Digital Tools in Digital Environments

Maintain a learner’s spirit. As we begin the implementation of our innovation plans, this will be a vital quality for us as technology leaders to have. With the constantly changing nature of the 21st century, staying up-to-date with the latest educational technology trends as well as being able to identify those that are emerging can mean the difference between us creating lasting change within our organizations and just conducting a short-lived experiment. Therefore, as new tools and new technology keep emerging, it is imperative for us as educators to continue to learn from and with others and explore proven and promising practices that leverage technology to improve student learning (ISTE, n.d.; Palmer, 2015).

Throughout my years of teaching, my primary avenue of continuing to learn and gather knowledge of current and emerging trends in educational technology has been by learning from and with others. From trainings/conferences to online learning communities to work colleagues, participating in these various group settings have allowed me to remain updated on technology tools and practices in education, learn from others’ experiences with various technology, and gain clarity on how to best use these tools and practices in the classroom, all of which will assist me in becoming an effective technology leader. As a bonus, learning from and with others in these group settings has also allowed me to experience firsthand the value of significant learning environments in which learners seek out knowledge via authentic learning experiences and collaboration with others, both of which have been major trends in educational technology in recent years (Freeman et al., 2017).

Recently, I have also found that watching and learning from industries outside of education can be very helpful in learning more about current and emerging technology tools and their potential impact on the education field. In particular, I pay close attention to what digital devices and formats are currently trending and proven to work in the business sector. This usually gives me an idea of where education will soon be heading because corporate America is usually the first to gain access to the newest technology. Therefore, by talking frequently with friends and family who work in corporate America, I am able to learn about the types of technology their companies use and how they are being implemented. I then analyze if there is any way I could see those forms of technology being useful in the educational setting and that gives me a good indication of whether or not education will begin using them further down the line. A perfect example of this is Zoom. Prior to the onset of COVID-19, I had several conversations with my sister (who works at a Fortune 500 company) about Zoom and how her company used the platform to conduct meetings with their company’s headquarters overseas. She also mentioned that they would use this platform during training and team meetings in order to include employees who may have chosen to work remotely from home that day. She would explain to me the format, its capabilities, and what the general consensus was among the employees using it. Therefore, once COVID-19 required us to stay at home and conduct remote learning, the surge of Zoom was not very surprising to me. Corporate businesses can be, in a way, technology guinea pigs for us in the education field. If we continue to observe the types of technology they use, how they use them, and their effectiveness, I believe we as technology leaders can stay ahead of trends in educational technology.

Even with all of this knowledge, however, I still find that I am not able to apply very much of it to my own classroom. This is primarily because my district is very particular about how they want to see instruction conducted. As a testing grade teacher, they are very insistent on all teachers in the grade level teaching the same way so that all of our students will have had the same preparation for testing. Therefore, prior to COVID-19, my students used technology primarily as tools to reinforce whole group learning or as a platform to complete assignments during our daily station rotation time. At these stations, the main tools used were computers, iPads, and a Clear Touch panel. At the computer station, students used the iReady math program to engage in leveled practice activities. At the iPad station, students use Google Classroom to watch review videos and complete leveled assignments related to the concepts discussed in the video. At the Clear Touch station, students worked in groups as they played a variety of games to gain familiarity with upcoming vocabulary. On Fridays, I would also use SRS games like Kahoot as a fun way to review concepts for the week before students took their quiz. Although my students enjoyed using technology, I know that utilizing it in this manner is not the most beneficial for students and that is the part that is the most frustrating. Yes, they get excited when they go to the computer, iPad, or Clear Touch, but is it because they are excited to learn or is it just because it is no longer a pencil and paper activity? I feel like, with the way my district currently requires us to utilize technology, I could give my students a pencil and paper and their level of engagement would be almost the same. They would still be sitting in front of work and being asked to give answers. No higher level of thinking, no creativity, no individuality. By using technology in this manner, they are still passive learners. I would much rather have my students using technology in a more active, intentional, and collaborative way that drives their curiosity (Musallam, 2013). Rather than viewing the digital devices as just another way to get information, I want them to start viewing them as tools to help them create new information. By getting them to view technology in this way, it would help to shift the focus from technology to actual learning.

Some of the digital tools that can help promote this use of technology in a more active, intentional, and collaborative way can be seen on my ePortfolio by clicking here.

References:

Freeman, A., Adams Becker, S., Cummins, M., Davis, A., and Hall Giesinger, C. (2017). NMC/CoSN Horizon Report: 2017 K–12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium

ISTE Standards for Educators. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.iste.org/standards/for-educators

Musallam, R. (2013, April). 3 rules to spark learning. Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/ramsey_musallam_3_rules_to_spark_learning

Palmer, T. (2015, June 20). 15 Characteristics of a 21st-Century Teacher. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/15-characteristics-21st-century-teacher