbus's voyages) and stripped each slide of its. For example, the slide would show a picture of Columbus, a short description of his contributions to N.A. history, and the date box would be blank. The students were responsible for filling that box in! Sounds easy, right? Except for one thing - I mixed up the slides so that they're not in sequential order. Once the students figure out the right date, they must re-order the slide show.
How do they know what date to write? That's when I point my index finger to the ceiling and exclaim, "To the Internet!!" The first slide of the file is a list of websites to use, so the students were able to navigate the WWW fast and painlessly.
Would you believe they loved this assignment? It was more than just timeline assignment. It was a scavenger hunt!
But the question is, how do the students turn it in? How does a teacher grade this assignment?
My index finger goes back to an upward position and I say, "With a flash drive!!" Blackboard works great most of the time, but this assignment was even easier to grade by passing a flash drive around class. All I have to do is put their version of the slide show in a layout format where I can see every slide in a single window. Verifying for accuracy is a cinch from there.
"Mr. Grayson, I finished my time line slide show... who has the flash drive... alright I put it on there... I think I got 'em right and in order..."
I could have bemoaned the fact that IISD didn't pony up a few bucks for Timeliner. And I did, a little. But the adjustment I kept the project intriguing and paperless. A paper-based timeline would be the worst scenario. Boring for the students, tedious for the teacher.
So, my advice to other teachers fighting the good fight and keeping tech a priority: be innovative in your tech use, and keep stocking up a repertoire of tech lessons. That's how you stay at the teaching forefront in this decade.
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