How I use learning resources in my classroom

How do I use digital resources from different countries

Teija JormanainenPielisjoen koulu, Joensuu, Fi

o The subject I teach,

o The age of the students,

o The digital resource itself. 

The way I use digital resources depends on

The main aim in using them is

To get the up to date information,

To get more information than what the textbooks can give,

To motivate and inspire the students.

Digital resources can be found

Search engines like Google, Different portals like LRE and OER teacher Network,

National publishers, public sector, broadcasters, the Ministry of Education,

The colleagues.

The basis for choosing the resources

The content is up-to-date,

The content matches the grade level of the students,

The content of the resource is reliable,

The content of the resource is “adaptable to my needs”,

The content of the resource motivates the students.

The main ways I use the sources are

When preparing for the lessons,

In the classroom to motivate the students,

To give more information about the topic to the students,

The students use them in classrooms as part of their assignments,

As a source for homework. 

I use the digital resources in teaching in the following way (1):

The resource as a whole: http://celebrate.ls.no/English/Animations/Science/drivhus_eng.swf

Dividing the resources into smaller pieces, e.g.:

http://www.oulu.fi/northnature/english/englanti/talvihaku.html

http://www.ahven.net/opetusmateriaali/talouskalalajit/kalat/kuha.html

http://www.abpischools.org.uk/page/modules/hormones/horm2.cfm?coSiteNavigation_allTopic=1

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/animations/

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/helicorders.php

I use the digital resources in teaching in the following way (2)

Video clips or animations as a demonstration

http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/malaria/parasite.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/blueplanet/webs/flash/weboflife.swf

Create assignments for students on the basis of the given resources

I use the digital resources in teaching in the following way(3)

For students to test their knowledge http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/landsteiner/landsteiner.html

http://www.freepoverty.com/

Digital sources as a basis for our discussions

http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/addiction/drugs/mouse.html

http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf

The students using the Internet

The students don’t usually pay attention to:

Reliability

Topicality

Copy rights

” The link bank”

First, my students and I talk about the features of good digital resources and then we make a list of those features

We collect digital sources based on the agreed features and put the chosen resources in one place (e.g. Moodle).  

The link bank: students’ list of the features of good resources

Reliable Informative Links to other pages Safe, no viruses Free Up-to date Clear and easy to read Uses good pictures and flash animations Pages function well

The link bank: students evaluate the following features of the resources

Contents

Realibility

Topicality

Copyrights

Appearance

How the students use the resources in the link bank:

They use them in their tasks and assignments

When presenting the task to the rest of the class , they show the digital resources they have used.

They tell why they have used the sources, and whether the resources match the features of good resources

The portals I mainly use

LRE http://lreforschools.eun.org

eQnet Unilearn: http://unilearning.eu

OER Teacher network http://oertn.eun.org

Finnish portals

The benefits of using these portals

A lot of the good digital resources  

It is time saving

I find resources that I maybe never would have found otherwise

I don’t have to think about the copy rights

Easy and quick to use