From my experience, good digital technology must meet at least one of the following criteria.
First off, digital technology needs to help students develop a mental model for some intangible phenomena. I can remember how confusing it was to learn DNA transcription & translation and protein synthesis from a textbook when I was in grade 12. The text was dry and the diagrams confusing. Today, students have access to incredibly detailed videos on Youtube that animate unseeable events that occur throughout our body. The short video linked below, for instance, has helped me dramatically improve my mental model of protein synthesis and has left me with a more honest understanding of this process.
Second, good digital technology allows learners to manipulate variables and experiment in order to test predictions and find patterns. Hands-on activities are fantastic educational tools but they are often unrealistic or require too much setting up. I often use PHET simulations as a fun way to introduce topics in Physics. Check out this simple simulation on buoyancy. Think of the rich discussion and great questions this very simulation can promote.
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/density-and-buoyancy/buoyancy_en.html
Third, good digital technology provides instantaneous feedback for students. Learning math from a textbook is painful at times. Searching for solutions in the back of the book can be soul crushing. I have found online learning platform, such as Khan Academy, so much more engaging for students. I challenge you to open this link to a Khan Academy skill and not want to solve the first question. The addiction students feel towards instantaneous feedback in the mathematics classroom, is a sign that it has been a long time missing.
Fourth, good digital technology should promote joy, inquiry, curiosity and wonder into the classroom. There are so many fantastic resources that bring life back into the classroom. None, however, quite like Kahoot. It is scary sometimes how jazzed students get over Kahoot. Google Earth is another digital technology that inspires curiosity, wonder, and exploration in the classroom.
Finally, good digital technology allows students to create, share and collaborate. As Dr. Ken Robinson argues, we need to infuse creativity back into the classroom. Digital technology such as Tinkercad, is a fantastic program that allows students to create 3D digital renderings and later print them out on a 3D printer. From my experience, when students are given the opportunity to match understanding with creativity, magic happens in the classroom.
There are certain characteristics of bad technology that I would like to highlight. First off, bad technology is poorly designed and unintuitive to operate. The learning curve to understand the technology requires to much processing power from the student that they lose interest. Second, bad technology is technology that does not enhance learning but simply replaces traditional activities. Using digital textbooks, for instance, does nothing to enhance the learning experience.
The Pendulum Misconception
One misconception that I have noticed when teaching pendulum motion in Physics is that students often believe that the period of the bob is a product of its weight and its initial angle of displacement, with lighter bobs and greater angular displacement of the bob both correlated to longer periods. With the right equipment on hand, these are fantastic misconceptions to disprove with a quick demonstration. The challenges arise when two pendulums swing at once as they often hit each other and it is challenging to measure the angle of distortion with much accuracy. The demonstration at least provides students a chance to ponder if all pendulums have the same period and if not, what variables affect the rate of swing? I then have students test their assumptions by using the following Phet simulations.
https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/pendulum-lab/latest/pendulum-lab_en.html
In my opinion, this simulation ticks all the boxes for good digital technology. First off, the simulation allows students to witness unseeable phenomena such as how pendulums operate under various gravitational field strengths while allowing students to experiment and manipulate variables (bob weight, pendulum length and angle of distortion). Finally, the simulation provides instantaneous feedback for students and inspires curiosity, wonder, and experimentation. This simulation stimulates creativity and collaboration as students must build connections between what they saw during the demonstration and experienced with the simulation.
The effective implementation of digital technology can support learning in many ways. I am not of the mindset that it should attempt to support learning in all ways. The use of digital technology in the classroom should be done so to augment, modify and redefine specific learning tasks. Teachers should be wary of digital technology that acts as a learning tool substitute and fails to provide any functional change (Puentedura, 2010)
References:
Puentedura, R. (2010). SAMR and TPCK: Intro to advanced practice. Retrieved February, 12, 2013.
Hi Bryn.
A very well laid out post, I agree with all 5 of your characteristics, and I love how you gave specific examples and apps that demonstrate their effectiveness. You mention Kahoot, I’ve never used it, but would it be appropriate at a high school level? From what I can tell it is similar to Plickers which also allows student interaction to questions/quizzes, but uses QR codes on paper so that students don’t need their own devices. I find this is perhaps the biggest drawback to tech in my class. Last year I experimented with students bringing their own devices, but by FAR the most common was phones which were simply not practical for many of the activities I wanted to do. We now have a 8 laptops which are shared in stations for collaborative work.
I think most of the characteristics could apply to good teaching in general as well.
David,
Yes, Kahoot is totally appropriate for high school. It is very similar to Plickers but students respond on their phones or devices. Students without a device can team up with students who do.
Go to https://create.kahoot.it/ set up an account and search for a Kahoot that matches your content. You can duplicate any Kahoot you like and modify it as needed. Students will go to http://www.kahoot.it and enter the game code. It’s one of the easiest educational technologies to get a hang of and super fun. Enjoy!
Hi Bryn,
I enjoyed reading your post. I, too, have found students very responsive to Kahoot! I liked how you shared a technology resource for each of the points you made. You also made a good point about the amount of preparation for hands-on activities and the amount of interference or error that can occur in a naturally chaotic environment as opposed to a pure simulation and the value this brings when allowing students to have more time to simply experience the phenomenon in question.
Thanks for laying your points out so clearly, I completely agree with them!