As teachers we are constantly encouraged to incorporate more and more technology into our classrooms and lessons. This push is not without some footing. In the 21st century it is essential that we introduce new technology to our students in a positive way. Once you accept this as the new reality of our job you can begin to use the technology to your advantage. As teachers you have access to Learning Management Software, Free Websites, Web 2.0 tools, device operating systems and a host of other enhancements that all can play a role in your classroom. As a classroom teacher myself I was initially overwhelmed and wanted to expose my students to everything that was available to them, but my plan backfired and in the end my students mastered none of the technologies... so how do you decide which technology tools to use? St. John Vianney High School is a Google Apps environment a partnership with google to have access to the suite of Google Apps for Education that are available for free (if you meet certain criteria). This includes email service, google drive online storage, sites, and access to any other features that Google provides. I personally love this set up because I believe that Google has the right approach when developing technology. Their philosophy is to develop simple tools and give their customers the flexibility to use them in whatever situation they see fit. Now, Google may not be for you or your district but it is important to select a set of technology tools to use in your classroom or school. When I decide on technology I follow three simple rules: RULE 1: Always do what is best for your STUDENTS Many of these educational technology tools LOOK great and seem to serve the individual needs of all teachers, however when you really ask yourself if the technology will benefit the students you may find that more self-reflection is necessary. Using a certain tool in your class may look cool from the outside and teachers may walk by and say “wow! You are SOOO innovative!” But is to impress our co-workers really our mission as educators? Are the students benefiting from technology or is it for the benefit of the teacher? Always pick technology that benefits your student population... RULE 2: The technology must ENHANCE LEARNING not just replace it In the edtech world a new set of criteria has emerged to help guide teachers in how best to select technology and develop lessons around it. The SAMR Model provides a framework to evaluate your technology decisions and make changes when necessary. The four levels are: The lowest level of technology integration is SUBSTITUTION in which you are keeping the same lesson that you did on paper yet transferring it to a digital space. Example: instead of students taking in class written notes the students are now typing them. Besides allowing some students who may type faster than they write to feel more comfortable the technology did not improve the lesson at all. Where we want to get teachers and classrooms to is the MODIFICATION and REDEFINITION levels. At these levels students are learning new things because of the technology which they would not have been able to do without it. Example: Creating an online blog about a community problem that is shared with the world. These blogs are then shared with other classes throughout the city for comment, feedback, and possible implementation. Where previously a simple research paper on a community problem and solution would have worked has been ENHANCED to the REDEFINITION level through technology, learning that could not have been done without the tool. I always use the SAMR evaluation strategy when planning lessons and if I am not striving for the MODIFICATION level than I feel I am doing a disservice to my students. RULE 3: Become the master of some Tech tools NOT an amatuer of Many With so many tools available it may seem like you need to become familiar with as many as possible and implement them all. I would venture to say that is the wrong approach. As a teacher I do try out as many technology tools as I can and see if they follow the above two rules but when it comes to implementation in my class only a couple make the cut. As teachers if the number of technology tools is overwhelming to us...how do you think our students feel? Besides our class (which we all know is the most important!) they must also travel to 3-7 other classroom each day and deal with another teacher who is throwing 5-10 other technology tools at them. The whole process of school can be overwhelming. In my class I trained all my students in the effective use of “Google Drive” for writing assignments and research as well as weebly.com where my students maintain a class blog. These two tools have been drilled into them so many times that they are beginning to become the master of technology that I want them to be. I have also incorporated services like piktochart.com (infographic creation) and Lucidcharts.com (flow chart creation) but only on specific projects and in small amounts. In the end as part of the skills development aspect of my class I wanted my students to become masters of a couple of tools, not an amateur at dozens. The host of different technology tools that are available to use as teachers can be overwhelming that is why it is important to have a set of “firewalls” built in to our pedagogy to prevent “tech overload” for me those include:
0 Comments
Last semester I started an in-class project that was a response to a need. I found that, for the most part, the incoming freshman students my high school was accepting had very little geography knowledge. Unfortunately Geography seems to be a unit of study that has been cut from most junior high curriculum in the last decade. Many of my students could not tell France from Germany or Kansas from Oklahoma! As a social studies teacher I knew I had to fix this problem, but how? How do I convince my students to identify and retain hundreds of different locations so I could reference them throughout my course? As with most of my lessons I thought competition, collaboration, and game theory would be perfect. The lesson I came up with was called the “Geography World Cup!” For a whole week the groups in my class compete to try and memorize and recall as many countries as possible. Here is how it works. I printed blank political maps of each continent (including a modified map of the Middle East and the 50 states of the United States) and then modified them to be have each country named. On each day I gave the groups one of the continents so they could work together to name as many countries as possible in under 5 minutes. Here are the rules:
|