Teacher Poll: What types of technology activities do you like BEST to use in teaching?

 
TeAch-nology.com's Teacher Poll of the Week
What types of technology activities do you like BEST to use in teaching?
web quests
interactive software applications
word processing
presentation software
virtual field trips


View Results
TeAch-nology.com
 

There are so many ways that teachers can use computers to aid student learning. The answer that received the most votes in this poll was interactive software applications. The remainder of the answers accounted for very similar numbers with less than 5% separating second place from fifth place.

Interactive software applications allow students to work at their own pace. Once all students are set up within the software package, teachers can help individual students when necessary but there is no pressure to keep up with other students. One example of this type of software is used with elementary school students to teach typing skills. The software is set up like a game which encourages children to continue but each student is able to advance only according to their skill development. The other benefit to teachers of interactive software applications is that teachers are not required to do a lot of lesson planning. Preparation time for teachers is at a premium so if there is the occasional lesson that requires very little planning time it is a blessing.

Web quests are very beneficial when used to teach students research skills, but teachers need to do a lot of preparation if they plan to make their own web quest. Virtual field trips fall in the same category. While providing valuable learning experiences, the organization of a virtual field trip can be time consuming.

The other two categories are used by students for presentation purposes. Either presentation software or word processing packages are helpful for teaching students how to effectively present information. While these are very good for students they don't change what teachers have to do with regard to lesson preparation or instruction.

Interactive software applications are probably the most popular technology activity for students as well. Given the choice of listening to a lecture or playing a game-like software package the choice is a no-brainer. With so many differences between them it's good that teachers and students can agree on some things.