This interview was conducted with a second year, 4th grade classroom teacher. He also is a new coach this year to the school’s LEGO robotics team. As he is someone who is younger, new to teaching, yet excited about tech (and self-reports and tech competent), I thought he would make for a great subject to interview, especially after seeing so many of the new teachers in the case study videos seems very uncomfortable with technology.
The interview was held in my own classroom on a Friday afternoon, right after school. This interview provides a unique look into a teacher’s classroom that is comfortable and confident with technology, but is still building up the confidence and TPACK to fully integrate technology use into the classroom. The six questions that were asked are listed in order:
- What are the main benefits/skills that students in LEGO robotics gain?
- What kinds of growth and changes have you noticed in the students as they work with the technology?
- Do you feel it is important or necessary that you as the teacher/coach are an expert with the technology? Why or why not?
- What are the most effective ways that you use technology in the math and science classrooms?
- What is the biggest misconception you have encountered from parents, staff, and/or students related to STEM and technology?
- What were some of the key take always that you have from using technology in the classroom?
Collaboration
Over and over again, the topic of collaboration came up in the interview. When asked what the main benefit or skill that students in LEGO robotics gain, the teacher responded, “The biggest thing they take from LEGO robotics is collaboration and the ability to work with the computers and tools.” Yet, as the conversation continued, the tools aspect of the learning seemed to play a secondary role, with collaboration and teamwork being the main focus. “A lot of the kids that come out for LEGO robotics are your natural born leaders. They want to initiate something. They are the GATE kids, the higher level kids. They don’t really struggle with academics so they need something as a challenge. We went from having 14 leaders to having two solid groups.” Even though these kids are all highly qualified to work as individuals, they see the power of collaboration and organize themselves along those lines.
Experience
As the teacher was a second-year teacher and first year to LEGO robotics, I was very curious to see how he felt when he didn’t have the answers. He was very relaxed and quickly admitted that this happened all the time. “With this program, the instructor is using just as much as the kids.” He also commented on the fact that teachers are given all the tools and resources to be successful, just like the students are. So, the learning can place simultaneously. “[When I don’t have the answers] the kids think it’s funny. We laugh together. I tell them, ‘I’m new to this, too!'” This relaxed, growth mindset is invaluable for students. In the 21st Century, it almost feels old-fashioned to think of the teacher as the reservoir of all possible knowledge. Ever since the presence of the internet, students and teachers have been given equal access to the full power of the humanity’s knowledge. It appears to be that in the modern classroom, students don’t see it as a fault if the teacher doesn’t have the answers, only if the teacher doesn’t have the resources.
This same thread of experience extends to the students as well. When parents were doubtful that students could be trusted with technology, this teacher took it upon himself to advocate for them. “When I had the students on Google Classroom the first week of school, I was able to prove to the parents that, yes, they can handle the technology. Let them on the computer.” The results were quick and clear as well. He told a story of a student who always struggled with handwriting. Yet, when they typed and submitted their first story online, he was thrilled that his writing, not his handwriting, was the focus of his grade. “I think that’s what technology is for: giving students more pathways to express and show what they have learned.”
Exploration
Thinking about not having all the answers lead directly into the next topic. “Usually we tell the kids to look it up and figure it out. They come back to us and tell us, ‘Hey, let’s try this.’ And that’s all part of the problem-solving skills we are trying to build.” Students in the classroom are free to explore and to experience the wealth of knowledge that is out there. They are practicing how to utilize resources, input data, and revise hypotheses every step of the way. Also, the ability to have technology present makes the classroom an exciting place to learn. “This year in science, we’ve been using Mystery Science. It’s all online, with lots of multimedia. I virtually dissected a cow eyeball in front of the kids.” www.mysteryscience.com is a free resource (notice the drastic change from a concretely written curriculum) that is full of hands-on/minds-on experiences for the kids to engage with, all focused around a question or problem that has been developed around NGSS standards.
With that said, this teacher admitted that exploration was much easier to accomplish in the science classroom for him. He could list ways that the was using technology for science, but for math, it seemed that it was mainly being used as reinforcement and practice. He had already self-identified this as an area of improvement and has made it a personal goal to incorporate more technology into the mathematics lessons.
