Address Time Issues   Time is probably the biggest barrier to technology integration. Try to identify and address your specific frustrations with time related to technology-rich activities. Your concerns might be related to writing, graphics, photographs, or information skills and technology. Is your project too big? Can you make it more manageable? Pigeon Planning Keep it Simple Strategies and Scaffolds Before You Jump In... Check it Out! Address Time Issues Continuum of Project Complexity Return to Eduscapes   Time Issue: Writing and Technology Problem: Too much time spent writing on the computer Ask yourself: what's the purpose of writing? What's the "real" issue: not enough computers, low level activity, time consuming activity, or slow typing speed? When is a challenging, thinking, or creating project worth the time? Ideas: Spend more time with free-writing such as journal writing on alphasmarts Go directly to the computer, bypass paper stage - alphasmarts, Palms Brainstorm as a class on word processor, everyone starts with these ideas Do a round-robin brainstorm on class computers as a review Use approach for sequencing, listing, categorizing, vocabulary Use reception, transformation, and production scaffolds Work from templates, prompts, and guides - no retyping Select a specific writing goal for each activity using the word processor Choose a step in the writing process such as prewriting or editing Revise a project from a previous semester Start with a quilt of ideas and weave it into a project fabric Use effective collaboration techniques such as color coding text, using comment functions, using network & email options Try interactive writing to get ideas flowing: chain writing, question and answer, adding elements to stories. Use Kidspiration to map ideas and take notes, then work from outline Focus the end product on standard - differentiate, judge, defend Create a visual or auditory end product Use adult volunteers as "typists" Try a digital audio recorder with text translator software Explore alternative final products Reduce student distractions with headsets, modified classroom traffic patterns, more space between computers Practice typing outside of school hours - basic skill like biking or swimming Consider what's developmentally appropriate for your writers How do you make writing more efficient and effective using technology? Time Issue: Graphics and Technology Problem: Too much time messing with graphics and photographs Ask yourself: what's the purpose of incorporating graphics? What's the "real" issue: not enough computers, low level activity, time consuming activity, or slow graphic manipulation? When is a challenging, thinking, or creating project worth the time? Ideas: Preselect a group of graphics and place them in a folder - kidclub project Choose the food picture that fits with nutritional need Choose a picture that reflects the setting of the book Choose two or three pictures as prompts Select a type of volcano to explore, explain, or speculate on Create a slide show with the visuals already there, they add text Select key visuals representing WWII events Provide a few pictures to modify (Use Yahoo Gallery for Ideas) Combine two animals together and discuss their features, friend/enemy Add your face to history: Civil War general, astronaut, pilgrim Compare and contrast different visuals with two columns Life in America compared to... An ant compared to a spider Combine clip art or photographs with original drawings Provide the animals, students add the habitat Take photos for a specific purpose Match to vocabulary list Send to epal as the plant, building, or cloud of the day Copy "picture of the day" , write, and create open house slide show Take step-by-step visual instructions based on an experiment Ask one group to create the "environment" for another group above. How do you make visual use or creation more efficient and effective using technology? Time Issue: Information Skills and Technology Problem: Too much time dealing with information Ask yourself: what's the purpose of the information activity? What's the "real" issue: slow Internet connection, ineffective search strategies, information overload, slow reading, reading levels are too high on web sites? When is a challenging, thinking, or creating project worth the time? Build skills over time: (use "How Stuff Works") Resources: 1 website, 3-4 websites, specific search tool, choice of search tools Task: student or teacher generated questions or problems, levels of difficulty Use WWII posters and brainstorm tasks Information Need: hunt, sampler, or webquest? Information Organization: answering, recording, organizing, synthesizing Skills: Big 6 - focus on one area such as narrowing a topic, Boolean logic, questioning, searching, evaluating information, or citing web sources. Watch your students as they use the Internet or other computer resources. How do they waste time? What strategies can you provide to increase efficiency? Ideas: Demonstrate software use and create a class list of directions Be prepared with reception scaffolds to direct student attention Print out computer screens and highlight suggestions or specific things to do Research to consider: It takes the same time to read off the screen, but it's perceived to take longer It takes 40% longer to skim on the computer screen. Practice scanning and skimming skills How do you prepare students to deal with Internet or software use? Learn about Information Skills Learn about Lamb's 8Ws   Enhance with Technology Explore the following two examples and discuss issues related to implementation and enhancement with technology.   Safety Read Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann and explore the following websites related to safety: http://eduscapes.com/42explore/safety.htm http://www.radrider.com/comic-book/index.html http://www.bikehelmet.org/index2.html http://library.thinkquest.org/J002670/ Brainstorm safety issues in Inspiration Create a list of safety issues in Appleworks   Disease Through History Read a book related to the "disease" theme such as the Black Plague, Yellow Fever, or AIDS. For example, you might read Fever by Laura Halse Anderson. Explore the following Yellow Fever resources. http://www.astdhpphe.org/infect/yellow.html http://www.teleport.com/~until/v_yellow.htm http://xroads.virginia.edu/~MA96/forrest/WW/fever.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part3/3p1590.html http://members.aol.com/Fever1793/acct99.html http://www.rosenbach.org/education/gratz/gratz_almighty.html http://www.rosenbach.org/education/gratz/mappal.html http://www.rosenbach.org/education/gratz/gratz_teacher_resources_almighty.html Create an Inspiration document on the year 1793 Pigeon Planning Keep it Simple Strategies and Scaffolds Before You Jump In... Check it Out! Address Time Issues Continuum of Project Complexity Return to Eduscapes Created by Annette Lamb, 06/01.