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Just the other day, the school where I am teaching suffered an internet outage that lasted for two days. The reaction to this by both students and teachers alike was the same...absolute panic. I really thought this might be the beginning of the apocalypse. I am surprised people weren't rushing to the grocery store to empty the shelves of all the milk and toilet paper. It was, to put lightly, a very stressful situation. However, this little event did make me hyperaware of how dependent we have become to technology in the classroom. Education and digital content have become so intertwined that they have practically formed a symbiotic relationship with one another. Gone are the days of my childhood when classroom technology translated to an overhead projector or a TV and VCR on a rolling cart. Those days of a class consisting of a teacher lecturing from the front of the class uninterrupted for an hour are history. Technology has enhanced the way teachers can teach. It makes learning interactive. It allows students to travel to anywhere in the universe or to any moment in time without ever leaving the classroom. However, it has also changed students' expectations from their classroom experiences and demands for an ever-changing lesson in order to maintain their seemingly dwindling attention spans. So what are we to do? How are teachers supposed to evolve in order to meet these new demands from out students that didn't even exist when were were students? This is the question I am determined to answer.
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The first step to determining how technology can best fit into the classroom is to determine how a digital platform can be used to enhance the classroom. Digital technology serves as a useful timesaver when utilized as class planner for the students. By sharing a digital workspace with the class, a teacher can post assignments, due dates, announcements, class notes, and various other classroom tools that will save both teach and students time and frustration. This also benefits students who might be absent as they immediately know what work is needed to be done before returning to school. According to the Drexel University School of Education, "the implementation of technology also creates pathways for differentiated instruction to meet the unique needs of students as individual learners within a broader classroom climate." While teachers should avoid using technology as a crutch, proper implementation can create a powerful tool.
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While the use of technology in the classroom has countless benefits, it still needs to be tethered to keep from getting out of control. According to the book
Classroom Management in the Digital Age, a teacher should establish and post clear simple rules for students' use of digital devices and consistently enforce these rules if violated (Dowd & Green, 2019). Additionally, the teacher should limit students' options when using their digital devices by providing a list of acceptable websites or applications that can only be used for a specific assignment. Also, Dowd & Green state that acceptable classroom management can be maintained through altering the physical space of the classroom in a manner to better supervise the students' online activity.
According to research by Jeanne Canough, students are flooded with digital content from the likes of social media, YouTube, streaming services, and video games that it would be advantageous for teachers to embrace rather that fight this trend (Canough , 2013).
References:
Canough , J. (2013, August). Effective Implementation of Technology . St. John Fisher College. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1262&context=education_ETD_masters.
Dowd, H., & Green, P. (2019). Classroom management in the Digital age. Dowd Green EDU.
How to integrate technology in the classroom. Drexel University School of Education. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2021, from https://drexel.edu/soe/resources/student-teaching/advice/how-to-use-technology-in-the-classroom/.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post! I connect with so much of what you said. Last year, our internet went out for half of the day, and it was utter chaos. I had absolutely NO back-up plan! I couldn't access the assignments to make copies, as they were all on Google Drive. I couldn't scan a book for something to read, as the printer requires an email from the scanner. Even the simple task of taking attendance was completely off the table. As with much of what you said, while we know that technology is important in the lives of our students and within our classroom, we must be prepared for how to use it effectively. I am drawn to the end of your post where you discuss the physical classroom and how impactful that might be on successful learning, both for students and for monitoring. Jennifer Williams discusses the impact of physical learning environments in her book Teach Boldly: Using EdTech for Social Good. In one area of the book, she highlights the fact that many teachers today are leaning into flexible seating, changes in paint or furniture, yet they are not able to identify why these changes benefit their students. She argues that "we as teachers need to understand why and be able to articulate the benefits for our students" in order to "confirm the data that supportive research behind [the change] exists" (Williams, 2019, p. 85). The use of technology and shifting of seats is a great example of what Williams advocates for and provides a clear outcome for the change at hand.
Williams, J. (2019). Teach boldly: Using edtech for social good (1st ed.). International Society for Technology in Education.
DeleteRichard, like Hannah I was intrigued by your discussion of "altering the physical space of the classroom". The relationship between the environment and children's learning experiences was also discussed in my group's book, The Interactive Classroom. I was fascinated to learn how the brain affects learning. As long as students are safe and happy, the way their brains work leaves them in "complete control": allowing them to effectively process and remember information (Merrill & Merrill, 2019, p. 21). However, the brain responds to negative experiences by attempting to ignore, fight, or avoid sensory information. This can lead to behaviors such as daydreaming or "acting out" in class. Knowing the science behind children's behavior allows educators to create an optimal learning environment for their students (Merrill & Merrill, 2019, p. 22).
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