A Commonsense Approach to Elementary Edtech
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Today I was asked by an elementary teacher, “How do you know what technology to teach young students?”
My answer was simple, “Commonsense.”
I then explained that when I look at what a student leaving my elementary school needs as far as tech skills before entering middle school I get the following list (in no particular order).
- Keyboarding Skills, since in my school district keyboarding is no longer taught in middle or high school I need to make sure that my kids go off into middle school knowing how to type at least 30 words a minute.
- Basic Word Processing, it is really a no-brainer that middle schoolers do a lot of written reports. Students should know the basics of word processing, and I don’t care what you are using; MS Word, Pages, Google Docs, they are all basically the same. Students should know how to change fonts, change size, bold, underline, italicize, change font color and alignment.
- Basic Presentation Software, often times teachers will give students the option of presenting information to the class, so students should understand how to make and edit slides and the basics of what makes a good presentation.
- Basic Spreadsheets, I don’t spend a lot of time on spreadsheets, but we do a little. Things like entering info into cells and how to do a simple formula so they get the gist of what spreadsheets are all about.
- Internet Seach Skills, students need to know how to search the Internet for information (using more than just Google) and then how to decide what information to use and what to ignore. Again, this is a strong skill that students will use everyday in middle and high school.
- Internet Safety Skills, you can’t just throw our students to the wolves of the Internet, so you need to teach them how to keep themselves safe while online.
The teacher I was talking to nodded his head as I explained these six areas that I focus my tech instruction on so I knew that he agreed with my commonsense approach to edtech. But then he asked me, “But I thought you make a lot of movies and podcasts with your students, so where do you find the time to teach these basics?”
I then explained that I hide these skills inside the projects that I do with kids. In movie making they do reseach online, write a scipt in a word processor, etc. Usually my projects involve all of the six areas that I focus on. Something I like to call “Ambush Teaching.” They never see it coming.
- Brad Flickinger, Tech Teacher, Bethke Elementary School
My Keynote for Geary County Schools
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Unbelievable Elementary Tech Projects
Tomorrow morning I am giving the keynote address at the Elementary Technology Fair in Junction City, KS. I love it when I get a chance to get with fellow elementary teacher to talk about integrating technology into everyday lessons. I am especially glad to be going back to Kansas, since the last time I was here was for Podstock last summer — which was one the best events I have ever been at.
My keynote is entitled: Unbelievable Elementary Tech Projects which gives me a chance to show off the amazing and unbelievable things that my students do.
I’ll keep you posted.
- Brad Flickinger, Tech Teacher, Bethke Elementary School
Read MoreNew Podcast: Episode #52 The Elementary Tech Teacher’s Journal
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My comentary on my blog post “Harnessing the Power of Autonomy.”
New Podcast: With Tech, Failure is Always an Option
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I just uploaded a new episode of Elementary Tech Teacher’s Journal.
Episode Number 47 for the week of October 24, 2011
With Tech, Failure is Always an Option
Show Notes
It seems that with every tech idea I get and try to incorporate into my school, it fails the first few times.
http://www.bradflickinger.com/Brad_Flickinger/Podcast/Podcast.html
This week’s episode is sponsored by Atomic Learning.
New Podcast: Flipping an Elementary Classroom
#edtech #edchat #elemchat
I just uploaded a new episode of Elementary Tech Teacher’s Journal.
Episode Number 45 for the week of October 10, 2011
Flipping an Elementary Classroom
Show Notes
This week I talk about my effort to “flip” my classroom and how it is different at the elementary level. I also give an update of my FLL robotics team and our field trip to a beekeeper.
http://www.bradflickinger.com/Brad_Flickinger/Podcast/Podcast.html
This week’s episode is sponsored by Atomic Learning.
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