• What did they learn about themselves and their ability to work together in this exercise?
Teach With Technology
Since the world has become interconnected through technology, and because technology is such a ubiquitous and highly integrated presence in our children’s lives, it’s increasingly necessary to involve technology in curricula by taking advantage of its abilities to foster collaboration, locate useful media and information, and develop creative solutions. We call technology we use in this way edtech, or educational technology (“Educational Technology,” n.d.); the term encompasses both hardware (devices) and software (applications and other programs).
It’s important to understand that integrating technology into your instruction doesn’t mean that technology is going to supplant you. It is simply a means to enhance your practice. As a teacher, you are still a classroom’s greatest resource, and having your students use digital devices in your classroom can provide you and your learners with an excellent teaching supplement that makes the learning more relevant for students while allowing you to spend more time on individual instruction.
To help you get started when considering ways to implement edtech in your school or classroom, consider the following three important strategies. Note that these strategies reflect both teacher and administrator concerns and represent only the beginning of the process when it comes to integrating technology with curricula.
1. Scaffolding (incremental introduction of skills): If you’re interested in teaching with edtech, you’ve likely discovered a variety of tools that you want to share. But trying to do too much and introducing too many tools can stress you out, causing analysis paralysis and frightening off students and parents. To avoid this, begin by thoroughly researching and introducing one tool at a time. For example, administrators could have teachers become familiar with using Twitter (https://twitter.com) as a way to expand their personal learning networks. Teachers could have students use it as an avenue for quick quiz answers. (Similar to many social media and other digital platforms, Twitter requires all users to be at least age thirteen.)
Before you begin, try establishing an online support team to keep you motivated and connected to learners and colleagues. Another great tool for making this happen comes from my own venture, Wabisabi (https://wabisabilearning.com), and my Solution Fluency Activity Planner (Global Digital Citizen Foundation, n.d.b). With the highly collaborative nature of this system, educators can find support from peers around the world who are doing great things. In addition, educators can use it to connect to other classes around the world so learners can learn from, with, and, more importantly, about each other.
2. Clarity of purpose (how this applies to real-world practice): For teachers, this means clarifying goals and being explicit in how you want to use the tools for your own subjects. In other words, how is this tool relevant to you and what and how you are teaching with it? Take a look at the specific edtech tool, application, hardware, or online service you have your eye on and visualize how it can enhance your classroom and the learning that happens within it.
For administrators adopting schoolwide edtech or bring your own device (BYOD) initiatives, you must remember that teachers and students alike need support, especially when something is changing their routine. They must come away with a clear answer to the question, How does this new tool, application, hardware, or online service help me with learning or solve a problem within the class?
3. Support (feedback and formative assessment): Sometimes administrators work tirelessly raising funds to acquire the most expensive edtech tools and start the school year off using them regularly, only to let them gather dust for the rest of the year. Once you’re in, you should be all in. Regular training sessions are a must. Beware the trap of offering only one professional development session at the beginning of the school year. Teachers will get really busy really quickly. If you can implement training so that it is unobtrusive, such as in the form of a formative assessment tool, all the better.
These three simple strategies mirror everything that educators and students need to successfully use edtech in the classroom. With them in place, you can begin to focus on specific technology-driven activities that help drive context and relevancy in students’ learning.
Activity
Some specific activities for teaching with edtech can include using Twitter for quick quizzes and polls, using Facebook (https://facebook.com) for group-project management, and using LinkedIn (https://linkedin.com) to connect with industry professionals in the students’ chosen field of interest. Decide which tools will enhance learning through direct experience for your learners. Here are six examples.
1. Digital portfolios (Evernote, https://evernote.com; Pinterest, https://pinterest.com; and Wabisabi, https://wabisabizen.com)
2. Assessment online (Socrative, https://socrative.com; Plickers, https://plickers.com; and Kahoot, https://kahoot.it)
3. Flipped lessons (Khan Academy, https://khanacademy.org; YouTube, https://youtube.com; and TED-Ed, https://ed.ted.com)
4. Blogging sites for students (Weebly, https://weebly.com; Wix, https://wix.com; and WordPress, https://wordpress.com)
5. Cloud storage (Google Drive, https://google.com/drive; Microsoft OneDrive, https://onedrive.live.com/about; and Dropbox, www.dropbox.com)
6. Gamification (Minecraft, https://minecraft.net/en-us; Classcraft, https://classcraft.com; and Gamestar Mechanic, https://gamestarmechanic.com)
Technology will always be a part of students’ lives and of their learning, but it need not be something educators fear or revile. After all, the greatest piece of technology we’ll ever have in our classrooms is a teacher with a passion for learning. However, by using edtech tools like these, you can provide students with modes of learning that connect with a digital world they are already familiar with, creating more relevance for them.
Reflection
After you complete this activity with your students, take some time to reflect on and answer the following questions.
• How much more engaged are students when you allow them to use personal technology and social networks to assist their learning?
• How else can learning continue to happen both inside and outside school when students are using familiar technologies?
Use Student-Designed Assignments
Often, one of the most effective ways to ensure connection and relevance for learners is to employ a personalized learning method whereby students design the assignments themselves. We delve more fully into this kind of shift in chapter 3 (page 35), but it’s important to get that ball rolling here because when learners