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Melinda Tilley’s students can use an Internet program that will enable them to create a storybook online, using their own voice and pictures while improving reading comprehension.
“Anytime kids can listen to themselves, they love it,” she said. “It’s very beneficial in that primary age.”
Teachers from across the state visited Fort Leavenworth to learn about technology in the classroom Nov. 6 at Bradley Elementary School. Three teachers shared information about the Discovery Education Network with their colleagues, which is an online resource for teachers. Teachers also learned about free tools they can use online and used that technology to film a short interview with Command and General Staff College students. They also toured Fort Leavenworth, took pictures with the intent to produce an online story about their trip to post.
Tilley, who works for the Greenbush Southeast Kansas Education Center near Girard, Kan., told teachers there were many tools they could use. When using a program called VoiceThread.com, students could upload pictures to help illustrate a story.
However, Tilley said if those photos are posted online, teachers must use caution to follow copyright and licensing laws, even for educational purposes. The Discovery Educator Network has a list of images that are acceptable for educational use.
“If you’re grabbing images off Google Images and republishing, it could be illegal,” she said.
Teachers learned how to film subjects in front of a green screen. Then, using a free online video editor called JayCut, they learned how to put graphics onto the video.
Chelsea Whisnant, fourth-grade teacher in Rossville, Kan., said her school has a technology rich classroom, which means her students all use laptops. They don’t have enough for each child individually, but a grant allows them to have 15 laptops in the classroom. Her children are excited about coming to fourth grade to learn because of this, she said.
Whisnant said she went from using a blackboard to this technology classroom in only a few years of teaching. She said the change is positive for child learning.
“The more engaged kids are, the more they’re going to learn and the less problems they’re going to have,” she said, “because they’re having fun.”
Whisnant remembers being bored with textbooks in her own fourth-grade class. With the amount of information available online, textbooks are becoming unnecessary.
“I hardly even use textbooks in my classroom anymore,” she said.
Teachers do have to educate themselves on how to find quality instructional material. Using Wikipedia, for example, might not be the best for teachers because it could contain incorrect information.
Dean Mantz, technology integration and network coordinator for the Sterling, Kan., school district, taught for 14 years in a traditional classroom before being a technology professional. He’s seen technology professionals in schools transition from a network support role to being involved in educational materials and instruction. Mantz said teachers have to prepare children to eventually work in a technology-advanced world.
“More and more jobs you get into are so technology influenced in one way or another,” he said.
Mantz said students who grow up using the Internet to access the world learn differently than their parents, who grew up learning traditionally through lectures and books. Research has even shown changes in patterns of activity in medical scans of the brain, Mantz said.
Al Landever, technology director for the Fort Leavenworth School District, said there are many resources for education online that are free and available to anyone.
“There’s so many resources it’s overwhelming, so to have this time to learn from someone at a master’s level is very valuable to teachers,” he said.
Melinda Tilley’s students can use an Internet program that will enable them to create a storybook online, using their own voice and pictures while improving reading comprehension.
“Anytime kids can listen to themselves, they love it,” she said. “It’s very beneficial in that primary age.”
Teachers from across the state visited Fort Leavenworth to learn about technology in the classroom Nov. 6 at Bradley Elementary School. Three teachers shared information about the Discovery Education Network with their colleagues, which is an online resource for teachers. Teachers also learned about free tools they can use online and used that technology to film a short interview with Command and General Staff College students. They also toured Fort Leavenworth, took pictures with the intent to produce an online story about their trip to post.
Tilley, who works for the Greenbush Southeast Kansas Education Center near Girard, Kan., told teachers there were many tools they could use. When using a program called VoiceThread.com, students could upload pictures to help illustrate a story.
However, Tilley said if those photos are posted online, teachers must use caution to follow copyright and licensing laws, even for educational purposes. The Discovery Educator Network has a list of images that are acceptable for educational use.
“If you’re grabbing images off Google Images and republishing, it could be illegal,” she said.
Teachers learned how to film subjects in front of a green screen. Then, using a free online video editor called JayCut, they learned how to put graphics onto the video.
Chelsea Whisnant, fourth-grade teacher in Rossville, Kan., said her school has a technology rich classroom, which means her students all use laptops. They don’t have enough for each child individually, but a grant allows them to have 15 laptops in the classroom. Her children are excited about coming to fourth grade to learn because of this, she said.
Whisnant said she went from using a blackboard to this technology classroom in only a few years of teaching. She said the change is positive for child learning.
“The more engaged kids are, the more they’re going to learn and the less problems they’re going to have,” she said, “because they’re having fun.”
Whisnant remembers being bored with textbooks in her own fourth-grade class. With the amount of information available online, textbooks are becoming unnecessary.
“I hardly even use textbooks in my classroom anymore,” she said.
Teachers do have to educate themselves on how to find quality instructional material. Using Wikipedia, for example, might not be the best for teachers because it could contain incorrect information.
Dean Mantz, technology integration and network coordinator for the Sterling, Kan., school district, taught for 14 years in a traditional classroom before being a technology professional. He’s seen technology professionals in schools transition from a network support role to being involved in educational materials and instruction. Mantz said teachers have to prepare children to eventually work in a technology-advanced world.
“More and more jobs you get into are so technology influenced in one way or another,” he said.
Mantz said students who grow up using the Internet to access the world learn differently than their parents, who grew up learning traditionally through lectures and books. Research has even shown changes in patterns of activity in medical scans of the brain, Mantz said.
Al Landever, technology director for the Fort Leavenworth School District, said there are many resources for education online that are free and available to anyone.
“There’s so many resources it’s overwhelming, so to have this time to learn from someone at a master’s level is very valuable to teachers,” he said.
