Technology in the Classroom

In today's classrooms, more and more teachers are relying on technology for student achievement.  There is a push to have all students be 1:1 with iPads, Chromebooks, Laptops, etc.  But are teachers using technology effectively?  In this post, I will discuss factors that influence technology use in the classroom, best practices of using technology, and student achievement.


Factors that Influence Technology Use in the Classroom

In many of the articles I have read online, the three that almost everyone agreed upon were personal interest/knowledge, lack of professional development, and availability of tools used.  

I feel that the first two go hand in hand.  If given proper and effective professional development to teachers, they may feel more comfortable using new technologies.  If you give a classroom iPads, there is no guarantee that they will get utilized to increase student achievement.  They will not be used to their potential.  

There are teachers who welcome using technology and want to get it in their classrooms.  They are usually the teachers that are tech savvy themselves.  They aren't scared of showing students how to look up information or create PowerPoints to present.  They are comfortable with students using something that they are already using at home on a daily basis.

Some teachers have an uneasy relationship with technology: they see it as a necessary evil to be tolerated, or at least strictly limited.  Technology is not going anywhere, I remember when we all crowded around a desktop computer to look up information about the moon, now I can tell students where to look and they can find the information and share it with each other.  I cannot think of one job that does not use some kind of technology everyday.

If we, as administrators, make sure to have meaningful, well-organized professional development, they may be more susceptible to using technology in their classrooms.  In my experience, teachers that aren't comfortable with technology because they don't know what to do with it.  We need to show them how and not assume that everyone is as savvy as we are.  

Best Practices of Using Technology in the Classroom

There is a great website (click HERE) that gives tech tips for teachers on how to use technology in the classroom.  These are the tips that Fargo, North Dakota, third-grade teacher Kayla Delzer believes will help teachers use technology effectively in the classroom.

Tech Tip #1 - Something boring on paper is still boring on a tablet or a laptop.

Technology doesn't make something more fun, how you use it determines the engagement of the student.  As administrators, we need to make sure that teachers have knowledge of where and what they can do to make the activity meaningful.  

One way to make it more engaging was mentioned on the site -- An effective way "students learn math is by playing an augmented-reality geometry board game called Cyberchase Shape Quest. To participate, kids point an iPad camera at a paper board, which then comes to life with animated math challenges."

Tech tip #2: How tech teaches is as important as what is taught.

Avoid software that relies on drills and repetition.  Choose programs/software that allow students to create. "One example: Cargo-bot, an app that requires students to write programs that control a robot moving boxes. The goal, says Delzer, is to compose code that makes the robot carry the boxes in the most efficient way possible, forcing kids to develop a number of important abilities, like critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving and logic."

Tech tip #3: Let students sometimes be the teachers.

So students are very technologically smart.  Teachers do not need to know everything about everything.  It is OK to let our students teach us or their classmates.  Sometimes they can explain it in a way that is more understandable.

Tech tip #4: Find technology that lets kids learn from themselves and each other.

Exactly what is says - there great programs that can allow student to record themselves reading books.  Then others can listen to them while reading along with the recording.  There are great apps that allow students to write their own books and share with the class on iBooks.  

Tech tip #5: Rather than ban phones or YouTube, educators should find smart ways to use them.

We need to come up with effective ways to use these tools in our classrooms.  

Tech tip #6: Adults should serve as champions of digital citizenship.

A safe, friendly environment like a classroom is a great place for children to learn how to behave responsibly on the Internet. We need to make sure that children know how to use technology as early as kindergarten.  

Tech tip #7: Give kids some space to cultivate their own interests.

This tip was inspired by Google’s former 20 percent policy, which let employees use that amount of their workweek on passion projects. Basically, give children a chance to explore and guide them when needed.

Here is a link to a Prezi I make for amazing apps to use in the classroom  https://prezi.com/p/gnnq3jxlqenn/#present

Student Achievement

If used correctly, student achievement will increase with the use of technology.  It isn't going anywhere, it is getting to be more and more prevalent in schools and businesses today.  As administrators, we should focus some Professional Development on making sure teachers are getting knowledge in how to effectively use it in their classrooms. 

Does this mean that teachers who don't use technology aren't effective and bad at their jobs?  No!   But I have mentioned that technology is not going away, it is an important part of our everyday lives.  If we aren't teaching students how to use tech, we are limiting their futures.  

Here is a TEDxAshburn video from Gregg Toppo - "When did Technology become a tool in our lives? A quick synopsis of technology as adopted throughout history."

References

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D17P3kqB3_0

https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/19411

https://ideas.ted.com/7-smart-ways-to-use-technology-in-classrooms/