This article is a perfect example of how to integrate multiple subjects using technology. For this assignment students were asked to post on a blog by pretending to be the characters in a book they were reading in their Latin class. Along with Latin, the students worked on this blog in their history and literature classes. Each student was assigned a character, with the stronger writers having the lesser role,s so they can expand their imagination and writing, and the weaker writers with the main character roles. Each role was set at the writing level of the student so that they were not discouraged from participating. The students were asked to give thoughtful blog comments to the biographical posts of the others. In the beginning of the assignment the comments failed to be thoughtful and were quite vague, but toward the end, and with some help of the teachers, the comments became more thoughtful and detailed. To integrate history the students were asked to study the culture of the book, which was set in Ancient Rome, and use that knowledge in their posts and comments. The students became actively involved in their learning, and toward the end the authors said the students were participating for the fun of it and not just for a grade.
I think this is a great idea to get students actively learning in our classrooms. Studies show that students learn and retain more when they are actively engaged in their learning, instead of just listening to a lecture. What does this mean for technology and education? Like the example from the article, technology has given teachers a variety of ways to integrate subjects to get kids involved, as well as given educators access to new forms of activities to be done in the classroom to help promote learning. I believe the students from this article learned a lot more than their peers who just listened to lecture. Especially with subjects like history, where most kids find the subject to be not enjoyable, I think it is up to teachers to show students how fun it can be to learn and ways they can apply the knowledge they are acquiring. Although the students may not realize it, through this process they learned great writing strategies as well as conflict resolution strategies, all of which are beneficial in the real world. With the use of technology in the classroom, educators can have a better opportunity of achieving this with today's generation of students.
I believe this assignment represents standard 1 of the ISTE Standards for Students, which involves creativity and innovation. Particularly I think it shows standard 1c, "use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues" (ISTE Standards for Students, 2008). I believe it follows this standard because it demonstrates the students using the blog to solve the problems provided through the history and culture of Ancient Rome. The students use technology to explore the issues during that time, while being actively involved in that process. Therefore, the students are portraying fluency in standard 1c of the ISTE Standards for Students.
Barrett, J., & Goldsby, C. D. (2013). Blogging in Ancient Rome. Learning & Leading with Technology, 41(3), 34-35.
ReplyDeleteGreat article! I especially like how the students where assigned specific characters and were encouraged to write based on their writing level. I have a theory that if students are encouraged to blog they are more likely to take their time to check their punctuation and spelling because they are conscience about their fellow classmates seeing their work. Therefore, the students will purposely try to do their best in writing. I also liked how the assignment wasn't limited to one subject but instead spread through other subjects. On a personal note I created a blog for my current students. Since I’m not the teacher but a tutor I am having a hard time getting my students to blog but I know I will soon get them to do this. Great example on how to integrate blogging project into various subjects.