Why We Need Technology in the Classroom

I have not had the opportunity to work in a high-teched-out-to-the-future... or even teched-out-to-a-few-grand classroom.  

I would like to.

I hope someday I have the chance to.

But until then, here is my tech wishlist and why I want it and to what purpose I see the need for it:

1. Tablets
1. Why we need them:
1. So that students are able to engage in technologically simulated 21st Century learning
2. How it would benefit the learning experience:
1. Students would be able to use the tablets to participate in individual learning medias that will develop and enhance their learning experience
3. Uses:
1. Students could complete/view/take/do: games, apps, quizzes, tests, videos, etc
4. Factors to consider:
1. Student use and conduct
2. Safety and protection of device
3. Updates
2. A video recording device
1. Why we need it:
1. Students could watch teacher-made videos to reinforce their learning or to review points that they did no quite master in class  
2. How it would benefit the learning experience:
1. Teachers could record lessons to post on a website for student review
3. Uses:
1. Videos could be tutorials, reviews, introductions, flipped classroom lessons, etc.
4. Factors to consider:
1. Backups
2. Time commitment to recording lesson/recording new lessons
3. Platform to be shared on
4. Who can access videos
5. Any needed supplementary materials to accommodate the videos (again - time issue)
3. Large scale projector/screen
1. Why we need it:
1. To create better viewing options for students to see materials and topic being taught
2. How it would benefit the learning experience:
1. Students would be able to see the materials being taught from wherever they sat in the classroom and would not have to readjust to be able to see instructions or details = uninterpreted learning 
3. Uses:
1. Full class view
4. Factors to consider:
1. Backups
2. Updates, maintenance and service
4. Digital database that students are able to log in to
1. Why we need it:
1. Teacher would be able to track students' progress and in class participation
2. How it would benefit the learning experience:
1. The teacher would know how students are doing and be able to correctly evaluate their learning process
3. Uses:
1. Student assessment
2. Resource for developing IEPs
4. Factors to consider:
1. Backups
2. System crashes
3. Updates, maintenance and service

Tech of the future will surely enhance education and they way in which children learn, but it does not replace the teacher and the quality of time and instruction that they put in....  My 2 cents at least.

The future and tech and teaching, oh my!

The future is going to open a lot of doors to the way in which we tech and how students learn.

Here are a few of my ponders on it.

Additionally, here are some interesting reads you might like to check out to see what greater minds have to say on technology and education in the future:

BBC - Technology in Schools: Future changes in classrooms

Envisioning - Envisioning the future of education technology 

The Guardian - What is the future of technology in education?

Make Use Of - How Computer Technology Will Transform Schools of the Future

Flow

Flow is your ability to get lost in something. To forget that you are working or doing something.  To forget that there is a world around you and only be focused/absorbed into the world directly in front of you.

Flow can be created and come from anything.  And it can also be created for the use of education with the right process of development.
Games.

Jim Gee and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi have great videos on the topic:

Principles of Gaming

Flow, the secret to happiness

We were asked to take a look at where Flow exists in our lives and how we could connect that to our teaching practices.  Here's my response to Flow:

I don’t do games.  Well I should say, I don’t game like Koreans do or the youth of today.  I cannot lose myself in a computer generated game be it on my phone, a gaming console or the computer.  I never have been able to and I don’t imagine I will ever be able to.

For a hot minute I did play a lot of Trivia Crack.  But even the got tiring to me and playing definitely did not create the flow the Mihaly talked about in his TEDTalk. I never felt “taken over” or that I was subconsciously choosing between concentrating and existing in the present world.  I was always doing both and usually more so bothered by the game and the fact that I felt “required to play” (Csikszentmihalyi, 2004).

Where I can and do lose myself is in reading and exercising.  And shopping.  Somehow hours and money just seem to disappear without me knowing it.

Back on point. 

I don’t have the occasion to read much (read – ever) anymore, but when I used to read I would tear through books and not notice how much time had passed or even if someone had spoken to me or that I missed my stop on the bus/subway.  Not all books could do this to me, some books are a chore to read, some are highly engaging but not capable of pushing me over into Flow and others I am lost in within minutes (shamefully and amazingly, I love a series of Vampire Romance trash novels that wipe the whole world away!  I read it for the character development, of course…).

