Teachers and Technology

In order to prepare students to be college or career ready, teachers must give them the tools necessary to be successful.  Technology is changing so rapidly that teachers must explore and learn the latest tools and programs.  It takes professional development and sharing of information to keep up with this rapid growth.  Students and teacher will lead and learn together. Real life problems and projects will be the wave of the future classroom.  Technology is here to stay and teachers must get on board.

I Pads, iPhones, active boards, and tablets will be the tools used in the classrooms.  Time is moving on and if teachers are not using all the tools available, they will be left behind and so will their students. 

How Can Technology Improve Student Learning?

Technology alone cannot improve student learning.  Teachers must allow their students to explore through technology and become global peers that solve real world problems.  Teachers must receive the training and professional development that is essential to support the technology or it will be an electronic text book.  Our children must learn to collaborate with peers and teachers to combined ideas explore new paths.  This is an exciting time in education for our students, but can be a scary time for teachers because things continue to grow and change so quickly. 

Project base learning is a very effective way to integrate technology into the classroom.  Students can perform in-depth investigation by creating websites, blogs, videos, and web tools.  Students learn better by experiencing it hands on and technology can increase academic achievement, critical thinking, collaboration, and motivation.  The technology that we are using today will be obsolete in 2-3 years.  Therefore, time is not waiting for education to incorporate technology.  Technology is dictating how students will learn and work and the direction that schools need to take
. 

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 5

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 5

By Lisa Wahl, M.A.

You probably know about assistive technology (AT) tools that can help students with learning disabilities (LD) with reading, writing, math, listening and organization. Perhaps you have purchased educational software for your child. However, you may not be aware of the extent to which the computer hardware and software you already own may include several features and functions that can improve your child's academic performance. In this article, we will explore how electronic text can be adapted to assist students with LD. The use of standard technologies to enhance and support reading can benefit students as young as third-graders, throughout their education, and into the working world. You and your child will want to experiment with the techniques described in this article to find those that help him most.

Getting started, and looking to the future

This article describes just some of the strategies for using electronic text to enhance learning. Your child can benefit from knowing how to adapt text to his particular needs, but he may need your support and guidance to explore the various alternatives. Be sure to encourage your child to become proactive in making his own adaptations and telling teachers what works for him. Technology offers so many options that it's the rare person who remembers all the great features of even a single piece of software. Learning to use standard technology effectively will increase your child's independence and his ability to achieve in school and in life.

To read the full article about "Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learningg go momshomeroom.msn.com

© 2008 GreatSchools Inc. All Rights Reserved. Originally created by Schwab Learning, formerly a program of the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation.

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 4

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 4

By Lisa Wahl, M.A.

You probably know about assistive technology (AT) tools that can help students with learning disabilities (LD) with reading, writing, math, listening and organization. Perhaps you have purchased educational software for your child. However, you may not be aware of the extent to which the computer hardware and software you already own may include several features and functions that can improve your child's academic performance. In this article, we will explore how electronic text can be adapted to assist students with LD. The use of standard technologies to enhance and support reading can benefit students as young as third-graders, throughout their education, and into the working world. You and your child will want to experiment with the techniques described in this article to find those that help him most.

Technology Tip 1

Within a standard word-processing program, you can use a free speech utility that will read aloud any highlighted text when you press a key combination.

- For the Macintosh 10.3 and above, the utility is included (System Preferences>Speech>Spoken Interface). Macintosh provides a range of fun voices, but many people find "Victoria" and "Bruce" are the most natural sounding.

- For Microsoft Windows, NaturalReader is one of several free speech utilities available.

Adobe Reader (version 7 and above) has a command to read aloud an entire page that you select within a PDF. If you find the story or article your child needs to read in PDF format, you may find that the text can be highlighted, copied and pasted into a word processor where it can be used more flexibly. In a "protected" PDF, you won't be able to change anything, but some versions of Adobe Reader will read the full page.

