So this week I have been working on my imovie. It is making me so made. First I had a hard time coming up with a movie idea that would work for this class. Then my imovie isn't working very well so it has been very frustrating. It is slowly coming together but it has not been easy. I have had to ask my seventeen-year-old brother how to do a lot of things.
As I was working on my project and having problems I was trying to think what you would say to children if they were get frustrated with their technology. Sometimes it can be the hardest thing to use if something is working out. What do you do if your students are just in the mind set of giving up? Do you just tell them to save and come back to it tomorrow or do you show them how to do it? Like especially if they are older and you want them to figure things out on their own. In the past when I as a teacher don't know how to do something I have them ask a peer but is that always the best way to do it?
If it were me, I would model every step of something new for them. Before they even get started, I would show them the whole process on the elmo or smartboard so they have an idea of what they will be looking at and working with. As they begin to work on their project and are getting frustrated, I would stay calm and help them out the best I could. If the teacher is calm and showing the students that it just takes a little practice, I feel that students would feel more positive about the project even though the technology can be frustrating.
ReplyDeleteBefore started any kind of project with students-technology or not-make sure you, as a teacher, know what you are doing! That always helps :) Hopefully your brother is a great help!!
You raise an interesting point. In a chapter by Hubbard (2004), he explicitly calls for learner training, advocating that without specific, detailed training of the steps of the process, learners get so fixed on the mechanics of the technology, that it takes away from the learning. He further argues that a cyclic approach needs to be taken, in other words, during various stages of the technology use (or project), teachers need to give training and the teachers need to make sure that students know what is going on and why. This is really an excellent chapter for any teacher planning on integrating technology in the classroom. One last thing, Hubbard (2004) also explains the value of having tecahers experience the frustration and joy of using technology, in other words to learn the use thereof, just as your students would. Therefore, no matter the age of your students, I would agree with Alyssa that learner training remains a key feature in the integration of technology in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteHubbard, P. (2004). Learner training for effective use of CALL. In Fotos & Browne (Eds.) New Perspectives on CALL for Second Language Classrooms, 45-67. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers.
You bring up a great issue and one that we have to keep in mind whenever we use technology in classrooms -- there's always a Plan B! I don't think you ever want students to reach the frustration level, but let's take out the "technology factor." Do some students reach frustration reading? doing math facts? conducting an experiment? It really goes back to Vygotsky's Zones of Proximal Development -- we need to work in that "Zone" with students, where we challenge them, but give them enough support to keep them learning and moving forward. Now, technology can complicate that process but I think if you still with it it will come back to you!! Remember, you learned this skill at least once before!
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good point. I know my group had a lot of troubles when we were working on our video for class last week. Whenever, I get frustrated sometimes it's best for me to walk away from the situation and come back to it after a short break. I also think it's important for the children to try and figure out how to do something at first. If they really can't solve their problem then I think it's ok for the teacher to intervene.
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