Overview of educational technology...
Using educational technology in the high school biology classroom is a great way to involve and engage learners, and helps students with different learning styles and modalities to access the content. This site is divided into four subpages featuring information about different technology to use in the classroom, along with specific ideas and activities to incorporate this technology.
Of course this is not an exhaustive list of everything available out there for teachers to use in the classroom. These specific technologies were selected because they:
- are easy for teachers to become familiar with and have little or no prep time involved.
- create student buy-in and engagement during lessons.
- may cost little or no money to access.
- allow students to work through the content at their own pace.
- reach learners of multiple learning modalities.
- can be modified to involve learners with special needs.
- help students build scientific literacy and writing skills.
- help students gain 21st century skills such as digital literacy.
Using educational technology in the classroom supports the development of 21st century skills in students - skills that students must master in order to become successful in today's world and become productive members of society. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a Framework for 21st Century Learning that includes skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration. One of the major pieces of this framework of standards is the ability to use technology in a number of different ways, called Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) digital literacy. Under the ICT literacy standard, students should be able to "use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information" as well as "use digital technologies to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information" to be successful, demonstrating the importance of using educational technology in the classroom as part of a framework also emphasizing core subjects, learning outcomes, and life skills.
Click on the images below to take you to a specific technology page or to the lessons page for specific ideas on how to utilize educational technology in the biology classroom.
Of course this is not an exhaustive list of everything available out there for teachers to use in the classroom. These specific technologies were selected because they:
- are easy for teachers to become familiar with and have little or no prep time involved.
- create student buy-in and engagement during lessons.
- may cost little or no money to access.
- allow students to work through the content at their own pace.
- reach learners of multiple learning modalities.
- can be modified to involve learners with special needs.
- help students build scientific literacy and writing skills.
- help students gain 21st century skills such as digital literacy.
Using educational technology in the classroom supports the development of 21st century skills in students - skills that students must master in order to become successful in today's world and become productive members of society. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a Framework for 21st Century Learning that includes skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration. One of the major pieces of this framework of standards is the ability to use technology in a number of different ways, called Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) digital literacy. Under the ICT literacy standard, students should be able to "use technology as a tool to research, organize, evaluate, and communicate information" as well as "use digital technologies to access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information" to be successful, demonstrating the importance of using educational technology in the classroom as part of a framework also emphasizing core subjects, learning outcomes, and life skills.
Click on the images below to take you to a specific technology page or to the lessons page for specific ideas on how to utilize educational technology in the biology classroom.