Technology Tip 2

In Adobe Reader, the Read Out Loud command is found under the View menu, along with Pause and Stop commands.

If speech seems to help your child, you can also purchase specific assistive technology tools such as text-to-speech software as described in Speech Synthesizers/Screen Readers.

How students can interact with electronic text

Students who are adept at using a computer mouse or touchpad can manipulate electronic text — to their advantage — in a number of ways.

Working with electronic text for studying and writing

- Your child can use a color-coding system to highlight important names, dates and events in a history article, by changing the color of the text. This can substitute for taking notes by hand for children with dysgraphia (difficulty with handwriting).

- Students can easily search electronic text, making it easier to retrieve a particular fact or to find all mentions of a character, event or date.

- In Microsoft Word, students can use the electronic highlighter to mark important passages. Older students might want to know that they can search by highlights, allowing them to compile information after reading a passage.

- Cutting and pasting essential information into a blank document allows students to move things around, organize the information, and begin to incorporate it into their written work.

Technology Tip 3

In Microsoft Word, search by highlights using the Find command under the Edit menu. Expand the Find window so that you can find by Format, which allows you to select Highlight.

Looking up word definitions

If your child is using Microsoft Word, he can highlight unknown words and select Dictionary under the Tools menu. This will bring up the definition, as well as synonyms. The built-in speech on the Macintosh mentioned earlier will read the definition, if you highlight all or part of it.

Technology Tip 4

- For Windows, WordWeb can be installed so that it looks up highlighted words from within other applications, such as Microsoft Word, or a Web browser.

- Windows users might prefer a free talking dictionary available from NaturalReader.

Converting electronic text to portable audio files

There's one more option for electronic text. Listening to text on the iPod or portable MP3 player is the access method of choice for many college students with LD because it's portable and "invisible." A student usually listens to a computerized voice read the text while following along with the hard copy.

Technology Tip 5

Free and low-cost utilities for conversion of digital text to an MP3 format are listed at the Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners.

If you make MP3 files for a child who is too young to do so himself (or who might benefit from your input), you can "super-charge" the text by first typing in short questions after every paragraph or section that prompt your child to consider what he's just heard. Stopping to summarize is a highly effective strategy that will increase comprehension and retention of what he's read.

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 3

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 3

By Lisa Wahl, M.A.

You probably know about assistive technology (AT) tools that can help students with learning disabilities (LD) with reading, writing, math, listening and organization. Perhaps you have purchased educational software for your child. However, you may not be aware of the extent to which the computer hardware and software you already own may include several features and functions that can improve your child's academic performance. In this article, we will explore how electronic text can be adapted to assist students with LD. The use of standard technologies to enhance and support reading can benefit students as young as third-graders, throughout their education, and into the working world. You and your child will want to experiment with the techniques described in this article to find those that help him most.

Line spacing and page layout

Some students are able to read more easily with fewer words on the screen or page. Increasing the width of the margins and double spacing are two methods you can easily try. If you are going to print the text because your child prefers working from a hard copy, leaving a lot of room on one side for notes, diagrams or drawings can be helpful.

As you and your child experiment with different combinations of font, size, color and line spacing, remember that what reads best to you may not be what reads best for your child. Once you discover modifications that help your child, make note of them and remind your child to use them. If your child works on a computer at school, you'll also want to share this information with his teachers.

Customizing text: Reorganizing and editing

Electronic versions of text allow a parent or teacher to rearrange or add to the information presented, in order to reduce the child's frustration and/or increase his comprehension of material. For example, an article on geology may be broken up into shorter paragraphs. After each paragraph, you might insert key questions about the facts, along with room for the student to type the answers. You might also insert a summary before the actual text, to give the child a "preview" of the text that follows. For a student who needs a reduced amount of text to read, you might eliminate less important material, such as details not essential to understanding the concepts presented.

