Step 9

1. Why do you think it is important to tie the technology to the objective?
I think that it is important to tie technology to the objective because the objective is the end and the technology is the means. In other words technology should be used to allow the student a variety of ways to show mastery of the objective.


2. Why should we hold students accountable for the stations/centers?
I feel that we should hold students accountable for stations/centers for two reasons. First and most obvious because we need to know that our students are working/learning in stations/centers. Accountability provides us with evidence that our students are engaging the stations/centers to learn the presented material. Second I feel that the accountability piece has to be an important part of stations/centers because it shows the importance of stations/centers to the teacher and student. If the teacher doesn't put emphasis on the results of students work in the stations/centers it provides the students with a disincentive to work hard. On the other hand when students work (accountability) product in stations/centers is valued it provides the students with a form of extrinsic motivation that adds value to the students work/learning in the station. In this way the accountability piece actually improves student participation and interest in stations/centers over time.


3. Visit 2 of the applicable links to interactive websites for your content/grade level. Which sites did you like. How could you use them as stations? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?
I visited and liked tutpup, learning games for kids, thinkfinity, and manipula math. I could use the first three as stations where the students could pick from a list of games offered at one of the three websites. I would create a Google doc or have the links posted on our mathletics blog and allow the students to choose which game they play and leave a comment to a prompt that I leave on the doc or blog. For accountability I will have them record the site they go to, the game/activity they participated in, and a response to a prompt. They will record this either on a Google doc, a blog comment, or on a class station recording sheet. As for the manipula math site I would like to use it as a concrete example to introduce concepts and reinforce ideas learned in class. I will have the students use the applets to explore concepts and then write about what they learned or gained a better understanding of.


4. List two to three apps you found for the iPod Touch/iPad that you can use in your classroom. What do you see that station looking like? How can you hold the students accountable for their time in these stations?
I don't have an iPod Touch/iPad at the moment. However I heard that there is an app for a site that I like called Khan Academy. The station can be a place where students can research and learn concepts that will be tested in class by watching videos. I can hold students accountable by giving them a list of different application questions covering different topics that will be tested in class. This will allow them to choose what topic they want to learn. I will then have them answer one of the application questions to show that they learned. Then after they finish they will answer some questions about their experience learning with apps.


5. What about other ways to use the iPod Touch/iPad? Share another way you can see your students using the device as a station.
I think another way that I would like to use the iPod Touch/iPad is to have the students record each other teaching/explaining a concept and then have their peers both in the same class and in other classes use the videos to learn. The students can work in groups to learn unit concepts. Then each group would be responsible for teaching/explaining the concept. They would use the iPad to research and record themselves. Then the groups would post their videos on our blog and in our Google docs account. There other classes and groups can access the learning videos, make comments and ask questions.