Learning Goal:  Creating a 5 paragraph essay to defend an argument about genetically modified foods.
Tech Tool:  iPad with Internet and Google Docs/Drive

Triple E Evaluation:
Engagement:  5/6
Students are working in pairs both with the technology and through the technology (co-engagement).  They are writing and editing together in Google Docs.  Google Docs does not have any "bells or whistles or games", thus the students are able to focus on the content.  While the Internet can be distracting, the teacher should use instructional moves to keep them on-task with the learning goal.
Enhancement: 4/6
The Google Docs allows students to work and edit together in real time (and the teacher can also weigh in).  While the Internet resources allows the students to gather the necessary research they need for their argument.  It would be more difficult to do this assignment without the Internet.  
Extension:  4/6
By using the Internet and finding authentic resources and authoritative sites, the students are able to learn how to put together an argument based on fact.  The students are also learning how to use online collaborative tools to build a cohesive argument.  It is connected to a real world concept, which may or may not interest the students (this was not shared in the lesson).  

Total:  13/18...a strong connection between the technology and the learning goals.

Learning Goal:  Students will create public service announcements on the water crisis in Africa and the importance of water conservation.
Technology Tool(s):  Garageband, Skype, Internet

In this lesson, upper elementary students are learning about the water crisis in Africa, by video chatting with experts.  Then they will choose a topic related to the water crisis, research about it on the Internet (in teams) and then create a public service announcement podcast that will be played on a local radio station.  The lesson meets all three levels of the Triple E.

• ​Engagement:  Students are working in teams (co-use, social), the technology (video chat, audio editing software, and research websites) all focus on the task at hand and with good instructional strategies, can keep the students focused on the end goal.
• Enhancement:  The technology adds value by helping to connect the students to real life experts, helping them gain real time information via the Internet and publishing information to a wider audience via the podcasts.
• Extension:  The technology allows the students to connect with experts (authentic) as well as publish their work on the local radio station.

A second grade teacher, Beverly Ladd, from North Carolina is teaching Geography in a whole new way:  Skype!  Her classroom is trying to find 50 classes from other states to Skype with and share geography and cultural norms.   She set up an open Google doc where classrooms can sign up to do a mystery Skype with her classroom.  This is a wonderful way to use technology to extend learning and make it more authentic.  Rather than reading about other states, learning from the local "experts" in an inquiry-based way is something that these students will remember, and this would be very difficult to do without the aid of technology!

A web-based project called the Michigan Student Caucus is a collaborative project between university students and middle and high school social studies students.  The project supports a deep dive into politics, government and advocacy work.  University students help to scaffold and support secondary students on their understanding of state government, by using authentic policies and real life issues in Michigan and the state government of Michigan.  The secondary students are able to research policies, and even draft their own bill, which they introduce to the Michigan state government at the end of the semester long project.  Students form all over the state of Michigan collaborate through the website, and through their co-construction of their own bills and policies based on authentic information from the state of Michigan.

Engagement:  The website allows students to co-engage with other students in learning about government and drafting bills.  The website helps them focus on the learning goals.

Enhancement:  University students are able to help scaffold and support the learning through the website discussion boards and private messaging.  They can also personalize the learning for the secondary students through the website.

Extension:  The website allows the students access to work on real world policy.

This assignment by Sara Romeyn of Bullis High School has always stood out as an extremely effective use of technology to meet learning goals.  Sara has the students do a deep-dive into a historical character.  They research the character's thoughts, ideas and writings.  Then they create a Facebook FanPage about their character, updating it often and responding in character to other historical characters of their classmates.  Sara encourages them to work outside of school hours, when they are already on Facebook to extend the learning.  She also encourages them to consider how their character would respond current political issues.  In the end, the students participate in a virtual salon, where they are all online, in character responding to each other's posts.   

Engagement:  The students are co-engaging through their characters by both asynchronously and synchronously responding to each other's Facebook posts.  While Facebook can be distracting, by using a tool that the students are already engaging with outside of class, they will see their classmate's character's posts show up in the general feed and prompt them to respond.  

Enhancement:  Facebook allows students to post different types of multi-media about their character and share their thoughts with others.  It also allows the teacher to weigh in through replies and push the student's thinking.  Facebook gives students an opportunity to be reflective and monitor their thinking.  Note, the teacher should be modeling how to do this.  Finally, Facebook allows a lot of conversation to be happening at one time, something that would be difficult to capture with only traditional learning tools.

​Extension:  The way that Sara set up the assignment, allows students to connect with everyday political culture and historical character's perspectives.  In addition, students can participate 24/7.  Finally, the students learn how to have a positive but constructive dialog online about politics.  

In this lesson (via the TIMS website), middle school students studying animal habitats and behaviors were able to extend their learning by selecting the appropriate technology to document different animals in their natural habitat.  
Engagement:  Students co-use the technology tools.  They are purposely selecting tools that help them meet their end goal (focus on the time-on-task).  
Enhancement:  The tools allow the students to collect the data, as well as scaffold their understanding of the data (putting it into easy to read charts/graphs).
Extension:  The technology tools allow students to document the animals in their natural habitat and study them, using the authentic data that they collect.