Rich media I can apply to improve my teaching of first grade students would be visual and audio materials. Since my students come to me on a variety of different reading levels audio and visuals would come in handy during whole group instruction. This way their reading level would not be a hurdle when learning some topics.
It was encouraging to learn that almost all visuals are beneficial for students. When I started reading the section I was afraid that only the fanciest and most expletive visuals would prove effective. I like that there is a wide range of possible presentation from animation, screen shots, and word plus graphic diagrams. I sometimes get bored creating lesson plan with the same visual format. I know that if I am bored teaching then my students are bored learning and that is not the kind of environment I want to create in my classroom. With a variety of effective formats mixing up the form will help ease the monotony and keep students interested and engaged in learning the task at hand.
Audio is a component I have always wanted to include with my teaching but I just never had a clear understand of how do incorporate it effectively. When my students are working independently I often play, at their request, background music. It is classical music with nature sounds such as a summer thunderstorm or garden rain. While I understand this does not have much educational value, I have found my students work quietly and efficiently and it adds an overall serenity to the classroom. After reading about audio I plan to find ways to incorporate it with educational value. Of the top of my head I would like to include more books on tape, screencasts with speech, podcasts, and students recording their own stories to books without words to play back for themselves and their classmates.
Visual and Audio media can play such an important role in the classroom. Especially when using them together, the mixing and matching makes the possibilities endless.
Monday, August 4, 2008
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4 comments:
Lindsay,
I am glad to read that you have some many great ideas about potential uses of audio in your classroom. I agree, it would be a lot of fun to incorporate some of the tools that you mentioned such as podcasts, screencasts with audio and others. I especially think that having the student record their own voice will serve two purposes. One, it would give the students a chance to practice with these tools and have fun with it; two, it would give the students and opportunity to work on heir communication/presentation skills.
Thank you,
Mary
Just based on your posts over the last seven weeks, I know you are a good teacher, who really cares and tries to deliver the best in education.
I worked with a professor that research neuro-linguistic programming. He believed that music playing in the background opened learning channels and resulted in a more effective lecture. Based on the content in this textbook, it may actually be detrimental to the learning process.
If you have a choice in conveying content by audio or video, audio wins every time. Watch TV tonight without any audio and see how much you can understand. Close your eyes and listen to the dialog.
Have you thought about podcasts? There are always certain subject areas that are hard for the students. Having a way to review is beneficial.
I also play music for my students when they are working on their daily assignments. It is amazing how different the class is when something as simple as music is playing.
When I taught first grade, I too tried to incorporate more visual and audio resources into my lessons. I had a reading center where my students could listen to books on tape, but I like your ideas of podcasts and screencasts with the audio and visual aspects. I now teach students with Autism, so I have to limit the amount of visual and audio stimulous in the environment. I do agree though that students get bored and I get bored teaching the same lessons in the same methods and that audio and visuals can enhance the learning/teaching experience.
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