For the last Tech Club meeting at the CDC, my group members and I struggled to find a learning activity for the kids. We considered things we had done and we reflected on what topics and strategies worked and didn't work. We finally decided on doing something with baby animals based on how the kids reacted the last time we did something with animals and videos. They really liked the videos.
We divided the presentation into an animal introduction, the geography of where that animal lives, and ended with a video. It was a nice zoology lesson. As I have mentioned previously, the CDC calls this time Reactivity Time which I think is such a cool concept. The kids can "react" to their environment by playing on their own or visiting different tables with specific activities. This time also includes snack, so we often lose them to last calls for snacks. This time we decided to stay placed at a certain table to let the children come and go as they pleased. Unless the activity calls for active participation, this system seems to work better with fewer distractions.
I think the kids who are regulars at Tech Club are kids who are accustomed to technology. They probably have iPads at home. Their parents comment on how much they love them. We structured the lesson so that they had to "learn" through discussion before getting to see the video, a prize. I put learn in quotations because I realize that learning occurs in all spaces at all times. Even when we think kids aren't paying attention, they are! As soon as you say something wrong they'll pipe up and correct you so fast. I see it with my own children. I'll think they aren't listening until they repeat something they shouldn't at exactly the wrong moment. The timing kept their attention as well. If we just showed video after video, they would get bored, but intermittent videos work well.
We also used Google Earth at this session. They really loved the visual effects of moving around the globe and zooming in and out of the various continents. Developmentally, they are not yet old enough to understand space and time, but I believe it's ok to show them things beyond their understanding as long as we explain it along the way. Technology allows us to merge amazing images with words. Even the teachers were stopping by to watch what we were doing.
Finally the videos. The videos are the things they love the most. We showed baby animals that the kids relate to. They especially loved the baby panda bears who went down the slide and toppled over each other. I believe they loved our visits. They knew why we were there and got excited about it every week.
My final take-aways are:
Differentiate in the classroom. Include technology as a supplement to lecture, discussion, and group activities.
Differentiate the technology. It's not enough to just show video after video after video. As much as kids love it, they get bored with it easily. I've taken classes that were lecture - video - lecture - video. The video was a nice change at first, but I got bored with that eventually. What else ya got?!?
Whatever the best, most interesting technology component is, save it for the last when possible or everything else will pale in comparison.
The use of technology should supplement the learning objective, not the other way around. There are a lot of cool learning apps out there, but they still should serve a purpose and fit in with what else is going on in the classroom. Technology is NOT a substitute teacher.
For the technology you don't know, ask someone for help. Even better, if your students know more about it than you do, ask for THEIR help! This not only provides a learning opportunity for you, but the student has to consider how the lesson fits in while explaining it to you. It can open new pathways of learning by identifying the purpose of the lesson, the key idea.
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