Essential Information Everyone Should Know about Ed Tech

Here are a few essentials that I think parents and the school board should know about educational technology:

Technology does not replace teaching.

It’s a common concern, and I hear it from parents and teachers alike.  Teachers are afraid that MOOCs (Massive Online Only Classes) and podcasts will put them out of a job or force them into a strictly supervisory role, thereby robbing them of the opportunity to serve as mentor or create the personal relationships that allow them to foster in their students a true passion for learning.  Parents are afraid that teachers will use technology to teach the class for them and leave students to stare at a screen in an impersonal environment where they struggle through the content by themselves.  Although it is true that almost every essential concept included in a typical K-12 education is available in some format online, we cannot simply plug a student into a computer and download that information into their minds in such a way that the students are able to make use of that information. Even in a highly integrated 1:1 classroom, the role of technology is to enhance the lessons, not replace the teacher.  Studies show that “structure and leadership were found to be crucial for online learners to take a deep and meaningful approach to learning,” [D. R.Garrison, M. Cleveland-Innes (2005), Facilitating Cognitive Presence in Online Learning: Interaction Is Not Enough, American Journal of Distance Education Vol. 19, Iss. 3,].  Teachers spend countless hours locating or creating content that is explained in an age-appropriate manner.  They develop activities that enable their students to cement their learning through doing.  They encourage students to think critically, to ask questions, to investigate the answers to these questions, and to verify the accuracy of the answers they find.  Teachers identify and correct misconceptions, help students to make connections between related concepts, and show them ways to share their learning with others.  Technology helps teachers to do this.  Tools such as games and quizzes can provide instant feedback so that students can avoid practicing skills incorrectly.  Videos, podcasts, forums, group source projects, and Webquests allow teachers to convey information in a variety of methods so they can address multiple types of learners.  Menus of activity options and modules that unlock based on formative assessments can allow teachers to offer remediation without embarrassment and to differentiate according to the interests and abilities of individual students.  Technology allows teachers to deliver content in a meaningful and engaging manner; it doesn’t do it for them.

Technology connects.

Research has shown that students learn better when they understand how the material they are studying relates to the world outside of the classroom [Novak, J. D. (2002), Meaningful learning: The essential factor for conceptual change in limited or inappropriate propositional hierarchies leading to empowerment of learners. Sci. Ed., 86: 548–571. doi: 10.1002/sce.10032].  Technology allows students to interview specialists in various fields, gain practical experience communicating in new languages, work to solve real world problems through project-based learning and group source sites, share their work with others, critique and respond to works that others have shared, and take virtual tours of locations in all parts of the world –even locations that are literally out of this world.  Participation in these experiences provides students with a personal connection to the skills they are learning and the materials they are studying.  Students are no longer reviewing information only because “it’s on the test”.  They are applying their knowledge because it matters.  Technology allows us to connect the lessons of the classroom to the real world.

Technology engages. 

Technology allows students to spend more time working individually with new concepts and material.  In a 1:1 classroom, it is not necessary for a student to wait his/her turn for a station before applying recently learned information or practicing a new skill.  It no longer necessary for a teacher to rely on a few volunteers, because an online survey or clicker system can instantly collect a response from each student.  It is no longer necessary for students to wait for the majority of the class to be ready before progressing, and it is no longer necessary for students to leave projects incomplete just because the majority of the class was able to progress more quickly.  Technology can be used to replace passive activities with active learning.  Rather than only watching videos, students can create videos.  Rather than read about scientists, students can interact with scientists.  Rather than fill in worksheets, students can play games.  Students that are engaged not only gain a deeper understanding and improved retention; they have more fun, too!

All too often I hear traditionalists complain, “If the old way was good enough for me, and my father before me, and my grandfather before him, it’s good enough for my kid, too!  My kid spends too much time just staring at a screen already!”  While it is true that the old methods still do work, I hope that these explanations can help parents and teachers understand a few of the reasons that educational technology can and should be a part of every classroom.

Using Technology to Achieve 21st Century Skills

     A couple years ago I participated in a summer program called Education to Industry that took teachers to spend the day speaking and working with local employers.  The goal of the program was to allow teachers to see for themselves opportunities for real world application of the skills they taught so that teachers could make their instruction more relevant.  Our area has spent years hiring in staff from other parts of the country rather than recruiting locally, because our high school and college graduates lack the skills needed to succeed in industry.  Employers were eager to participate, because it was their opportunity to tell teachers what they needed from potential new hires so that their candidate pool could improve.   We went to almost a dozen different businesses over the course of several weeks, and I found it very interesting that all of the contacts said the same thing.  Every employer that we spoke to said that they needed people that could work in a team to solve problems.  Young people, they told me, were great at finding information, but once they had that information, they didn’t know what to do with it.  The companies all said that no one works alone any more.  The problems they work to solve are too complex to be tackled by a single individual.  Teams need to be able to self-manage.  They need to be able to work together to break down their mission into workable pieces, assign realistic deadlines to all of the components, assign tasks and roles, and then fulfill those tasks, roles, and meet both internal and external deadlines.

     Having heard that so many times, I became convinced that problem-solving and collaboration are the most important of the 21^st century skills.  If I had to narrow it down to just one skill, I would say problem-solving, because if you are at skilled problem solving, you can solve the problem of how to communicate well and work effectively as a team.

     Problem-based learning is an ideal strategy for instilling these skills in today’s learners, but in order to expose my students to meaningful problems and give them the time and latitude they need to develop their own solutions (rather than simply follow the steps that I prescribe for them), I need to open up their world beyond just what they can see within the four walls of my classroom.  That’s where my Technology Infusion Plan comes in.  Because I teach Spanish and the ultimate goal of any language is communication, a problem to overcome would involve using the language to send a message.  In order to be considered successful, the students would have to receive a response. 

     Depending on the level and unit being taught, the problem to overcome could be simple or complex.  For example, beginning students could find memes that use words for a particular vocabulary theme and then make and share their own digital postcards.  If their work is ‘liked’ or ‘shared’, then they have communicated effectively.  I would grade this on a rubric that considered not only grammar and spelling, but also the number of memes located, number of memes created, and how many likes, comments, and shares their own memes received. 

    At more advanced levels, students can start to seek out their own problems and solutions.  For example, our campus is closed.  Once students arrive, they cannot leave until the day is over.  A lot of my students think that they should be able to run out to lunch or leave during a study hall, and in many other parts of the world this is common practice for secondary students.  If students identify this as a problem, they could contact administrators and students in Spain and South America and ask them to describe their policies, how they were arrived at, and if they have problems such as contraband arriving at school or truancy.  Students might then use that information to support their request for an open campus when they present it to the local authorities.  Using the internet, it is reasonable that they could locate appropriate schools, contact them, and expect at least some responses within a few weeks, whereas sending overseas mail via the traditional method would have taken months and the project probably couldn’t have been completed within a single semester.   Of course, projects don’t need to be limited to reading and writing; students could produce informational videos to attract exchange students, Skype with people pursuing research in the rainforest, or tailor the projects to their own interests in other ways.  These projects would also be graded using a rubric that considered quality of expression, use of grammar, variety of vocabulary, and the effectiveness with which they interpreted responses to their communications.

     We truly are fortunate to be living in a time where our ability to make connections need not be hindered by the county line, or even our country’s borders.