Thing #3: Visual Learning

There are so many great (and usually free) resources available not only to teachers, but everyone! In my experience, I often find a program or website that I really like and find easy to use, and then stop trying to find additional resources. This is something that I am actively trying to change about myself.

With Thing #3, I was forced outside of my comfort zone, and as a result found myself becoming frustrated with the websites that I was trying to use. In the end, I persevered, and as a result, now have many other tools in my belt to help integrate technology into my teaching.

During this unit, I learned about many resources to help improve my instruction for visual learners. I learned about a number of resources to help me to organize lessons and ideas in a visual format. Some of the ways I learned were:

-Graphic Organizers                                        -Infographics

-Word Clouds                                                    -QR Codes

Graphic Organizers:

There are many, many great mind mapping resources available. I chose to try Bubbl.us because it was a resource I had never used or heard of. What I liked best about this website was how easy it was to manipulate and make changes once you got started. I think this website would be an excellent tool to organize brainstorming sessions during class. Here’s an example of a mind map that I would use to help introduce the idea of verbs to my students. We would then work together to add more information.

Word Clouds:

I absolutely love using word clouds! I have used them for many years, not only for teaching, but in my personal life as well. I think word clouds are engaging and fun and can be used for so many different reasons. Students also love making word clouds. In the past, I used the online version of Wordle to create word clouds. Unfortunately, the online version no longer works and you must download the program. This has some potential drawbacks, especially limiting when and where it can be used. Here’s an example of what a word cloud might look like when talking about why English language learning is important. I’ve also shared this visual on my class website, as I think it’s an interesting representation of languages in the world.

Infographics:

I also love infographics! I have used them on countless occasions and find them to be very easy to use and understand. While I love reading infographics, I find creating them to be less fun. I became very frustrated when trying to create an infographic using Piktochart. While I absolutely see the value of this for some content areas and students, I do not think that this is a visual representation that I will use regularly in my instruction. Here’s an example of a inforgraphic representing the results of a class survey:

QR Codes:

For many years, I’ve been seeing QR codes everywhere I go. When I finally downloaded the application to scan them, I was quite intrigued. I thought this was a genius way of using technology to quickly and efficiently share information with a very large audience in a very short period of time. I find the available websites to be equally user friendly and easy to use. For this activity, I tried QRstuff.com. Unfortunately, this has not caught on in France. In fact, I can’t remember ever seeing a QR while living in France. So again, I think this technology has a very important place in learning, but not in my current situation. To get an idea of how QR codes worked, I made one to reach the website of the company I work for (the website is in French). If you’re interested in learning about the company I work for, scan the QR code below!

I love the idea of incorporating things for all learner styles into my teaching. I think that the websites I mentioned in this post could be very useful for helping me to use more technology in my teaching.

Connections to ISTE Standards:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: As the possibilities are limitless with these resources, students would be given the opportunity to express themselves in countless ways.
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: As technology is constantly changing, so are the resources which are available to us. Employing these new technologies will ensure that students are being given authentic opportunities to learn and explore.
3. Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility: Remembering that once we create something on the internet, it is there forever (even if we delete it). Helping students learn appropriate ways of questioning and disagreeing.