A Healthy Mix of Reading, Writing and Technology

A Healthy Mix of Reading, Writing and Technology
    Good morning. Today’s lecture is about the healthy mix of reading, writing and technology in social studies curriculum.
    Firstly, about students’ reading.
    We learn that if a child cannot read well, that lack of skill is intensified when he or she tries to obtain and process information from the Internet. Interestingly, however, children were so motivated by the opportunity to use the technology that they often persevered in decoding text and constructing meaning, beyond what they seemed willing to do when reading from their textbooks. We also discovered that the Internet allowed students to broaden and deepen their background knowledge and understanding of the content. Students learned much more about the US regions than they did in previous classes that had gathered information primarily from the textbook.
    Secondly, about writing.
    Overall, we found that the writing component of the project posed the most difficulty for the students. Students struggled with composing complete sentences on the note pages of their PowerPoint slides. PowerPoint, like many word-processing packages, has a feature that enables the software to check spelling as words are typed; misspelled words are then highlighted in some fashion (以某种方式). We believe this is an authentic method of dealing with misspelled words—one that many proficient spellers use frequently. Summarizing caused great problems for students. Despite several lessons on how to summarize, most students resorted to copying information, either from their textbooks or from the Internet. We worked individually with students to help them with these summarizing tasks.
    Next, about language development.
    Children were exposed to a wide variety of writing styles on the Internet sites they visited, and these styles were different from what they had experienced in textbooks. Through the activity, the children learned the vocabulary related to the regions they were studying. Children also had many opportunities to use language to communicate. As they completed the WebQuests, they shared information, discussed responses, asked for assistance from one another and from the adults, and chatted about what they were seeing on their computer screens.
    Finally, about technology itself.
    I believe the children acquired technology skills easily because they were involved in meaningful learning activities. We found that the children took a real problem-solving stance (立场，看法) with the technology throughout the project. Their motto seemed to be "When in doubt, click on something and see what happens. "
    In summary, the only technology obstacles were those created by the slow speed of the Internet connection in the school, the breakdown of Internet access to the building, and the lack of appropriate tables on which to use the computers, write, and arrange materials.
    For those who are interested in integrating technology into their curriculum, I offer some advice hoping that others may learn from the insights.
    No. 1, when undertaking Internet-based activities, a high-speed Internet connection is essential.
    No. 2, do not spend much time teaching children how to navigate the Web. Instead, let those who have experience with the Internet sit by those who need help.
    No. 3, spend lots of time teaching literacy skills necessary for completing Internet-based activities.
    No. 4, evaluate children’s process and product. No. 5, provide time for discussion after the lessons have been completed.
    To sum up, in the above lecture we talked about how to make it a healthy mix of reading, writing and technology in social studies curriculum. Thanks for your listening.