Student+Engagement+through+Technology

= Student Engagement through Technology =

= Description = ​Instructional technology is any technology that can be used to to help students better understand the material being covered. This can include various vehicles for classroom learning. These tools are invaluable in getting students attention, facilitating learning and producing superior work.

When trying to decide what instructional technologies I considered best I thought about what lessons gave me the most student feedback. After thinking about those I tried to determine which ones I thought had the biggest impact on learning. I included the lesson on Manifest Desitny because that was the one that the gave me the most student feedback and the one where I could best measure student learning. Most of the students enjoyed the lesson and did not realize how much information they were learning along the way. I found that when I read the letters that the students really understood the hardships faced by the settlers.

- Trying to survive the West.

media type="file" key="Westward Expansion.mp3" width="240" height="20" - Choosing to make your own adventure.

Reflection
I enjoyed doing this assignment. I had to think about what really works well in my class and why it works. It took awhile to settle on this lesson because I wanted to find one that met both of my criterias. The lesson works so well because each student is crucial in its success. Each student gets a different view of the settlers hardships and that makes it personal for them. Even though the lesson was last month they can still tell me what happened to 'them' in the assignment. Now I need to find ways of creating other assignments where students take an active role in their learning. As a part of the Historical Literacy Project that I'm involved in we learned that simulations are good ways to get students involved and I have used many of these this year. Working the technology aspect into the simulation really seemed to make the difference for the students.