The+Best+Examples+of+Instructional+Activities+with+Student+Engagement+through+Technology

The Best Examples of Instructional Activities with Student Engagement through Technology
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In my experience, Instructional Technology is best defined as the replacement of traditional teaching methods with technology applications that improve the learning process. Technology in the classroom is useless if it's only being applied for the sake of appearance. Instructional Technology should be used only when it is a better means of education than the traditional alternative. That is the definition that works for my teaching style, and it's the philosophy I use when deciding where technology should be incorporated into a class.

I kept this philosophy in mind when searching for the best examples of student engagement through technology that would most apply to the courses I teach. I was especially interested in finding examples where technology would enhance or replace the methods I currently use for a particular concept. In my limited teaching experience I have only taught classes in TV News Production and Film History, so I thought it best to find one example for each.

The first example came from a journal article titled //Maximizing the Impact// from the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. The article has a section which mentions journalism students using video conferencing as a collaborative tool for developing a news magazine show. The second example deals with one of the most complex concepts I teach in The Early History of Film, mise en scène. You can read the specifics on how I will incorporate them in this document:

There are a multitude ways that videoconferencing can be an amazing technology tool for journalism students. When teaching TV News Production limited resources and access to equipment is always a problem. Student schedules are also an issue as setting up stories and going out to shoot video and interviews is a time-consuming process. By incorporating videoconferencing with other TV production classes resources can be shared, ideas can be exchanged, and interviews could even be conducted in the classroom, which would save a considerable amount of time and put less strain on school equipment resources. It would also allow the students to brainstorm with a new group of people and ideally get them to consider new ideas and alternative story angles.

The concept of mise en scène is always a difficult one for students to grasp, and I have experimented with several different means of imparting it to them. In the embedded podcast at the top of the page I speak in detail about what mise en scène is and some new resources I discovered in the course of the projects for this class. By using an existing lesson plan coupled with some amazing resources from the Thinkfinity website I believe I will be able to achieve the highest level of comprehension with my students yet of this complex concept. In the past I have used traditional lecture coupled with video clips and discussion, and clearly these resources will allow me an improved alternative to get students to better understand mise en scène through technology.

As I stated earlier, at this stage of my teaching career I have only taught two classes. Since this assignment required two examples it seemed logical to seek one example for each class where I could effectively use student engagement through technology to improve my teaching methods. I can see how it is an easy trap to fall into to simply "add" technology to an existing lesson, and I realize now that I've been guilty of that myself. Showing a video clip on the internet is not engaging students through technology, it is simply replacing a traditional method of projection with a more modern method. The result is still a completely one-way educational process, and no better at engaging students than a long, droning lecture. Technology is only useful as a means of improving the learning process, and I think that is the essence of student engagement through technology. Engaging students is the best means to get them to comprehend the material, and when technology is integrated seamlessly to enhance that comprehension then the lesson is truly a success.


 * REFERENCES**

Partnership for 21st Century Skills. (n.d.) //Maximizing the Impact: The Pivotal Role of Technology in a 21st Century Education System//. Retrieved from @http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/documents/p21setdaistepaper.pdf

Verizon Thinkfinity.org. (2010) //Thousands of Free Lesson Plans and Educational Resources for Teachers//. Retrieved from @http://www.thinkfinity.org/

//Mise en scène//. (2010). Retrieved from Wikipedia: @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mise_en_scene