Technology, Children & Learning

Skills Map for Technology Use and Learning

The Center has chosen to view the use of technology as the development of skills and resources in four areas. The categories are anchored in Bank Street's core instructional values. In this map, technology tools are anchored in the pedagogical purpose for using them. Read New Maps for Technology in Teacher Education: After Standards, Then What? an article by Marvin Cohen and Bill Tally.

Inquiry | Communication | Digital Literacy| Authoring

Inquiry Using Primary Data Sources on the Web

Types of sites to look for when incorporating the web into your teaching:

• sites that give access to otherwise inaccessible collections, e.g., museum artifacts, photo collections (www.loc.gov), campaign commercials available on the Museum of the Moving Image web site (www.ammi.org/livingroomcandidate/)
• sites that maximize the benefits of the web by providing information in multimedia formats, e.g., the Jazz section of the PBS web site that allows visitors to listen to clips of particular Jazz musicians' music alongside text about and images of the musician (www.pbs.org/jazz/)
• sites that give access to real-time data, e.g., animal web cams, weather data sites
• sites that offer collaborative projects like the E-Pals Classroom Exchange (www.epals.com) and Journey North: A Global Study of Wildlife Migration (www.learner.org/jnorth/)

Communication and Dialogue

Here are some sites that can help your students to use people outside the classroom as resources:

"Ask An Expert" Sites
www.k12science.org/askanexpert.htm
One of the greatest values of the World Wide Web is the people who are part of the Internet community. This site offers a quick one-step process for finding experts in any field and is suitable for all grades.

Free web-based e-mail
Set up an e-mail account for the children in your class using one of these popular web-based e-mail hosts. (Unfortunately, you will have to deal with all of the ads that are associated with these sites.) An e-mail account enables students to participate in online collaborations.
Yahoo (www.yahoo.com)
Hotmail (www.hotmail.com)

Online Collaborative Projects
E-Pals Classroom Exchange (www.epals.com) connects participating classrooms from around the world through e-mail and discussion boards where students can post comments and questions to each other on many different topics.

International Education and Resource Network
www.iearn.org/
iEARN is a non-profit global network that enables young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to engage in collaborative educational projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world.

Free Web-based Message Boards
Quick Topic (www.quicktopic.com/) allows you to set up a web-based discussion board for your class where your students can post messages to one another, to students in another class, or to a parent "expert." These message areas are closed to outside users because they are set up by invitation. All participants require an e-mail address to participate.

Digital Literacy on the Web

Questions to ask when evaluating sites for student use:

• What is the reading level required to engage in the site?
• Is the site easily navigable (i.e., Is it easy to get around the site? Is it easy to get lost?)
• Is there "real-time" data on the site? How will students use the real-time data?
• Is there primary source data on the site? (photographs, historical letters, documents, maps, etc.)? How will the students use the primary source data?
• Is the data and information on this site up-to-date and reliable?
  "The Quick Guide to Checking Information Quality" is a clever tool for helping students and teachers to assess the quality of information found on the Internet. It can be found at www.quick.org.uk/menu.htm

• Are the teaching guides suitable for my children and my teaching style?
• Is the data and information in this teaching guide reliable?
  "The Quick Guide to Checking Information Quality" is a clever tool for helping students and teachers to assess the quality of information found on the Internet. It can be found at www.quick.org.uk/menu.htm

Authoring

Authoring tools allow children to use technology to create artifacts of their learning and present new knowledge to audiences within and beyond the classroom walls. We promote the thoughtful use of ubiquitous tools found in many schools. These include:

• Microsoft Word and other word processors that allow children to include images and movie in their writing
• Microsoft PowerPoint which serves as a mutlimedia platform where children can combine text, images, sounds, and movies in non-linear and linear formats.
• Apple's iMovie software for editing digital video
• Apple's Simple Text (OS9) and Text Edit (OS 10) that will "read" typed text in a computerized voice.

Kidspiration Concept Mapping Software
www.inspiration.com/productinfo/kidspiration/index.cfm
Created for K-5 learners, Kidspiration® 2 provides an easy way to apply the proven principles of visual learning. Students build graphic organizers by combining pictures, text and spoken words to represent thoughts and information.

Inspiration Concept Mapping Software
www.inspiration.com/productinfo/inspiration/index.cfm
Created for older students, Inspiration's integrated diagramming and outlining environments work together to help students comprehend concepts and information.