School Type: Public	School Setting: Rural
Level: Elementary	School Design: Traditional
Content Presented By:
NEIRTEC, Northeast & Islands Regional Technology in Education Consortium

Summary

The practice: Multiple Learning Strategies
Technology-enhanced lessons and activities should represent a variety of learning strategies that include active learning strategies, constructive learning strategies, authentic learning strategies, cooperative learning strategies, and intentional/reflective learning strategies.

• A cohort of second-, third-, and fourth-grade teachers learned how to integrate technology into standards-based lessons that had proven challenging for students in the past.
• The teachers worked in groups of three to four to discuss the benefits and logistics of technology integration.
• The teachers used existing Web sites or software such as Kidspiration or Inspiration, to improve student engagement and understanding of topics.
• Students were asked to listen to information about a lesson, map out their observations on the computer, and use additional information gained through Internet research to write or design a piece that showed understanding.
• Students worked in groups and shared knowledge of technology with one another.
• Lessons either used projector system for whole-group discussion or called for smaller group work on library computers.

Amy Spath, the technology integration specialist for the Mexico Academy and Central School District in Mexico, New York and the district's Director of Technology were concerned that elementary teachers were not using technology to enhance learning in the classroom. Many teachers saw technology as an add-on, not an everyday tool for engaging their students. The teachers also had varying levels of expertise and experience with early childhood learning software.

To address this issue, Spath took an online technology integration course offered by TERC and the Northeast and Islands Regional Technology Education Consortium (NEIRTEC). Through the course, she designed a professional development opportunity for teachers in her district, in which they would learn how to integrate technology into their existing standards-based lessons. During the first session of the professional development opportunity, teachers participated in a model lesson, reviewed technology relevant to the model lesson, worked in groups to determine which software or Web sites best fit their students and the topics of their own lessons, and discussed assessment strategies.

Once the teachers had participated in the model lesson and group discussions, they then used these tools and strategies to adapt their own lessons and team-teach them with Spath. The lessons asked students to listen to the information given, map out the elements of the lesson and their own observations, and gather more information on the topic to aid their understanding. Students would then write or design a document that showed their comprehension of the lessons' concepts. Some students worked in pairs or small groups, sharing information and assisting one another. The lessons connected to multiple New York State learning standards and the software offered students the opportunity to express themselves in pictures as well as in words.

Special education students were integrated in the classroom and were not separated out into separate groups during lessons. For both students and teachers, this process used cooperative, constructive, and reflective learning strategies. Students discussed how they reached certain conclusions and received feedback from the class as a whole. Teachers received feedback on their lessons from Spath and other teachers who had created similar lessons.

• Professional development should be primarily school-based and built into the day-to-day work of teaching.  
• Professional Development - School leaders must provide relevant, meaningful, and ongoing professional development for all staff.  
• Standards
  All technology-enhanced activities should be deliberately and consciously aligned with local, state, and national standards.   

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