Tip: Electronic sources of summaries and test questions can be found online from sources such as SparkNotes.

Text to speech: The computer reads the text aloud

Software that converts text to speech may be helpful if your child is a struggling reader but an effective listener. According to a review of the research by the National Center for Innovative Technology, when the computer reads "a nonjudgmental learning environment is created, where a student can reread the same passage with a fluent model as frequently as needed."

Having the computer read text aloud is a strategy that can be used in a number of ways. A student who struggles with decoding may increase comprehension as a result of an auditory pre-reading and/or post-reading. Some children may find specific words difficult and will only need to hear those words read aloud. Some programs highlight each word as it is read aloud, offering the reinforcement of reading and listening together.

One way to have a computer read text is to use speech features within a program you may already own, such as Inspiration®, Kidspiration®, AppleWorks®, StoryBook Weaver Deluxe®, and KidPix Deluxe®. You can use these programs to highlight and read aloud electronic.

Books you download may be formatted for the free Microsoft Reader software for the PC, which maintains the look of the original book (page numbers and graphics), and offers book-marking and other helpful features. Microsoft Reader offers a free Text-to-Speech Package for speech access.

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 2

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 2

By Lisa Wahl, M.A.

You probably know about assistive technology (AT) tools that can help students with learning disabilities (LD) with reading, writing, math, listening and organization. Perhaps you have purchased educational software for your child. However, you may not be aware of the extent to which the computer hardware and software you already own may include several features and functions that can improve your child's academic performance. In this article, we will explore how electronic text can be adapted to assist students with LD. The use of standard technologies to enhance and support reading can benefit students as young as third-graders, throughout their education, and into the working world. You and your child will want to experiment with the techniques described in this article to find those that help him most.

Changing the appearance of text

The key to changing the appearance of electronic text is to determine which modifications enhance readability for your child. Readability refers to a level of comfort and ease in recognizing letters and words that goes beyond mere legibility. Readability does not mean comprehension, but, by reducing the decoding load, it can increase reading comprehension for some students.

Font style and size

For a student who struggles with reading, you may want to experiment with different font (typeface) styles and sizes to find combinations that make reading electronic text easier for the child.

Research has revealed contradictory findings regarding the use of fonts for reading on the computer. One debate hinges on the use of font styles that contain serifs, which are the little horizontal lines at the tops and bottoms of characters or letters. (A "sans serif" font does not include serifs.) Some students find a serif font (such as Times Roman) easier to read on-screen because the serifs provide additional visual clues and eliminate confusion. Other surveys show more people prefer a sans serif font for reading on-screen text.2 Your child may prefer serif on paper and non-serif on the screen and may also prefer reading one size font on paper and a different size font on-screen.

Tip: Lexia is a free sans serif font that includes a non-symmetrical b and d (i.e., the b does not look like a backward d), and handwritten forms of a and g, which readers may recognize more easily.

Font color and background color

Font color or background color may be changed to enhance readability. Research indicates the preferred color combinations, both in print and on the Web, vary by the individual. Hill & Scharff (1997) found that while the majority of a large audience of Internet users preferred reading black text on a white or gray background, or blue text on a white background, some users reported that white on blue or red on white were clearest for them.

Your child may benefit from experimenting with different combinations.

Technology tips:

- Microsoft Word has an option (under Preferences>General) for changing contrast between the text and background. It provides a dark-blue background with white print. Once you've activated the blue background, you can select text and change the color. You might try the yellow or light yellow.

- Several free word processors allow a variety of background colors. TexEdit Plus is a free Macintosh word processor that has excellent speech. Jarte is a free word processor for Windows.

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 1

Using Standard Technology to Enhance Learning: Part 1

By Lisa Wahl, M.A.

