Transcript Content Report

World history
content report
jennifer Roma
itec 7400
it’s not all dates, wars and
dead people
• I have discovered when teaching world history
that as a teacher you can get very caught up
in lecturing and giving tons of notes to get the
content distributed.
• As a teacher, we have so many standards that
we have to cover in not nearly enough time, it
makes us want to inundate our students with
too much information.
• What do we get as a result? Students that
hate history!
How do we fix that?
• Unlike when we (teachers) were younger and
in school and we learned through
lecture/instruction and tests, many of our
students these days don’t respond as well to
those methods.
• They are 21st century learners and have
grown up in a lifetime full of technology. It is a
part of who they are.
• As teachers, we have to find ways to embrace
that technology and bring it into our
classrooms if we want to help our students
So many options,
so little time
• I know how hard it is as teachers for us to find
new ways of doing things and new tools to use
in the classroom.
• That being said, I want to offer up a few of my
favorite Instructional Technology tools that I
have used in my World History classroom.
• I have tried many, some that didn’t go so well,
but these are ones that myself, as well as my
students, have truly enjoyed and have
benefitted from.
Poll everywhere & SRS
(iRespond)
• I found a fun new way to check for student
understanding without getting out the entire kit
and kaboodle we know and love as iRespond.
Poll Everywhere is a great tool that the
students love too.
• Students can use their cell phones and text
answers to questions, either multiple choice
answers or free response, to a question you
have posted up on the screen.
Poll everywhere & SRS
(iRespond)
• As Cobb County teachers, we all have access
to the iRespond Student Response System.
• I use this tool for summative tests in the
classroom as well as formative assessments
on a regular basis.
• Using iRespond for formative assessments
allows us as teachers to group students
immediately based on their level of
understanding the content and can then spend
extra time with students who need it.
earthpoint
• This is a mapping software that we have on
many of our computers at school for teacher
and student use.
• It gives us interactive, current maps that are
updated every time you log on to the software.
• It provides layers of information and detailed
content that cover everything from political,
agriculture, religion, landforms, population and
so much more.
• I think the LoTi level on both the Poll
Everywhere/iRespond and Earthpoint is at a 3
based on using them for discovery.
• I definitely think that Earthpoint could be higher if
students were using it to produce a product for a
presentation.
• The assessments component of Poll Everywhere
and iRespond contributes to strong EL indicators.
• Earthpoint EL indicators can be student directed,
authentic, and student explorer/teacher/producer.
• Because of how versatile these tools are, they can
be used with any standard that we cover in World
History throughout the course.
Webquests
• I love webquests and think they are an
excellent way to “up” the learning level in a
classroom.
• Students usually enjoy them as well because
they get to spend time on the computer
learning instead of listening to their teacher!
• There are great webquests out there on the
web and you can search for very specific
subjects. I have used www.webquest.org to
search for them as well as just typing a
request in my google search.
Webquests
• We do a couple of webquests in World History,
but my favorite one (and I think the students
favorite one too!) is for World War I.
• Once it is finished, the students will be able to
access it from my website,
www.romasworldhistory.weebly.com and they
can work on it outside of class if they want to.
• Webquests can run the gamut of LoTi levels and
EL indicators so you want to look for ones that
don’t just ask the students to do basic research.
• You should use a Webquest that requires
information gathering that is then used to solve real
or authentic problems relating to the overall theme
or concept.
• In using a webquest like this, your students can
easily achieve a 4B LoTi level.
• The webquest needs to feel like problem based
learning, instead of information gathering.
• The EL indicators in a good webquest can have
authentic, student-directed learning tasks that are multidisciplinary also. The student can be the explorer,
teacher, and producer and they will need to have good
collaborating skills if they are doing this in a group of
their peers. The teacher acts mainly as a facilitator in a
well structured class.
• The standards addressed for a World War I webquest
are SSWH16: The student will demonstrate an
understanding of long-term causes of WWI and its global
impact.
• Again, a good webquest like the one we are doing for
WWI will meet nets-s standards 1-4 extensively.
Digital Storytelling
• Another great tool that can be utilized in world
history is digital storytelling.
• I tell my students that professionals can
sometimes put together a video that covers in
10 minutes what I would need 2 days to cover.
• PBS.org does a great job at this for many
different content areas. I used
www.pbs.org/greatwar as a resource for my
students. It provided them with video and
audio clips of important facts and people
involved with WWI.
Educational Websites
• As a teacher, one of the best technology
resources I have found is Discovery
Education.
• Great long and short video clips as well as
quiz’s and video guides to go along with them.
• One of the tools the students love on this site
is the crossword maker. They can take a topic
and do research on it, then create a crossword
that they can use to give to the class after
sharing the information that they learned.
• Both the digital storytelling sites, like PBS.org, and
educational websites, like Discovery education
easily provide for a LoTi level of 4B with technology
being used to provide a rich context for student
understanding.
• I believe that the EL indicators are strong in
Content and learning goals, learning tasks are
authentic with students roles being those of
explorer/teacher/producer in many facets. The
teacher serves as a facilitator and/or guide for the
students with these sites.
• Typically these types of tools are used in
conjunction with students in small groups which
requires them to focus on their collaboration skills
as well.
• The use of these types of tools encourage the
A little something extra
• I have to give some credit to the History
Channel too!
• “Modern Marvels, Pawn Stars & American
Pickers”
• Great tools to help with teaching: “America:
The Story of Us”, “The Men Who Built
America”, and the upcoming “Mankind: The
Story of All of US”
The Fine Print
• It’s important for us as educators to remember
that our students live in an age of new
technology every time we turn around.
• The release of the next iPhone or Droid phone
is always just around the corner.
• We have to stay technologically relevant to
continue to reach them on a higher learning
level!