A considered view of technology integration

I have always held the belief that, like most things, the advantage of technology is not that you use it, but how you use it. This course has served to reinforce and better inform that view. Though we learned about and used a number tools that can be implemented in the classroom to engage, inform, and involve students in a more active and interested manner, we also learned that the effective use of these tools is dependent upon how teachers apply them in the classroom, and how they are incorporated into lesson design. Too often high-tech tools are used in the classroom to merely replace low-tech tools. A computer with a word processor can replace a pencil and paper, but it can also be so much more. Using technology in the classroom is not the same as replacing the old with the new. True technology integration is the result of an assessment by educators about how technology can be used in the classroom to augment lesson efficacy, enhance students' learning experience, provide high-quality education to students, and promote higher level learning outcomes. The teacher's role in this process is to utilize the myriad tools and techniques that technology can provide in a manner that compliments and heightens lessons rather than overshadowing them. Technology must be regarded as a means to an end, rather than an end in and of itself. The effective education of students must always be the goal, and lesson design, with and without advanced technology, must reflect that goal. Yet, when students are regarded as the end, high-technology can become a powerful tool in the classroom. WebQuests, interactive whiteboards, handheld devices, class blogs, social media tools, computers, websites, and myriad internet 2.0 tools can all be incorporated into the classroom and lesson design meaningfully when student learning is the ultimate goal of technology in the classroom.  

Lit Review 2: Teaching Responsible Citizenship in the Age of Digital Media

Modern media technologies, the Internet in particular, have the power to create a vast civic domain that fosters debate and discussion about critical social issues, and to be a source of new information that can allow individual citizens to developed informed opinions based upon electronically disseminated information. Using the internet, which is rife with bias and inaccuracies, to gather information can be a challenge, and requires sophisticated critical thinking skills. Moreover, as Vincent Gozalvez points out in his paper Education for Democratic Citizenship in a Digital Culture, published in the January 2011 issue of the "Scientific Journal of Media Literacy", there is a danger that technologies that allow individuals to filter and customize the news they receive through electronic media will create "inbred" or myopic digital citizens who do not open themselves to new ideas or alternate opinions that are necessary to informed and responsible democratic citizenship. Gozalvez cites a study done with 60 participants from a variety of US states. These participates, placed in groups of 5 or 6 like-minded individuals based on political affiliation, engaged in a blog based discussion group on several controversial topics. The trend was that the more extreme views came to dominate the discussion with little compromise, and real debate ended within 15 minutes. The study suggests that when individuals engage exclusively with individuals of a similar ideology,opinions are galvanized without any real critical assessment of the issue or the dominant viewpoint. Although electronic media and communication has the power to expand democratic citizenship, Gozalvez suggests that if users simply filter out any novel or potentially contradictory information, modern forms of media may serve to restrict responsible, informed citizenship rather than promote it.
        To avoid this potetial pitfall, Gozalvez 
argues that education, specifically k-12 education, needs to impart the skills and mindset in students that allows them to assess all information on an issue to develop an informed option that is not blinkered by individual or group bias. Gozalvez suggests some approaches that educators can use to help students become independent minded, critical, and civically responsible democratic citizens in a digital culture. These suggestions include using the internet to explore diverse civic issues, taking into account all available information that comes from credible sources; that is, making them active, critical participants in civic research. This should be done not only using text media, such as blogs and news groups, but video and audio sources as well. In short, students need to learn not only how to use technology, but also how to use it responsibly and critically. Educators need to be aware of the dangers electronic media has to produce a myopic and bias citizenry if the new generation of citizens is not well informed about how to use technology as an aid to responsible, democratic social engagement. 

EdTechTalk/Seedlings 5/12

This week’s topic on EdTechTalk.com’s seedlings was universal design for learning (UDL) and assistive technology (AT).  UDL is a concept in learning that comes out of the principle of universal design in architecture, which is the practice of making buildings accessible to all individuals, including those with disabilities.  A prime example of this is a wheelchair ramp; another is a drinking fountain with two spouts and basins, one shorter than the other to make the water fountain accessible to individuals who cannot reach the higher one.  UDL applies this same concept to the educational settings, where some students may require specially designed devices to access educational resources. This is where AT comes in. Devices such as keyboards with larger keys for students who have difficulty with visual impairments or fine motor control difficulties, auditory trainers for students with hearing impairments, or recording devices for students who have difficulty focusing in class, and who may benefit from being able to revisit what was said in class discussion, are examples of AT and UDL. 

This episode of Seedlings made it clear that these tools need not be limited to special education, but may benefit students of different learning styles as well. For instance, it was suggested in the podcast that it may be beneficial for auditory learners to use audio books or the text-to-speech function offered on many computers as ATs to help them engage with educational material in a more effective manner. Helping students gain an understanding of what type of learners they are (e.g. auditory, visual, kinesthetic, etc.) was an important side-note that arose during the discussion. This week’s guest, Chris Bugaj, co-author of The Practical and Fun Guide to Assistive Technology in Public Schools offers ideas and advice for advocates of AT to influence change in their schools as well as offering ideas to professionals wanting to use AT in the classroom.        