You probably know about assistive technology (AT) tools that can help students with learning disabilities (LD) with reading, writing, math, listening and organization. Perhaps you have purchased educational software for your child. However, you may not be aware of the extent to which the computer hardware and software you already own may include several features and functions that can improve your child's academic performance. In this article, we will explore how electronic text can be adapted to assist students with LD. The use of standard technologies to enhance and support reading can benefit students as young as third-graders, throughout their education, and into the working world. You and your child will want to experiment with the techniques described in this article to find those that help him most.

What is electronic text, and where can you find it?

Type the words "electronic text" into Google and you will find hundreds of collections of books, articles, and other text. Electronic (i.e., computer-displayed) text can be customized to support a student's individual learning preferences and needs. Although we still live in a world of print on paper, the amount of electronic text is growing daily.

Customizing electronic text to meet a child's needs

In this article, we will explore various ways to adapt electronic text to assist students with LD using standard technologies. You may be surprised to learn how much you can do with software you already own!

First, you'll need to locate appropriate electronic text. (See resources for locating electronic text on the Internet). Next, you will want to review your options for customizing the material to meet your child's needs.

The text on the computer screen can be copied and pasted into your word processor in a variety of ways, depending on the file you're working with:

- A plain text file can be downloaded and opened using a word processor.

- A PDF file can be downloaded and opened using Acrobat Reader. Some PDF files allow text to be selected and pasted into a word processor.

- An HTML file can be opened using any browser. Again, you may be able to select, copy and paste the text into a word processor.

- Less commonly, an electronic text document may have been formatted for specific software or devices, such as Microsoft Reader or a Palm device. These will only be useful if you have the software or device.

Once you have accessed the electronic text using one of the methods described above, you can then modify the material to make it more accessible for your child. For example, text in a word processor can be changed in appearance, reorganized or supplemented, read aloud by the computer, or used to generate portable audio versions.

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education: Part 4

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education

Part 4

November 22, 2010 by Sarah Kessler

6. Storytelling and Multimedia

Knezek recently saw a video that was produced by a group of elementary students about Bernoulli’s Principle. In the video, the students demonstrated the principle that makes flight possible by taking two candles and putting them close together, showing that blowing between them brings the flames closer together. For another example, they hung ping pong balls from the ceiling and they pulled together.

“With a simple assignment and access to technology, researching and also producing a product that would communicate, they were able to do deep learning on a concept that wasn’t even addressed in their textbook, and allow other people to view it and learn from it,” Knezek says.

Asking children to learn through multimedia projects is not only an excellent form of project-based learning that teaches teamwork, but it’s also a good way to motivate students who are excited to create something that their peers will see. In addition, it makes sense to incorporate a component of technology that has become so integral to the world outside of the classroom.

“It’s no longer the verbal logic or the spoken or written word that causes people to make decisions,” Knezek says. “Where you go on vacations, who you vote for, what kind of car you buy, all of those things are done now with multimedia that engage all of the senses and cause responses.”

7. E-books

Despite students’ apparent preference for paper textbooks, proponents like Daytona College and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are ready to switch to digital. And electronic textbook vendors like CourseSmart are launching to help them.

E-books hold an unimaginable potential for innovating education, though as some schools have already discovered, not all of that potential has been realized yet.

“A digital textbook that is merely a PDF on a tablet that students can carry around might be missing out on huge possibilities like models and simulations or visualizations,” Dorsey says. “It takes time and it really takes some real thought to develop those things, and so it would be easy for us as a society to miss out on those kinds of opportunities by saying, ‘Hey look, we’re not carrying around five textbooks anymore. It’s all on your iPad, isn’t that great?’”

8. Epistemic Games

Epistemic games put students in roles like city planner, journalist, or engineer and ask them to solve real-world problems. The Epistemic Games Group has provided several examples of how immersing students in the adult world through commercial game-like simulations can help students learn important concepts.

In one game, students are cast as high-powered negotiators who need to decide the fate of a real medical controversy. In another, they must become graphical artists in order to create an exhibit of mathematical art in the style of M.C. Escher. Urban Science, the game featured in the above video, assigns students the task of redesigning Madison, Wisconsin.

