Category Archives: A. Unpacking assumptions

Technology use in the classroom

 

  • What is a good use of digital technology in the math and science classroom?
    • This is an excellent question and probably one of the main reasons that I chose to take this course. I struggle with authentically integrating technology into my grade 7 math and science classroom. In the past, I have used iPads extensively in my primary classrooms. We used the iPad to find math in the environment. If we were learning about 2D or 3D shapes (angles, arrays, etc.), the students would go around and take pictures of actual items. They would then create a pic collage (or other visual) with labels. However, now that I am teaching grade 7, I find it more difficult to integrate technology into my math and science lessons. Part of this is because we have very little technology available to us (one laptop cart to share between 10 grade 7 classes). The best ways that I have found to use technology is to show videos of the concepts that I am teaching for my visual learners (this works great for both math and science). We also create videos to help explain our understanding to others. I prefer for my students to work in partners or small groups that are randomly chosen. This way they are engaging and conversing while using technology. This provides the students opportunities to learn from each other. Another way to integrate technology is to allow students to further explore topics that they find particularly interesting. They can do this with other students who have the same interest.
    • In my previous school, we followed the SAMR model (substitution, augmentation, modification and redefinition). This was a good model and our goal was always to aim for modification and redefinition. The first two stages enhance the learning, but the last two transform it.
    • Technology provides students with the opportunity to converse and engage in conversations with other classes, as well as experts in a particular field. We have a class Twitter account that has been a great way for us to see how other students are learning different concepts and we are able to tweet out questions that we may have.
  • What would such a learning experience and environment look like?
    • This type of environment would have the students working in small groups at a table with a variety of device (tablets, laptops, etc.). The students would be able to move around the classroom (and possibly school) freely to explore their environment. Students would have choice in what they are learning based on their interests and knowledge.
  • What would be some characteristics of what it is and what it isn’t?
    • Technology should not be a replacement tool for paper and pencil/pen activities. It should be used to extend and further the learning process in the classroom. It should be a way for students to explore a concept in a way that fits their learning style and interests.
  • How might a learning experience with technology address a conceptual challenge, such as the one you researched in the last lesson?
    • Technology can help address conceptual challenge through the use of videos so that students can see the process. It can also be a way for students to show their thinking to their peers and teachers and open up a discussion. So much learning happens in the classroom when students are given time to explore and converse with their peers. Students can research up to date articles on specific topics and this is more easily acquired with technology.
  • Is this a vision or is it possible in real classrooms?
    • I think that many classrooms are well setup up with technology and many have flexible seating and open concept floor plans with lots of learning stations. However, some classrooms still lack the proper funding to provide up to date technology for all students.
  • What makes this vision a challenge to implement and what might be needed to actualize it?
    • The challenges that arise are funding, professional development and teacher interest and passion in regards to technology use. Some teachers have access to technology, but because of a lack of training or a fear, they do not implement it into the classroom. In order for teachers to feel comfortable, the need to be given access to technology and time to learn and feel confident using it with their students. Other classrooms have very little technology, but they have teachers that are passionate about integrating it.

Good Practice Using Technology

 

In my opinion, effective use of digital technology in math and science classrooms is where technology is enhancing the students’ learning experience, rather than just replacing something that was previously available in another format. It is also where teachers have balanced knowledge about content, pedagogy and technology to ensure that students are engaged, hands on and more self-reliant learners. Good practice isn’t including technology for the sake of it and it should be thought of in a long-term mind frame: it is helping students to learn skills that will enable them to be part of a global community whilst simultaneously encouraging them to engage with the subject.

There are many methods through which learning experiences with technology can address a conceptual challenge and I’m looking forward to reading the post of others; it is always exciting to learn new ideas! Different apps can be very useful in this sense. I mentioned the app Explain Everything in my previous post. This allows the creator of the video to express their knowledge on a topic to the audience. This can be a helpful way of becoming aware of misconceptions before starting a unit. Further, allowing children access to the internet gives them a wealth of information and resources. It is no longer a case of the teacher being the bearer of all knowledge; rather, it is more a case of ‘what can we learn together?’

