There’s so much that goes into a successful EdTech rollout and not all of it comes from the effectiveness of the products. We’ve outlined how to use technology to create the most memorable learning experiences possible and who teachers should connect with in order to become tech teaching experts! Explore that and more in this week’s edition of the Eduporium Weekly.
Three Advantages of Tech in Education
While, at times, controversial, technology in education does have a greater purpose in the classroom and in serving the children who need a modern-day education. Some of its benefits may take years to truly see, but a lot of them are visible almost right away. As long as experienced teachers, who know that the end goal remains advancing education, exercise the proper amount of control, students will benefit. Whether it’s once a day, once a month or a few hours every week, students will benefit from working with technology in school. Here’s how:
The common belief among educators and parents alike is that, while it may have its benefits, technology in the classroom would lead to worsened classroom management on a day-to-day basis. This, however, is rarely the case. In fact, student engagement tends to increase dramatically when technology is introduced for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the chance to shake things up and use tools they can identify with. EdTech promotes a love for learning rather than seeing learning as a boring chore. Many teachers have even reported that they’ve found their students voluntarily working on assignments at home (which they can do due to the portability of their tools) and working much more effectively in groups.
Perhaps more importantly, students tend to learn more quickly with the benefit of using tech tools without having to leave the classroom. EdTech allows teachers to mix in visual aids, instantly play relevant video and provide kids with a platform to collaborate, which all deepen the learning experience extraordinarily. This is especially true for visual learners, who make up quite a sizable chunk of the classroom in 2016. Shouldn’t the goal of teaching be for students to listen the first time and get it the first time? Technology accomplishes that by engaging them, getting them interested and it also offers (advantage No. 3) new ways to test for understanding. Teachers need to check for understanding and, today, they often need to do it on the fly. Thankfully, there are a bunch of tools (even Google Docs) that they can use for quick and easy formative assessments. What’s not to be excited about?
Some “Other” Benefits of Learning with Technology
Using technology to drive curiosity and deepen learning experiences is a great way to help prepare students for the world. Though we are committed to this end, we often forget about the more immediate implications that EdTech has for students. Not surprisingly, using technology in the classroom has a set of more immediate benefits for students. Technology is now able to almost fully support an entire year’s worth of curriculum. It’s how teachers create blended learning, challenge their students and prepare them for the real world as best they can. But, what are students getting from it right now?
The “real world” is basically just a series of applying logic and innovation to maximize efficiency and provide creative solutions to whatever pressing problems they’re faced with that day. Technology is a stepping stone that brings about a newfound level of creativity in students—creativity they will need in the future. There’s always something that doesn’t work. Knowing how to use today’s technology to support innovative solutions will be the gift that keeps on giving. Since technology provides students with the means to solve their biggest problems, they should constantly have access to them, right? A lot of the technologies available to students and teachers, for that matter, today allow students to take initiative and continue their work from anywhere. While tech skills are important, STEM skills that technology often brings out, like initiative, communication and collaboration, are often honed through the use of EdTech and without kids even realizing it.
Some of the most important skills that EdTech helps builds are the little ones. “It’s the little things in life that are important,” right? You may have heard this saying once or twice before, but it’s actually pretty true. A lot of the time, kids will transfer some of the skills they learned in one class, say cause and effect that they learned through hands-on experimentation, into another class. That’s right: technology has the ability to make the skills learned in one class relevant in all classes. Most importantly, the more kids use meaningful technology, the closer they get to becoming digital citizens. After all, that’s what they will need in the future: the ability to manipulate technology and wow everybody they encounter with creativity—both of which students can learn in the classroom now.
How to Use PBL to Create Memorable Learning
All too often, kids walk out of classrooms either at the conclusion of a period or at the end of the day and forget much of what they just read from a textbook and discussed. And, if it’s Friday afternoon, forget about it! Nobody really enjoys reading aloud from a textbook for 45 or 50 straight minutes four or five days a week—not even teachers! It’s also starting to become clearer and clearer that this is not the way to go—not the way to attain a 21st century education and get kids ready for the real world. Students need to retain the important stuff; their learning experiences must be memorable.