“Creative professionals learn innovative thinking through training that is very different from traditional academic classrooms because innovative thinking means more than just knowing the right answers on a test,” explains The Epistemic Games Group’s website. “It also means having real-world skills, high standards and professional values, and a particular way of thinking about problems and justifying solutions. Epistemic games are about learning these fundamental ways of thinking for the digital age."

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education: Part 3

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education

Part 3

November 22, 2010 by Sarah Kessler

5. More Efficient Assessment

Models and simulations, beyond being a powerful tool for teaching concepts, can also give teachers a much richer picture of how students understand them.

“You can ask students questions, and multiple choice questions do a good job of assessing how well students have picked up vocabulary,” Dorsey explains. “But the fact that you can describe the definition [of] a chromosome … doesn’t mean that you understand genetics any better … it might mean that you know how to learn a definition. But how do we understand how well you know a concept?”

In Geniverse, a program the Concord Consortium developed to help students understand genetics by “breeding” dragons, teachers can give students a problem that is much more like a performance assessment. The students are asked to create a specific dragon. Teachers can see what each student did to reach his or her end result and thereby understand whether trial-and-error or actual knowledge of genetics leads to a correct answer.

The organization is also developing a program that will help teachers collect real-time assessment data from their students. When the teacher gives out an assignment, she can watch how far along students are, how much time each a spends on each question, and whether their answers are correct. With this information, she can decide what concepts students are struggling with and can pull up examples of students’ work on a projector for discussion.

“What they would have done in the past is students would make a lab report, they’d turn it in, the teacher would take a couple of days to grade it, they’d get it back a couple of days later, and two to three days later they’d talk about it,” Dorsey says. “But they’ve probably done a couple of lessons in between then, [and] they haven’t had time to guide the students immediately as they learn it."

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education: Part 2

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education

Part 2

November 22, 2010 by Sarah Kessler

2. Global Learning

At sites like Glovico.org, students can set up language lessons with a native speaker who lives in another country and attend the lessons via videoconferencing. Learning from a native speaker, learning through social interaction, and being exposed to another culture’s perspective are all incredible educational advantages that were once only available to those who could foot a travel bill. Now, setting up a language exchange is as easy as making a videoconferencing call.

3. Virtual Manipulatives

Let’s say you’re learning about the relationship between fractions, percents and decimals. Your teacher could have you draw graphs or do a series of problems that changes just one variable in the same equation. Or he could give you a “virtual manipulative” like the one above and let you experiment with equations to reach an understanding of the relationship. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, run by a team at Utah State University, has been building its database of these tools since 1999.

“You used to count blocks or beads,” says Lynne Schrum, who has written three books on the topic of schools and technology. “Manipulating those are a little bit more difficult. Now there are virtual manipulative sites where students can play with the idea of numbers and what numbers mean, and if I change values and I move things around, what happens.”

4. Probes and Sensors

About 15 years ago, the founders of the Concord Consortium took the auto focus sensor from a Polaroid camera and hooked it up to a computer graph program, thereby creating the ability to graph motion in real time. Today there are classrooms all over the world that use ultrasonic motion detectors to demonstrate concepts.

“I’ve taught physics before, and you spend a lot of time getting these ideas of position, and what is velocity, and what does motion really mean and how do you define it,” says Chad Dorsey, the president and CEO of the Concord Consortium. “And you end up spending a lot of time doing these things and trying to translate them into graphs. You could spend a whole period creating a graph for an experiment that you did, and it loses a lot of meaning in that process. By hooking up this ultrasonic motion detector to a graph right away…it gives you a specific real-time feel for what it means to move at faster rates or slower rates or increasing in speed or decreasing in speed and a much more foundational understanding of the topic than you could ever get by just drawing the graph by hand.”