I have found that digital technology enables more effective facilitation of differentiation. For example, this year I have been setting math homework using the website www.mymaths.co.uk, for which, fortunately, my school pays the membership fee. I am able to set online homework – either tasks on the same concept for different ability levels or tasks on different concepts if reinforcement or extension on certain topics is appropriate. Students log in and complete the work at home. Additionally, the children often find it fun to complete their homework on a computer and, as an added bonus, the program also marks the work! This instant feedback is another huge benefit of using digital technology in the classroom. Of course, this wouldn’t be appropriate in an area where children don’t have access to a computer or the internet at home.

Digital technology use in the classroom can often be difficult to implement for a variety of reasons, including the following: insufficient or inadequate technology; lack of professional development for teachers; inconsistency in implementation within a school. When other teachers in my school are using a certain application or website, I find myself more likely to have a go with it and because of this, I think collaboration amongst teachers when using digital technology is particularly important. There are excellent examples available of teachers using digital technology in meaningful ways and I believe that this is truly just the beginning.

 

 

Good technology

For me, good technology use involves smooth integration of technology in the chosen didactical design. Lead by a thorough pedagogical design, digital technology should thus be chosen with care. There is no inherent value in technology, but the value of any technology lays in enhancing teaching.

Technology should help students in their learning process – it could, for example, help to identify misconceptions and provide challenges and quests. Good technology use should support individual, personalized, student-centred teaching – for example, by allowing different learning paces and learning depth.

Technology should also support student activation, self-regulation and increase motivation and curiosity – for example, by using gamification. It should also allow learning outside the classroom (e.g. at home).

Technology should also support collaborative and social learning.

And technology should be easy to use and also allow digitally disadvantaged students to participants.

I don’t think the implementation of this vision is too far away … with a good didactical design in mind, the teacher can choose from a broad range of available technology today. I guess will have a look at some of these technologies in this course.

Unpacking Assumptions

To me, a good use of digital technology in the math and science classroom is technology that engages students on a “deeper” level than traditional, let’s say “chalk-and-talk” lessons; lessons where the teacher is the distributor of “knowledge” and students “receive knowledge” . It’s when the use of the digital technology allows concepts to be explained in a more natural, fluid, concrete, intuitive and/or personally-meaningful way. I’ve learned to understand that tech is just a tool, but my opinion is that “good” tech use is when the tech is implemented is such a manner that the learning experience is augmented. It strives to do something different that was quite simply impossible in another medium, or through another platform.

Viewed from another perspective, what makes the use of digital technology “good” is not the tool/tech itself but the manner in which it’s used. For example, if students are tasked to write a paper, using Google Docs as the platform is not necessarily a “good” use of tech. Word would have been equally sufficient (this would be the S in the SAMR model). However, if the goal is to collaborate synchronously and/or asynchronously on a project, sharing ideas to construct something despite being physically separate, I’d certainly consider Google docs a “good” use of tech!

Other “good” uses of digital tech could be to use responsive/interactive simulations, AR, visualizations, or to teach our students to code. We should be mindful to give our students not only tools, but the knowledge and skills required to apply the tools to create something. Too many people think that simply incorporating tech and saying “go! Explore!” will result in better engagement. It’s been suggested by research, such as in Clements & Sarama’s The Role of Technology in Early Childhood Learning (2002, p.341), that “curriculum designed around [tech] should have children do more than merely engage in free exploration, which can lead to boredom”.

Finally, “good” uses of digital tech are absolutely not just a “vision”; they’re 100% real and 100% happening right now as we speak. One simple yet enormous challenge is that using tech in this way is still very new to the average teacher. Better training programs, among other solutions, are required. This could allow the average teacher hands-on experience with tech to become

  1. more aware of the opportunities digital tech can afford and
  2. confident enough to apply them, starting with small tasks that and grow in complexity along with their skill set.

After all, teachers, like children, “learn by doing and by thinking about what they do” (Clements & Sarama, 2002, p. 342).

Reference

Clements, D. H., & Sarama, J. (2002). The role of technology in early childhood learning. Teaching Children Mathematics, 8(6), 340-343.

Question answered was from the STEM 2018 Blog:

  • What is a good use of digital technology in the math and science classroom? What would such a learning experience and environment look like? What would be some characteristics of what it is and what it isn’t? How might a learning experience with technology address a conceptual challenge, such as the one you researched in the last lesson?
  • What makes this a good use of digital technology? Is this a vision or is it possible in real classrooms? What makes this vision a challenge to implement and what might be needed to actualize it?