"Making School a Little Less Painful through Techology" is an ISTE member profile on social studies teacher Jason Schrage. In preparing his middle school students for the state exams, Mr. Schrage decided to make things interesting by introducing technology. He got in touch with his cousin, also a middle school social studies teacher, to create a game using videoconferencing technology. The two classrooms competed against each other in real time to prep for their test, and the kids had fun getting ready for the state exams.
Mr. Schrage enjoys experimenting with technology as a means to reach his students in new ways. He says it keeps him "energized and it trickles down to the kids." Schrage says that he spends a lot of time "teaching to the test" because that's the expection. However, he uses technology to make this kind of teaching a "little less painful."
Mr. Schrage is a fan of Twitter and has used it to find new approaches to old topics, such as the Great Depression. He asked Twitter friends to create VoiceThreads to offer strategies and tips to help his students prepare for social studies state exams. The result... now his students don't have just one social studies teacher but dozens from around the world.
I appreciate the way Mr. Schrage has used technology to make topics that might seem boring to kids come alive. There is a considerable amount of reading and memorization involved in studying history. Once students know the facts they can begin to make connections and think critically about events and people in history . Using technology creatively, as Mr. Scharge has done, can enhance both the rote memorization and the critical thinking involved in history.
Fingal, D. (2010). Member Profile Jason Schrage Making School a Little Less Painful through Technology. 38(2). Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Member_Profile_Jason_Schrage_Making_School_a_Little_Less_Painful_through_Technology.aspx
Hey Julie,
ReplyDeleteI really like this comment that you put: it keeps him "energized and it trickles down to the kids." I think that this is one of the most important aspects in a classroom environment. The teacher is the one that has to be excited about teaching and learning in order that the students become excited about it too!
Mercedez and Julie,
ReplyDeleteI agree. I like that the teachers connected students with outside audiences for collaboration and that Voicethread provided an additional tool to communicate that was asynchronous (not real time). The planning for these collaborations involved NeTS II. I am sure the teachers addressed digital citizenship. I wonder if there was anything about this part. The combination is a great idea to "inspire learning" as described in NETS I.
Dr. Hayden