Collecting real-time data through probes and sensors has a wide range of educational applications. Students can compute dew point with a temperature sensor, test pH with a pH probe, observe the effect of pH on an MnO3 reduction with a light probe, or note the chemical changes in photosynthesis using pH and nitrate sensors.

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education: Part 1

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education

Part 1

November 22, 2010 by Sarah Kessler
 
Don Knezek, the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education, compares education without technology to the medical profession without technology.


“If in 1970 you had knee surgery, you got a huge scar,” he says. “Now, if you have knee surgery you have two little dots.”


Technology is helping teachers to expand beyond linear, text-based learning and to engage students who learn best in other ways. Its role in schools has evolved from a contained “computer class” into a versatile learning tool that could change how we demonstrate concepts, assign projects and assess progress.

Despite these opportunities, adoption of technology by schools is still anything but ubiquitous. Knezek says that U.S. schools are still asking if they should incorporate more technology, while other countries are asking how. But in the following eight areas, technology has shown its potential for improving education.

1. Better Simulations and Models


While a tuning fork is a perfectly acceptable way to demonstrate how vibrations make sound, it’s harder to show students what evolution is, how molecules behave in different situations, or exactly why mixing two particular chemicals is dangerous.


Digital simulations and models can help teachers explain concepts that are too big or too small, or processes that happen too quickly or too slowly to demonstrate in a physical classroom.

The Concord Consortium, a non-profit organization that develops technologies for math, science and engineering education, has been a leader in developing free, open source software that teachers can use to model concepts. One of their most extensive projects is the Molecular Workbench, which provides science teachers with simulations on topics like gas laws, fluid mechanics and chemical bonding. Teachers who are trained in the system can create activities with text, models and interactive controls. One participant referred to the project as “[Microsoft] Word for molecules.”

Other simulations the organization is developing include a software that allows students to experiment with virtual greenhouses in order to understand evolution, a software that helps students understand the physics of energy efficiency by designing a model house, and simulations of how electrons interact with matter.

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know Part 2

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know

Technology isn't a substitute for teaching; it’s a way to bring the world into the fifth grade classroom.

By GreatSchools Staff

Language arts gets a tech boost

Language arts — once exclusively the realm of paper and ink — get an enormous boost from technology. Children in the fifth grade are expected to research and write opinion essays, information essays, and reports, so learning to do research on the Internet, understanding how to evaluate sources, and learning about plagiarism are essential skills.

Audio books and audio-enhanced text books allow fifth graders to immerse themselves in a culture of storytelling, fit more books into their busy lives, allow books to compete with other media for entertainment value, and get hooked on reading as a lifelong pleasure. Using a tablet or computer, students can easily look up unfamiliar words to master new vocabulary and practice pronunciation. And digital book creation, video editing, and animation tools enable students to become authors of their own stories. A word processor — with grammar correction — can improve students' grammar and spelling as they write, by noting mistakes as they happen and offering corrections.

Technology as a math aid

Technology helps kids master math concepts with games and apps that illustrate more complex division and decimals, as well as fractions and geometric concepts. A host of educational apps ask children to touch and manipulate math concepts on the screen. Math-based computer games transform rote drills into games that take advantage of gaming fever to drill facts into memory, which is a big part of fifth grade math. Online animations and multimedia lessons can turn a math lesson into entertainment that teaches as it enthralls; they also allow students to review a lesson whenever they wish. And the Internet brings concepts and teachers — fantastic teachers like Salman Khan of Khan Academy (which offers hundreds of video classes on math, science, and other subjects) — into the classroom to inspire young minds.

Science with a tech twist

In an Internet-connected classroom, science is as close as the whiteboard, monitor, tablet, or computer screen. At the fifth grade level, children can watch close-up footage or animation of the human body, dinosaurs, space, or cells. They can play with animated versions of the elements in the periodic table or simulations of tornados or the night sky. Websites like Khan Academy, Brainpop, Discovery Education, and The Jason Projectallow kids to access multimedia lessons and animations that transform science instruction into entertainment. And to help students imagine themselves as scientists, the teacher can invite working scientists — virtually — into the classroom and let students ask them questions. Students can even get an online lesson in computer science at code academy, where they'll learn the basics of computer coding. (Check out this story about why this is a good idea for your fifth grader’s future.)

