Concrete+to+Abstract

One helpful learning strategy is to break up the task into more doable parts. Some of the ways in which technology works requires thinking about things in new ways. To have to think about things in new ways plus express what you are thinking about creates cognitive overload, which leads to frustration.

Try using a big piece of paper and putting printouts of text and pictures on it. Move them around until you are happy with the scope and sequence of the information and ideas you want to share. You can even print the first page of a website you want to link to, or some kind of picture to represent an audio file. When you are happy with your plan, then tape each item to the big piece of paper so things don't get shuffled. The idea here is to be able to plan your lesson without worrying about technology and to represent the different kinds of media you can use in your lesson. You might find your plan is a sequence of steps or it could end up being more like a web. You might want to think about the sequencing of each item on the web so that students can gain the "big picture" while interacting with the material.

Just about any information-centered software can accommodate text, pictures, links to web pages, etc. It is simply a matter of choosing something.

For example, along with presenting text and pictures on a power point, you can add links to websites that have other media (such as the link to a youtube video or a really good website).

You can do similar things in a word processing document. It's going to look a little different than power point, but if working in a word processor is comfortable and the material is complex, it might be the best option. Particularly when time is short, choose the most comfortable technology.

If you have the luxury of more time, you can explore a new-to-you way to engage students with learning materials. This could range from learning how to actually embed a video in presentation software, learning a new presentation form of software (e.g., Prezi), learning how to use presentation software in a new-to-you program (Google Docs or perhaps Libre Office), learning how to create an interactive experience for interactive white boards, and so forth. Once you have your basic stuff organized on your large sheet of paper, your brain has more room to do the learning required in order to use new programs and technology.

As you get comfortable with a form of technology, you can skip the "make it concrete" stage. In the meantime, the real paper will relieve your mind of having to keep those ideas going in your mind while also trying to negotiate technology.