-Jonathan-
For a further look into the interview, you can check out my reflection on my ePortfolio.
Collaboration, Experience, and Exploration – Interview Reflection
Hi Jonathan,
thanks for sharing this interview! One point struck me:
“They don’t really struggle with academics so they need something as a challenge.”
When I look at my 12-years old son, I fully agree. For him, school is about learning for the next test, but there is no real challenge that motivates him to dig deeper. He is not really involved in what they do and learn. School can be so much fun if there are challenges – with good technology support, every kid could come to his or her zone of proximal development and then go one step further in learning. We just need to make sure not only the “good” kids profit from technology, but also those struggling with academics. So finding a personal challenge that the kids find meaningful for themselves seems a good way to start. I assume that Lego robotics allows this.
Elske
I was able to visit the robotics team this week and was astounded at how happy and how much my top students were enjoying the process of being challenged! I do think that robotics is for more than just the top students, but to see them challenged liked many others are in regular classes was really an experience!
Hi Jonathan,
It was very interesting to read your interview with a teacher who is so comfortable using technology in his classroom. I am really trying to be relaxed about not knowing exactly how to do things with regards to technology and using it in my classroom and this interview reminded me that it’s okay not to know all the answers! A topic that you mentioned, and that came up in my interview, is that different subject lend themselves to different implementations of technology. I like how the teacher you interviewed had set goals for himself in regards to math and integrating educational technology, as I myself find that in regards to mathematics I also use technology mainly for reinforcement. Thanks for posting, I found this to be an interesting read!
I also admired that! I think that many times, we, as educators, are so used to setting goals for the students that sometimes, in our busy schedules, we forget to do that for ourselves!
As a fellow control freak, I love to know exactly how things are happening. However, I’ve noticed that, rapport with the students goes a lot further than a perfectly performing tech lesson. The students enjoy watching and learning from the troubleshooting, as well!
Hi Jonathan.
Letting kids explore, fueled by their curiosity is a powerful to learn. I don’t know what it is about our education system, but by the time I get them in grade 11 or 12, they seem to have lost a lot of that excitement about learning and their curiosity about the world. Some seem very reluctant to question or to engage in the class. I have found that giving them opportunity to question in “safe” ways (eg. for one unit I had a Curiosity Wall where they could anonymously post any questions they had about the unit; eg. digital reflections and digital discussion) helped them to open up and becomes engaged. I have also found that changing my response technique to flipping questions back to the class rather than just answering them myself helped students to feel their insights were valued and appreciated so that they began to contribute more. I am also quite willing to admit if I don’t know something, so they get a sense that not knowing something is OK, we all learn and grow together. One of them will often just quickly look it up on our laptops, share, and then we continue.
On another note, I am in my second year running a robotics club for my school (VEX). I am simply a facilitator – I don’t know robotics, nor have I found the time to learn. The students know that they have to figure things out themselves, and while our growth curve for competitions has been slower, I think they have taken ownership and internalized their knowledge better. (That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! 🙂
I love it! Our school also has a set of VEX robotics, but they are sitting in the cupboard somewhere. I’m on a committee that is trying to integrate them more into the curriculum, but I’ve never even seen them! Your story makes me feel a bit better about that!
A lack of wonder and curiosity is a hard thing to combat. I love the idea of an anonymous question wall or a digital way to do that. We sometimes do that when we are studying touchier subjects (like the science teacher does it for sex ed, I do it when we cover race relations), but the idea of doing it all the time is intriguing and would help to know what gaps in knowledge exist.
Hi Jonathan
I like the fact that you interviewed a new teacher.
I wonder if you interviewed this teacher in twenty years — what their views would be then.
A good next step might be to have this teacher write themselves a letter on their teacher beliefs etc and have them seal it and not open it for 25 years or when they retire.
To keep the conversation going — make sure to respond to at least two other learners as well respond to all learners that respond to your own post. When responding to other learners, expand the discussion.
Christopher
Christopher,
Great idea! I did something like that when I started my teacher training program. It was supposed to email me when I was in my 10th year of teaching, however, now I don’t have access to the email address that I sent it to. Poor planning on my part. Maybe that can go on my tiny list of ways paper is better than digital. 😉