Do as I Do
For years I have been a proponent of teachers creating the products they wish their students to make. This has the following benefits:
- Trouble spots can be identified – whenever you create something, there is a clearer picture of what “unintended” adventures might take place. For example, creating a word document may reveal that kids do not know where to save their file
- Skills are revealed. A teacher may want his students to make a Open Office Impress presentation but, when he start the project he realizes that none of the kids know how to use the software. So, the teacher spends hours teaching the kids and the kids start to make all sorts of goofy presentations because that is what kids do. The teacher gets angry with them, because all he wanted was 4 slides and some color. He then thinks, the kids know Open Office Writer….what was I thinking.
- Models are uncovered. Students need to know if they are on track. By completing the product and presenting it skillfully, students can self-monitor and know they are on the right track.
Technorati Tags: student products, btcactus, on the trails,
Powered by ScribeFire.
I am an Educational Computing Strategist (ECS). I figure out ways to IMPROVE education with technology. 
My Web site
August 1st, 2007 at 3:24 pm
What I’ve found helpful is that even if my sample project goes smoothly for me, and has snags for the kids, it teaches me what stumbling blocks I should look for in the future when planning future projects.