One of my objectives in my technology classes is to model technology use no matter what the content we are thinking and learning about. My examples cover a variety of different instructional strategies from mini-lectures to small group brainstorming to individual creation. Here are some of the examples of these activities along with the technology I used to support them:

We’re starting to talk about technology integration and we’ll be looking at the TPACK and SAMR models. As an introduction to TPACK, I often play a “discovery” version of the TPACK game with groups. This time, I used a Google presentation template. It made it easy for each student to grab a copy of the gameboard and play. In this version, students organize items into three groups and then justify their groupings. The interesting piece last night was how post-technology they seemed to be. Almost no one used technology as a category, choosing instead to think about the function of the technologies as part of pedagogy instead.

As an aside: the “real” TPACK game is more about matching different technologies, pedagogies and content areas. I’ve done this version using brown paper bags, and I just discovered that Matt Koehler has an interactive version. We may extend the game when we meet next time.

Once they had a completed game board, I was able to talk them through sharing the link on their class blogs in our Google Site. That made it easy for me to share some of the solutions and discuss them as a full class. The game allowed us to focus on the content even as we practiced some technology skills. They had lots of ideas for using Google templates.

In past classes, we have used Padlet and bubbl.us to brainstorm, tools I know they then used in their own classes. Last night, students used Animoto to create short videos to support content learning. It was also an opportunity for them to apply for their upgraded educator account. At least a couple of them were excited to share what they had created with the students when they got to school today. Their students will benefit from their enthusiasm.

I also did a mini-lecture last night: mostly a guided tour of a page I had put together for them about contemporary vocabulary words like MOOC, OER and Creative Commons. I wanted to give them an overview of these topics and then offer links and resources they could use to explore further if they were interested. It was also a chance to talk about copyright in general. They always have great questions and comments, willing to share their experiences and ideas an think about what topics mean to them as leaders.

It’s a lively class with a wide range of skills. They are comfortable helping each other as we work and appreciate those times when I stop and make sure everyone is following along.