I come from a school that was not 1:1. When I started using technology in my classroom we had a school rule that there were to be no phones in the classrooms, and that rule did not work for me. I would shut my door and ask students to get out their phones and then direct them how to use it. I find technology to be a supportive tool in any classroom that a teacher is willing to learn it and use it with intention.
Benefits of Technology Many Overlook
1) Differentiation:
Technology has enabled teachers to assign different texts and reading levels to every student based on lexile levels. This can now be done with confidentiality through Learning Management Systems. A math teacher can assign more scaffolded problems to students that need modified work in a private online venue. Content, Product and Process can be adjusted for each student in ways we could never do before computers existed.
2) Access
Teachers can supply students with all the resources from class, so they have a constant access to review, relearn and make up learning throughout the semester. This also simplifies the process for personalizing learning and self paced units.
3) Engagement
Programs now exist that allow gamification to be an easily implemented strategy. Kahoot! and other games for review allow increased engagement of student attention.
4) Fast Data
Google Forms, Quizziz, and more offer teachers programs that tell them in the moment where student understanding and skill is at. This information is invaluable. It directs instruction, allows for corrective feedback (.82 according to Hattie) and changes the game of learning.
The main complaint I hear from teachers recently is that the phones and computers are a distraction. I would argue that if we are not directing students on the use of the technology in the classroom, then just like anything else they will use it as they see fit. Teaching and class management must make shifts as we now exist in technology enhanced classrooms.
I do not know a teacher that does not use technology to do their job: Gradebooks, email presentation tools, human resources needs, requesting substitutes, professional learning, and more. Majority of jobs in today's workforce will use paper and pencil to complete their tasks. Job applications are even online for teenagers now. To live in the haze of "no technology allowed" is not a reality. It is the inability to shift our practice.
There are several enhancements that technology can add to our classrooms if we learn the programs, and direct students to use it appropriately. But even then, "old school" pedagogy must be implemented to keep them on task. This "old school" pedagogy I speak of is brain breaks. Brain science tells us that the brain can only take in a certain amount of information before it will distract itself to allow for processing. As teachers, we can scaffold this process, allowing breaks for students during their learning, with or without technology. If we do not allow these breaks every 12-20 minutes, students will find their own distractions to allow processing time for information. Their own distractions may look like checking social media or email, or playing a game on the computer. If teachers want students to process information, they must build in these breaks themselves to avoid the teenage selections.
Benefits of Technology Many Overlook
1) Differentiation:
Technology has enabled teachers to assign different texts and reading levels to every student based on lexile levels. This can now be done with confidentiality through Learning Management Systems. A math teacher can assign more scaffolded problems to students that need modified work in a private online venue. Content, Product and Process can be adjusted for each student in ways we could never do before computers existed.
2) Access
Teachers can supply students with all the resources from class, so they have a constant access to review, relearn and make up learning throughout the semester. This also simplifies the process for personalizing learning and self paced units.
3) Engagement
Programs now exist that allow gamification to be an easily implemented strategy. Kahoot! and other games for review allow increased engagement of student attention.
4) Fast Data
Google Forms, Quizziz, and more offer teachers programs that tell them in the moment where student understanding and skill is at. This information is invaluable. It directs instruction, allows for corrective feedback (.82 according to Hattie) and changes the game of learning.
The main complaint I hear from teachers recently is that the phones and computers are a distraction. I would argue that if we are not directing students on the use of the technology in the classroom, then just like anything else they will use it as they see fit. Teaching and class management must make shifts as we now exist in technology enhanced classrooms.
I do not know a teacher that does not use technology to do their job: Gradebooks, email presentation tools, human resources needs, requesting substitutes, professional learning, and more. Majority of jobs in today's workforce will use paper and pencil to complete their tasks. Job applications are even online for teenagers now. To live in the haze of "no technology allowed" is not a reality. It is the inability to shift our practice.
There are several enhancements that technology can add to our classrooms if we learn the programs, and direct students to use it appropriately. But even then, "old school" pedagogy must be implemented to keep them on task. This "old school" pedagogy I speak of is brain breaks. Brain science tells us that the brain can only take in a certain amount of information before it will distract itself to allow for processing. As teachers, we can scaffold this process, allowing breaks for students during their learning, with or without technology. If we do not allow these breaks every 12-20 minutes, students will find their own distractions to allow processing time for information. Their own distractions may look like checking social media or email, or playing a game on the computer. If teachers want students to process information, they must build in these breaks themselves to avoid the teenage selections.