A good use of digital technology in the math and science classroom is one that allows students to engage in ideas and learning in ways that would not be possible without the technology. Technology should open possibilities by removing or reducing limitations. One form this can take is in the way of addressing learning challenges. Technology can be used to help students engage in math and science learning despite challenges such as dyscalculia or dyslexia. I had a student in grade 6 math last year who had been diagnosed with dyslexia and struggled immensely with both writing and reading, but his numeracy was adequate. His printing was illegible. Through technology tools such as Kurzweil to turn text into audio, an iPad to allow him to explain his understanding digitally, and simulation apps that helped him see the math visually, he was extremely successful in math. Without those tools, his success would have been much more limited by his challenges. The concepts weren’t the real issue at the beginning of the year, the communication was.
A second good use of technology is to provide experiences for students that otherwise would not be accessible due to money or resources– designing physics experiments in a simulator to test new ideas, creating computer models to explore scientific theories, having access to academic databases around the world, etc. Technology should not be used simply to occupy students, but rather to provide them with an option for exploration beyond the brick and mortar classroom. A student who has never seen a pulley, for example, may have misconceptions about how weight would affect movement in such a setup, forming ideas based on other experiences. A digital simulator where they can experiment with different sizes, lengths, and weights, could help them develop a better understanding of the dynamics. The more experiences a student has, virtual or real-world, the broader and deeper his/her worldview will become.
The greatest obstacle I see to implementation of the best digital technology for the best situations to meet individual student engagement and learning needs is funding. While many school divisions seem to be either technology-driven or at least technology-aware, technology costs money, both initially and for maintenance. With budget cuts and shifting enrollment, divisions need to prioritize their spending and sometimes this means that while tools may be available in the marketplace, they may not fit in the business planning for a particular year or school. As a result, appropriate tools either aren’t purchased at all or get exchanged for cheaper alternatives. The result is insufficient availability of digital technology either in terms of quantity or in terms of quality. While I do not have an immediate solution for this barrier without the ability to give the school divisions more money, something that we can do as educators is to employ our own creativity to maximize the potential of the technologies we do have available, including ongoing professional development in the area. Our students will depend on us to create the opportunities for them to learn and explore in the classroom, regardless of if we have the technology we want or not.
Hi Stephanie,
I can relate this year in some ways to the experience you had with a student who struggled in literacy but understood math concepts with one of my students. Too often I think it is easy for us to assume that just because a student is struggling to learn to read and write that they must be a weak student in general. It sounds like this was not the case for your student and it definitely is not for mine. I was very confused to see my student placed into a math pullout group to work on number sense at the beginning of the year. He was identified last year as being weak and learning services just assumed he needed that support because of his slow progress with reading and writing. I think it is some imperative for us to be able to give these students an extra boost of confidence in areas that they do not struggle in when they are struggling in others. As I begin to engage more with technology in my literacy teaching, using apps such as Epic Books for Kids, I wonder if this could be the support that this student needs. As discussed in my post this week in regards to some online math games, this app also uses game-like rewards based on how many books are read. One thing that I appreciate about this app is that it is free for educators to use and setup a class. If students want to access their student account from a home device, the app costs money. While this payment model certainly could not be used for all programs, I thought it was a creative idea for this one.
What a good reminder that “the concepts weren’t the real issue at the beginning of the year, the communication was”. Thanks for a great post!
Allison
I will have to check out that app; it sounds interesting. Thanks for the tip!
Hi Stephanie,
I really enjoyed reading about the ways you adapted and integrated technology to allow for inclusion in your classroom. What an amazing success story for your grade 6 student – I imagine his confidence would have been significantly higher by the end of the school year, after realizing what he could accomplish with proper supports in place, rather than what he was limited to without those supports. When I think back to the more traditional classrooms thirty plus years ago, I cannot help but think of all the students who were unsuccessful, not because they were “stupid” but because they simply needed supports that were not yet available to them. Fast forward thirty years and students who would have been put into remedial classrooms or who would have simply dropped out entirely are finding success largely due to digital technologies that allow them to develop their strengths while supporting their weaknesses.
I also really liked your comment that technology allows students to access databases from around the world. This is an important point and one I tend to overlook when I plan my lessons. I often limit myself to North American-based science and math programs and apps, and do not think to extend my research/planning to include other areas of the world. One of the great things about digital technology and social media is the fact that ideas are shared across geographical borders so that we have the possibility, as you have pointed out, of accessing knowledge and experience from all across the world.
Stephanie,
I appreciate you sharing such specific examples of good technology use in the classroom. In both examples, the use of technology was not for the sake if using technology because it was available, but for the individual benefit of the student, emphasizing the importance of meaningful and purposeful technology use. Like Alison mentioned, your reference that the concepts weren’t the real issue, but communication was, reminds me how valuable technology can be as a communication {text, speech, diagram, etc.} and a collaboration tool. Often I consider the acquiring of information and skills as the main function of technology, but the input of the user can be just as much, if not more, of a learning advancer as the output.