First Grade Media

 I am learning on the job.  This is my first year teaching Tech to grades K-4 in the Media Center.  I have an area with 24 desk tops, one color printer and a Smart-board. I teach each class once a week, and with each failure I evaluate and tweak the next lesson.  I also teach three sections of each grade level, giving me three chances to get it right.
My learning experience began with discovering what students couldn't do, and helping them to become independent. Initially I found that first graders cannot sit at a computer station and, at the same time, follow directions shown to them on a smart-board. So I began starting each lesson with the students clustered around my demonstration on the smart-board where I used a mouse instead of the touch screen to be as much like the students' own experience.  Even if we were doing the same as last week, the students benefitted from the reminder. 
After sending the first graders to their computers I trusted them to independently find a site and navigate the different choices at the website.  My thinking was that they would learn from what they were interested in, and the element of choice would be their motivation to explore the site.

I introduced my first class to the San Diego Zoo official site, where the homepage displays the menu.  I showed them how to search for an animal (not very user friendly search engine), taught them how to use the back button, and pointed out how to find the live cams. The menu included activities and games.  Neither of these are age appropriate, but that is where my 6 year olds went first. They spent their short 20 minutes struggling to load and understand the games, scrolled through the activities and asked if they could leave the site for one they had done earlier. It didn't help that the animals where not appearing on the live cams, probably because it wasn't feeding time.
With the next class I approached the games head-on.  I gave the students a link to more age appropriate games that they could try after exploring the zoo.  With this I inadvertently lessened the appeal of the official zoo site, and gave the students the impression that it was something just to click around before moving on. Even in the short amount of class time, the students still race from activity to activity and don't really settle on any one. In one way they have become independent in their ability to navigate the websites, and their choices are causing them to move at a frantic pace. 
I often find that the third time is a charm.  As my last class came in I tried to slow things down.  I bypassed the unfriendly search option, and the games, and went straight to the live cams. We tried the elephants first, confident that we would see an animal.  The children's attention was immediately captured and they would have happily watched the elephants all day.  So... I let them.  They reluctantly allowed me to move to another live cam: the penguins.  Fortunately there was a penguin to view, but not much action.  I resisted the urge to click away and try another enclosure.  As we shared the experience together a huge shark suddenly came into view. The whole class gasped and jumped. Now that they were hooked, I sent them to their own computers, knowing that they would continue to enjoy the experience there.
And the experience did not cease to be collective. Classmates alerted others to the sightings of tigers, pandas and polar bears in the water.  Together they rejoiced in finding out that patience is rewarded by a change of camera angle, allowing previously hidden animals to be discovered.  The virtual experience of visiting a zoo in San Diego was complete.


 What I learned:
First graders will follow my lead to a point, but are more affected by the whole group experience.  They learn more from each other than they do from the technology.  They are excited to discover, and to share their learning.
The whole group time at the beginning of the class is very important and shouldn't be rushed.  It sets the tone and the purpose for the time at the computer.
I have to make sure I communicate a clear objective for the class time.  If I want students to explore and navigate around a site, then that is all they will do.  If I want them learn from a particular experience at the computer, then I must model my willingness to spend time on that. 
First graders are bombarded by choice and will often go back to a previously mastered site rather than try something new and challenging.