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know Part 1

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fifth Grader Needs to Know

Technology isn't a substitute for teaching; it’s a way to bring the world into the fifth grade classroom.

By GreatSchools Staff

A modern tool to answer age-old questions

Technology in the fifth grade classroom can introduce a rich, entertaining range of learning opportunities that engage young minds and get them excited about all aspects of the curriculum. Your child will use technology tools to enhance her understanding of language arts, science, social studies, math, and art. According to the Common Core Standards Initiative that the majority of states adopted in 2010-2011, fifth graders should master basic tech skills that are needed to succeed in core subjects like reading, writing, science, and math. Although teachers aren't required to follow them, many states base their technology standards on the National Educational Technology Standards for Students, too.

In fifth grade, your child should learn and refine essential skills that will prepare her for the more rigorous demands of middle school and high school – from the mechanics of researching and writing an essay to conducting and presenting a complex science experiment. While using technology is no substitute for mastering mathematical concepts or learning to craft a persuasive thesis statement for a literary report, it's an important tool to supplement classroom instruction. Even more important, technological literacy is essential for your child's future.

Tech skills that your child should have by the end of fifth grade

Should haves:

•Comfort with keyboarding and typing: According to the Common Core Standards for writing, a fifth grader should have the ability to "type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting."

•Advanced ability to use a mouse, including cutting, pasting, and spell-checking work

•Solid Internet research skills, including the ability to assess the credibility of websites, and knowledge of basic copyright laws and the meaning and consequences of plagiarism.

•Solid understanding of cybersecurity do's and don'ts

Nice to haves:

•Photo editing skills

•Familiarity with Powerpoint or other presentation software

•Familiarity with Excel or other programs to organize data and create graphs

Technology your fifth grader may find in the classroom

•One or more computers or tablets with access to the Internet (including Internet safeguards) and a printer

•Still and video digital cameras, photo editing software, animation tools

•Interactive whiteboard and a large monitor or projector the teacher can use to engage students in multimedia lessons

•Educational software, including multimedia encyclopedia and dictionaries, typing programs, interactive books, and educational games

Of course, the amount and quality of technology fifth graders have access to varies widely from school to school. Some schools have the resources to provide state-of-the-art computers and whiteboards in every classroom; others have a single computer lab that all students share. When evaluating your fifth grader's technology experience, the number and brand of computers in the classroom is less important than how well technology is integrated into learning at your child's school. To get the maximum benefit from technology, the best classrooms incorporate technology into regular lessons to develop students' higher-order thinking skills, promote creativity, and facilitate academic learning.

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know Part 3

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know

Fourth graders use the Internet, educational software, and other tech tools to build on core learning.

By GreatSchools Staff

Math + technology = more learning

Technology helps kids master math concepts with games and apps that illustrate more complex multiplication and division, as well as fractions and geometric concepts. A host of educational apps ask children to touch and manipulate math concepts on the screen. Math-based computer games transform rote drills into games that take advantage of gaming fever to drill facts into memory. Online animations and multimedia lessons can turn a math lesson into entertainment that teaches as it enthralls; they also allow students to review a lesson whenever they wish. And the Internet brings concepts and teachers — fantastic teachers like Salmon Kahn of Khan Academy(which offers hundreds of video classes on math, science, and other subjects) — into the classroom to inspire young minds.