Digital Nation, Digital Dangers

PBS's "Digital Nation" reflects not only the existing and emerging technological trends of modern society, but the growing causes for concern that technology implies.  The expanded use of computers in the classroom helped one inner-city school in the program make great leaps in its standard test scores, yet the case of the studies done on MIT students' multitasking abilities suggests that technology has negative impacts as well (i.e. making us believe that we are better multitaskers than we really are).  Though trite, the claim that one interviewee made about technology not being good or bad inherently, but rather dependent on how we make use of it, remains valid.  Another interviewee suggested that school is the one place where students are given the chance to escape from all the technology that is a distraction to more in depth thinking.  I actually found this view somewhat insightful.  However, I do not believe the answer is to remove technology from the classroom.  Rather, going back to the view that technology's valence is dependent on how we make use of it, educators need to keep a handle on technology so that it is not a distraction.  One vice principal on the program actually used the webcams to be sure students were not misusing the resources they had. A controversial practice I'm sure, but there are certainly other measures that can be used to monitor students and make sure they are using technology properly in the classroom.
       The most surprising thing the program suggested to me was that students reading and writing skills seem to be negatively impacted by the distractions that technology causes.  At one point a student admits that his paragraphs, though independently coherent and well written (he was an MIT student), do not flow together in a logical manner.  Another commenter, a university professor, pointed out that he cannot assign a book longer than 200 pages because students do not have the patience to get through long novels.  Yet another student described using the web-based crib-notes to read "Romeo and Juliet" in five minutes, rather than reading the actual book.  Clearly technology can be abused in the classroom, to the detriment of students attention and education, as much as it can be a boon.  I have personally noticed more students demonstrating difficulty in reading and writing and wonder if technology is to blame.  Is technology going to make the coming generation a nation of "bibliophobes", as the program suggests? Only if we allow the technology to be used in a counterproductive manner and do not require greater accountability from our students.
       The greatest dangers seems to be to students focus, as suggested above. But one commentator pointed out that prior to the development of writing, and later Johannes Gutenberg's printing press, individuals would memorize many lines of poetry (Ancient Greeks would memorize as many as a million versus of epic poetry as part of their education).  The victim then was memory, but who today would say that we lost a great deal as a result? The potential victim in the modern era seems to be the ability to focus and maintain extended, in-depth analysis of an isolated topic.  Books and writing could replace memory when it came to long stories, but can computer-power and technology replace human focus, reason, and understanding?  I have a hard time buying that argument.                

TechEd for Teachers

In the September 2009 issue of T.H.E Journal, an article written by Dian Schaffhauser titled Which Came First the—the Technology or the pedagogy assess the current state of technology integration and use in the classroom. It claims that schools often argue that teachers are not receiving adequate training in how to integrate technology into classroom instruction; rather they are just being shown how to use technological tools.  Universities and teachers, however, argue that teachers are often not being given the technological tools they need in the classroom.  Newer approaches at the university level are now focusing on training teachers to use instructional technology in effective ways in the classroom.  The article points out that some universities even supply newer technologies to student teachers to bring to the schools who are hosting them to use in the classroom. This seems like it can be a mutually beneficial approach. It requires new teachers to integrate technology into lessons, while exposing older teachers to new technologies and illustrating to schools the effectiveness of using technology in the classroom.  The article also suggests the new generation of tech-savvy teachers is likely to have a profound effect on how technology is used in classroom instruction.  We are certainly going to see a profound increase in the use of technology in the classroom in the coming years and decades thanks to this new emphasis on technology education for teachers.      

EdTechTalk/Seedlings 4/14

The subject of this week's Seedlings revolved heavily around the use of iPads in the classroom. Many participants expressed the frustration they have had with trying to get them and implement them on a large scale within districts.  This makes me wonder if the future of education technology is 1:1 tablet PCs?  Moreover, can this vision be implemented in a meaningful and effective way?  To me it seems that this can only occur with instruction on the implementation of these technologies and how they can be introduced in the classroom in an effective manner. I would fear that these powerful devices could be relegated to dust covered paperweights if educators are not trained in their integration into the classroom.
     The discussion began to turn to apps, and I am always on the lookout for new apps--particularly to help students in the area of mathematics. I asked if anyone could recommend any useful apps, and I was given some links (education apps). I look forward to seeing what these sites have to recommend. As a PLC, EdTechTalk.com has already begun to bear fruit for me. Another interesting link that was presented during the "geek of the week" segment was a link to the beta of a web based tool for creating virtual story boards (storify.com). See it in action at TED here (storify in action).
      Also, last week on seedlings they introduced their first contest for a book on iPhotography for the iPhone. I discovered this week that I was one of only three people to enter the contest. As a result of the low entry numbers they have extended to the contest to May. Contrary to my impulses, because it will lessen the likelihood of me winning, I decided to share the link with everyone so you can enter if you are interested (iPhotography book contest). Good luck!

All teachers must provide equal access to the digital world to all learners.

The title of this post goes along with the mandate that all students must have equal access to education.  In the 21st century, equal access to education implies equal access to to technology.  By this mandate, teachers need to provide students access to technology by integrating it into classroom education, lesson design, assessment and group activities, to names a few of the areas in which the digital world can benefit students.  The framers of this statement recognize the importance of access to technology to educating students for the future.  Using technology in a variety of ways is one manner of educating students about technology, and it can also be utilized to help make educators more effective.  However, teachers can not be the sole bearers of this responsibility.  Administrators, school districts and parents must also be involved in the delivery of technological resources and education.  Administrators and school districts need to recognize the importance of providing teachers with the technology and training they need to make the digital age come alive and benefit students in the classroom.  Parents need to recognize the changing nature of education which had come about in part due to the rapid pace of technological development.  Using, understanding and being educated through technology is as important to students today as is the ability to read.  Access to technology must be provided to all students as a means of empowering them and helping them become productive and effective members of society.