If you’re not clever, quick on your feet and, well, into a lot of the same things as your students, it might be more difficult to engage them in and excite them about learning experiences of any kind. Effective learning is remembered by students on the playground, on the school bus and at home. It’s hands-on and engaging. It involves talking, creativity, risk taking and, oftentimes, technology. Unfortunately, many teachers spend hours each week stressing about how they will keep their students from falling asleep in the week to come. Project-based learning—much more so than lecturing—creates memorable educational experiences and that’s the most important goal.
School is not so much boring as it is predictable for kids, so teachers these days need to essentially surprise them to get them excited about exploring new concepts. The secret is to get them up, get their hands moving and get them collaborating. Group work often brings about the best in students because they know that their friends will see the finished product. So, too, do relatable projects. When kids realize they can make a difference through their creativity and determination, the engagement skyrockets and, by mixing in some EdTech, they’re able to apply what they learn on many other levels. In the classroom, it is no longer about keeping quiet and paying close attention. The time has come for kids to get excited and share what they know.
Connecting With Students Enhances EdTech Initiatives
One of the most important and often overlooked aspects of teaching with technology has to do directly with the students. It’s not the countless hours of research on the best tools to use or the weeks you spend trying to convince school admins of the benefits of EdTech. The most crucial and, oftentimes, the first thing teachers need to do is connect with their students. If you’re not exactly technology-savvy, students can help with the transition. If they have no clue what tools they’re about to use, they’ll need someone to relate to and help make them more comfortable. Whatever the case may be, teachers must first connect with their students before they begin the activation of their EdTech initiative.
Teachers who have been around for years or even decades have seen a wealth of change in the education world and many of the most recent changes have centered on the integration of technology. Most teachers are faced with questions like where to begin, how to begin, the best practices to support learning and how much it’s going to cost them. It’s important to remember that the classroom is no longer limited despite the fact that it may appear to be. There are so many ways to enhance learning experiences and engage students. Luckily, kids usually aren’t shy about letting teachers know what they like. Building good relationships with the right amount of authority and lightheartedness in the classroom is important in general, but it could also make the EdTech experience more enjoyable and useful for everyone.
None of your students are going to be there every day (unfortunately), so finding an efficient way to keep them up to date is paramount in today’s classrooms. Not only is Twitter an excellent resource, you’ll instantly score points with students who’ll think their Twitter-using teacher is pretty cool. Twitter and other EdTech tools create and promote connections, which are one of the keys to success in the 21st century world. Teachers should also think about the problems their class is facing and the methods and tools they are currently using to try to solve them. Think about it from the perspective of the students. Would you enjoy this or benefit from having it in the classroom? With this informal research laying the groundwork, you’ll be able to work backwards and determine what technologies to bring into the classroom while maintaining a balanced relationship with each and every student.
Libraries and the Future of Learning
When we think of the “future of learning,” we think of students engaged in collaborative projects that take advantage of all the technology options they have available to them. And, we also don’t think about old, outdated libraries with paint that has nearly faded off the walls. Much of what libraries offered in prior decades has been upgraded to align with modern technology, which has made everything flow much more efficiently. We know that. So, why are school libraries still around? They serve a purpose that, for the most part, has not been fully realized as of yet. Instead of stacks of books and old-school card catalogs, libraries are now a hub for information flow, collaboration and a place to engage in a promising future.
Libraries are no longer synonymous with books, books, soft-covered books, hard-covered books and more books. Today, you go into a library—even a school library—and it seems that the flat-screen computers outnumber the books on the shelves. They’re certainly used more. The digital age already has and will continue to have a huge impact on school libraries, transforming them into something entirely different than what they have always been, but changing them into something better that will help equip students for life after school. This change has all but forced us to update the term “school library” to something along the lines of “center of knowledge, collaboration and innovation.”
You may have heard term “makerspace” before and thought of it as a brain lab that featured both formal and informal design, tinkering and experimentation. Well, modern-day libraries are probably more like makerspaces as educators are focusing much more on content creation rather than content consumption (as they should be), giving kids a much more enriching learning experience. These library-makerspace hybrids provide kids with access to technology tools they can truly benefit from like 3D printers, hardware and circuitry tools. While the value of the makerspace may not be seen by everyone, it certainly does have the potential of boosting critical thinking and problem-solving abilities in students through hands-on work. All kinds of tools are available to further student learning and there’s no reason educators should hesitate any longer!
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