Online Learning Experiences with 1st Graders

It seems like many of the online learning experiences would be quite difficult to use with first graders particularly because of their limited technology skills and reading abilities.  That being said, there are a few opportunities that I think would be useful for first graders.  One that was used in a colleague’s classroom last year was an “interactive discussion with an expert”.  One of her students had a connection to a head park ranger in California.  They were able to use Skype and video-conferencing software to talk with him and learn about what he does, the animals and plants that he deals with, etc.  This conference took a LOT for her to plan (3+ months) because our building does not have the video conferencing equipment and it had to be “borrowed” from another building.  Furthermore, they had to coordinate schedules and deal with the time zone difference.  However, the students were excited about this unique experience.  If I had the opportunity to set up a similar experience for my students, I would do it (however, it would need to be directly related to what we were learning so that it is a meaningful learning experience).  

 

Another online learning experience that I might utilize with my first graders are WebQuests.  The WebQuest would have to be well-designed and would have to incorporate useful assessment.  The ones that I have viewed so far as part of the evaluation were sub-par.  They had many broken links, disjointed sites to go to, and limited scaffolding.  Therefore, I would probably design my own WebQuest.  I think WebQuests could be helpful to help students practice math skills such as telling time or counting money.  It may also be helpful with science so that students can see and interact with things that we are talking about (incorporating online simulations).  

Technologies that I already use are educational games and digital books. The students really respond to these and are engaged in the content.  Some sites that I utilize are XTra Math, Smart Tutor (the free ones available), Learning Today, iXL, ABCYa, StoryLine Online, and FunBrain.  Most of these sites are used to reinforce math skills, phonics, and fluency.  Other technologies that may be useful are online field trips and online simulations.  Like interactive discussions, these would have to be directly related to the curriculum.  I think PodCasts could also be useful.  The students could use them to record book reviews, make presentations, etc.

Some online learning that would be very difficult to use with my students are RSS feeds and Wikis.  These would be more difficult because they rely heavily on reading skills.  Most of the information on these sites is written at a reading level well-above first grade so this would be difficult for students to interact with.  Even if assistive-technology such as text-to-speech were utilized, the students may still have difficulty comprehending the content.  One that would be difficult at first to use are blogs.  The vast majority of students have little/no typing ability.  Therefore, making a blog post would be very cumbersome, however, it would also help (slowly) develop their typing skills.