As a Career and Technical Education
(CTE) drafting teacher, I am fortunate to work in a school district that
provides the newest 21st Century Technology. The ability to provide students a high
quality education using software and tools used currently in industry is
priceless. Technology offers a powerful
resource for engaging students in authentic experiences (Cennamo, Ross, &
Ertmer. 2010).
Over the past seven weeks, I have
developed new and creative assignments that engage students in real world
scenario projects and implemented new technology in the process. These lessons
where designed to be used in a drafting classroom. During the course, I
developed three lesson plans: Problem
Based Learning, Social Networking and Digital Storytelling.
Problem Based Learning
(PBL): For this lesson, I selected two
former students to design a robotic hand. This is a real world scenario problem
that requires students to design a fully functional robotic hand for a client.
Using the Inventor CAD software, students design 100% of this project. Overall,
PBL lessons and drafting work flawlessly with each other. It is very easy to
create engaging, technology filled real world projects.
Social Networking
(SNL): This lesson works in conjunction with the PBL project. Using
VoiceThread, students can collaborate with others over various design
challenges. Students can upload video, images and notes to help direct the
conversation. Overall, SNL was my least favorite lesson.
While other subjects might benefit from
this option, I felt that beginning level drafters communicate better in person.
Communicating while using technical terminology can be confusion and slow. I
most likely will opt out of using this type of lesson in my drafting class.
Digital Storytelling
(DSL): For this lesson, students had
to design and create a drafting tutorial on how to design a 3D model of the
classic Rubik’s Cube. Using the Camtasia
movie editing software, students record all of the drafting steps used to
Rubik’s Cube. Student also can add audio, subtitles and images to help strengthen
the overall quality of the tutorial. The
best tutorial can later be used to aid struggling students during the next semester
class. DSL is a very cool option that
some could come in handy someday.
Overall, I believe in incorporating technology into the
lessons to help strengthen the overall educational experience for the students.
Although each lesson type had it benefits, the teacher must reflex on their
classroom, resources available and schedule (time) to see if the reward these
types of lessons is worth the effort.
References
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer, P. (2010). Technology
Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use:
A Standards-based Approach. Belmont , CA ; Wadsworth ,
Cengage Learning