Spicing up science

In an Internet-connected classroom, science is as close as the whiteboard, monitor, tablet, or computer screen. In fourth grade, children can watch close-up footage or animation of the human body, dinosaurs, space, or cells. They can play with animated versions of the elements in the periodic table or simulations of tornados or the night sky. Websites like Khan Academy, Brainpop, DiscoveryEducation, and The Jason Projectallow kids to access multimedia lessons and animations that transform science instruction into entertainment. And to help young students imagine themselves as scientists, the teacher can invite working scientists — virtually — into the classroomand let students ask researchers questions themselves. What’s more, students can even get an online lesson in computer science at Code Academy, where they'll learn the basics of computer coding. (Check out this story about why this is a good idea for your fourth grader’s future.)

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know Part 2

Your Child and Technology: What your Fourth Grader Needs to Know

Fourth graders use the Internet, educational software, and other tech tools to build on core learning.
By GreatSchools Staff

Technology your fourth grader may find in the classroom

•One or more computers or tablets with access to the Internet (including Internet safeguards) and a printer
•Still and video digital cameras, photo editing software, animation tools
•Interactive whiteboard and a large monitor or projector the teacher can use to engage students in multimedia lessons
•Educational software, including multimedia encyclopedia and dictionaries, typing programs, interactive books, and educational games

Of course, the amount and quality of technology fourth graders have access to varies widely from school to school. Some schools have the resources to provide state-of-the-art computers and whiteboards in every classroom; others have a single computer lab that all students share. When evaluating your fourth grader's technology experience, the number and brand of computers in the classroom is less important to consider than how well technology is integrated into learning at your child's school. The best classrooms incorporate technology into regular lessons to develop students' higher-order thinking skills, promote creativity, and facilitate academic learning.

Language arts with a tech twist
Once exclusively the realm of paper and ink, language arts gets an enormous boost from technology. Children in the fourth grade will learn how to write short opinion essays and informational reports, so doing research on the Internet, understanding how to evaluate sources, and learning about plagiarism are essential skills. Audio books and audio-enhanced text books allow fourth graders to immerse themselves in a culture of storytelling, fit more books into their busy lives, allow books to compete with other media for entertainment value, and get hooked on reading as a lifelong pleasure. Using a tablet or a computer, students can easily look up unfamiliar words to master new vocabulary and practice pronunciation. And digital book creation, video editing, and animation tools enable students to become authors of their own stories. A word processor — with grammar correction — can improve students' grammar and spelling as they write, by noting mistakes as they happen and offering corrections.

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know Part 1

Your Child and Technology: What Your Fourth Grader Needs to Know

Fourth graders use the Internet, educational software, and other tech tools to build on core learning.

By GreatSchools Staff

How technology enhances learning

Technology in the fourth grade classroom can introduce a rich, entertaining range of learning opportunities that engage young minds and get them excited about all aspects of the curriculum. Your child will use technological tools to enhance her understanding of language arts, science, social studies, math, and art. According to the Common Core Standards Initiative that the majority of states adopted in 2010-2011, fourth graders should master basic tech skills that are needed to complement learning in core subjects like reading, writing, science, and math. (Many teachers also follow the National Educational Technology Standards for Students.)

In fourth grade, your child will be building on essential reading skills, learning to the mechanics of essay writing, and exploring new concepts in math and science. While using technology is no substitute for mastering the multiplication tables or conducting research for a science project, it's an important tool to supplement classroom instruction. Even more important, technological literacy is essential for your child's future.

Tech skills your child should have by the end of fourth grade

Should haves:

•Familiarity with keyboarding and typing: according to the Common Core Standards for writing, a fourth grader should have the ability to "type a minimum of one page in a single sitting."

•Ability to use a mouse, including cutting, pasting, and spell-checking work

•Basic Internet research skills, including the ability to assess the credibility of websites, knowledge of basic copyright laws, and understanding the meaning and consequences of plagiarism.

•Understanding of cybersecurity do's and don'ts

Nice to haves:

•Photo editing skills

•Familiarity with Powerpoint or other presentation software

•Familiarity with Excel or other programs to organize data and create graphs