Word Processors as an Instructional Tool or Integrating Technology without the Internet

After doing this course on integrating technology in reading instruction we are all enthused by all the different ways this can be done in our classrooms. We have learnt so much about wikis, blogs, (podcasting), concept mapping software, digital storytelling etc. However, what happens when we return to our schools in September and we realize that there is no computer lab, few computers and definitely no internet service?-as is the case in many primary schools. Do we forget all that we have learnt or wait until we get a lab or internet service?

What can we do without internet service?

• We (teachers and students) can create ebooks using Powerpoint;
• Try to get our schools to purchase the Kidspiration software;
• Download information from the internet using cds/flash drives and copy store information in our computers in schools. We then design activities which the students use the respond to, based on ‘research’ from the files eg. creating poems, writing biographies, writing reports on drug abuse etc. We can also create simple webquests (more on this in another blog).
• We can make better use of word processors as an instructional tool. After writing, simple editing can be done using spell and grammar checks. We can develop ‘higher order’ cognitive skills such as ‘revision for clarity of communication’ –eg, deletions, insertions, substitutions (Thesaurus), rearrange sentence and paragraphs, rewrites. According to Dangert-Drowns (1993), if higher order aspects of writing like organization and clarity are “embedded in the context of writing instruction that emphasizes the writing process, rather than focusing analytically on decomposed writing processes, one might expect the word processor to have lasting effects on ... students’ writing” (p.86).

Can you think of other ways to integrate technology when we have no internet service?