Technology in the classroom is promoted as one of the ways, if not the way of being a 21st Century Teacher. There are a lot of reasons for this opinion. Young people are engaged with their technology and educators want them to be similarly engaged with their learning. Technology allows students to access a world of information in a wide variety of formats. It is also a way of replacing a lot of expensive school purchases - from textbooks to manipulatives. This point is especially true if students bring in their own devices to schools.
Now, I am of the generation that pioneered computer technology in the classroom. When I was in grade 7, my middle school purchased a dozen PET computers, made by Commodore.
This picture is courtesy of "Science and Society Picture Library Prints" http://www.ssplprints.com/image/94110/commodore-pet-personal-computer-c-1980
I remember the excitement of using BASIC to get my name to scroll down a monitor in blocky letters. By high school, I was creating simple "choose your own adventure" type role playing games. I spent countless hours learning how to organize my ideas and debugging them when they didn't work But, the truth is, my school never taught me any of this. They opened the door by showing me the "scroll your name down the monitor" code. I pretty much taught myself the rest. As I grew older, I taught myself all manner of software out of interest and sometimes even necessity. After I graduated from university, I got a couple of jobs just because I said I could use software which, in truth, I had never seen before. But, each time, I dove in and, over a weekend or two, became an "expert." Of course, by "expert," I mean that I knew just a little bit more than anyone else in the office. Now, enough about me. I only write this down to be transparent about my ersatz credentials.
When I think about technology in the classroom, I have a few rules.
First, I like it to be free. Private business looks to public education and sees billions of dollars to be made. There is a reason that <insert name of immensely profitable corporation here> wants elementary children to use their devices or apps. They want a customer for life. They are maximizing their profits. At its heart, these companies have business models that are little different from soft drink companies that put vending machines in schools. They offer a deal in order to get the kids hooked. The use of devices has become as addictive as sugar. There is an argument that the deals that tech companies are offering are altruistic - apps and devices do have some benefits to learners. However, bottled water (mostly sold by soft drink manufacturers) in vending machines also has its benefits.
Secondly, I like what technology has to offer to be advertisement free. It wasn't that long ago that this was an important condition demanded by educators. It is now mostly forgotten, replaced by lessons in media studies. To continue my earlier analogy, it is very similar to how sugary treats are now in every lunch sack. Social mores regarding the health of children have been replaced by "freedom of choice" arguments from junk food manufacturers and health lessons teaching children about "sometimes" foods and suggesting that families limit trans fats (as opposed to avoiding them completely). Listen, advertisements work. The most profitable companies in the world wouldn't spend billions of dollars advertising if they didn't. They work especially well on young people. Schools completely lack the resources to balance the onslaught of advertisements children witness with education, and putting them in the background of leaning experiences implies that they really are okay.
This picture is courtesy of "Science and Society Picture Library Prints" http://www.ssplprints.com/image/130806/richardson-claire-polaroid-sx70-model-i-land-camera-c-1973
Thirdly, I like the technology to do something that is actually better than what it is replacing. Does a device take a better picture than a Polaroid Camera with a flash? Can the device record a conversation better than a cassette recorder? Can a student use their finger to draw and print on the touch screen better than they can with some markers and a piece of paper? Is the information on a website better researched and more clearly written than what can be found in a children's encyclopedia (which never have advertisements in them)? If the technology isn't better, then, it is really just a gimmick.
Next, I like the technology to make learning more engaging for students. The key word here is learning. Some educational video games and apps offer far too much playing time for the amount of learning that goes on in them. Especially when the learning comes in the format of multiple choice questions or questions that students learn to "game" (i.e., get points for without learning or knowing what it is that they answered). As a parent, I am shocked when choosing a movie on my family's once-a-week family movie night is made overly difficult because my elementary school aged children have already watched a litany of movies at school. Using social media in the classroom needs to be more than having one student post a thoughtful comment which is followed by a host of cliché replies.
Saying all of this, I have witnessed social media work very well. Recently, I had students post book reviews on-line. I was impressed by the thoughtfulness of most of the reviews and by the back and forth commentary with their peers.
This picture is courtesy of "Wikimedia Commons"
Lastly, I like technology to make my job as an educator more efficient. I can write anecdotal notes quite quickly. I have coding systems that allow me to get a lot of data into my pencil and paper checklists. And if I drop my assessment duotang on the floor, it never breaks. When I write report cards, I can place two or three sheets of notes beside each other and scan from one to the other easily. I have tried using a variety of apps for assessment, but none has been able to replace what I already do. I'm a touch typer and I am adept at spreadsheets. I've yet to find an app that can do more, faster, than what these two abilities allow me to do.
I have made it part of my practice to use the device provided to me by my school to photograph examples of student work. I currently have a huge number of photos in my files with labels like "DSC098763.JPG" that I don't have the time to rename. As a result, finding a particular student's work entails that I view photo files as large icons, thus slowing down my search. Videos increase my workload even more. When I go home, I am loathe to assess a student's work by watching a video that takes 30 seconds of viewing just to get to the point that I want to assess. That time adds up in a class of 25 or more students.
Technology does offer me the ability to save a learning experience to use it again. This saves me time, as long as I can use it again. Changes in curriculum and expectations don't always make this possible. Technology also makes it possible to create extremely interesting and interactive activities for my students. However, my rule of thumb is that the time that goes into the creation of an activity should be at least close to the amount of time that it will actually be used by students. In other words, efficiency dictates that I shouldn't spend an hour creating a learning experience that my students will only use for 15 minutes. Of course, as I type these words I find myself looking up to the ceiling and exclaiming to the bumpy white finish, "so why do I keep doing it then !?!"
This post ended up being quite long winded. That wasn't my intention. I really do like technology. In fact, I plan on writing a post (hopefully soon) that will point out how I use technology and what websites, apps and software I have come across that meets the standards that I have stated in this post. This site is "The Handy Teacher" after all, and its purpose is to offer handy and useful ideas, not just rants.
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