Similarly, I also can get lost in Flow when exercising. Routine and type of workout depending, but usually I can get carried away with what I’m doing and getting the most out of it, that I don’t notice how much time has slipped by.

While Flow in reading doesn’t create immediate parallels to my PLN goals, Flow in exercise does.  The Flow I generate in exercising stems from a desire to achieve results and see progress.  This is what I want to develop in myself and pull forth from my students when I am teaching my own class.  Jim Gee points out that games, like exercise, need to be well ordered and build up our skill and increase in complexity.  This draws in users/learners/people and gets them to get lost in the routine and the design of what they are doing, without paying attention to the actual work that is needed or being put into the process (Gee, 2013).

Through this method – well order, building up our skill and increasing in complexity – Flow can be created for all manners of individuals in many areas of life.

References:

Gee, J. (2013, November 13). Jim Gee Principles on Gaming. Retrieved June 8, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aQAgAjTozk

Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2004, February 1). Flow, the secret to happiness. Retrieved June 8, 2015, from http://www.ted.com/talks/mihaly_csikszentmihalyi_on_flow

Teaching Goals ~ Achievement Plans

Teachers learn today through a varied pool of information and people.  All of this information allows for constant improvement and development.  But if you don't know why you are reading it or how you want to use this information it can all be lost on you.

That's why goals are important. 

As a teacher I'd like to achieve several things, but here are a look at a few that came to mind:

1.  run and maintain a successful classroom
1. develop a standard of teaching for myself that is honorable and viewed with respect
2. develop a set of rules that my students can achieve and which will allow for a fun and engaging classroom that is respected and educational as well as fun
3. be the type of teacher that students/parents want to have, coworkers look forward to working with, and have administration recognize my abilities and efforts within and outside the classroom
2. develop units, lessons, activities, etc that constantly push and stimulate students' learning
1. through the use of technology, varied activities, field trips, additional resources and alternative learning avenues - create lessons that students want to be apart of and participate in
3. take an activity part in furthering my own development as an educator
1. attend personal development workshops, attend certification courses, read up on new ideas/methods/technologies online and elsewhere
4. work to become comfortable and proficient with technology, so that I am able to promote greater learning for myself and my students
1. personal development or through the assistance of a peer/mentor who knows more than me and can teach me
5. be an involved member of my school/community
1. be a member of the PTA, community organization, etc

Tech Savvy Tweens

I am not tech savvy.  I am regularly outsmarted by the tech and apps that I try to use on a weekly... daily basis.  I would like to claim that I am getting better.  That the old girl can learn a new trick, but that might just be some high reaching, wishful thinking.

But what isn't wishful thinking and who are tech savvy are the kids that are growing up in today's world.  They know their stuff!

And they can totally beat you in MineCraft. 

Kids of today are 21st Century students who are using and mastering 21st Century Skills.  

As educators we should learn with them and provide lessons that will teach them and prepare them for the future as well as interest them... as much as MineCraft.

How can we help and engage the 21st Century student?

Integrate 21st Century interdisciplinary themes into core subjects -

• non-examples (old way of doing things):
• Teaching students one subject content at a time.  
• Discussing exploration, but only looking at a historical example and how the events took place, i.e.Columbus' discovery of America
• proper examples:
• using a board theme that can carry across all subjects and tie in learning under that one topic.
• Looking at exploration -
• Student would have to learn about and research the HISTORY of various exploration journeys and who, what, how and why they happened. 
• Teachers could ask students to calculate (MATH) the distance from the starting destination to final point or the time it took to travel from one place to the other.
• Students could investigate the know elements (CHEMISTRY/BOTANY/SCIENCE) on various  ecosystems and how certain crops where able to grow in one place and not another.
• Additionally, students could write a story (LANGUAGE ARTS) about what life might be like if they discovered a new civilization.

*Great video to watch from Pear Tree Education, Inc. (2013) -> here

Integrate the 4Cs (creativity, critical thinking/problem solving, communication, collaboration) into instruction -

• non-examples:
• Students working alone to make signs/posters to convey information on a given topic or theme that they only research through textbook based information or what was learned in class.
• examples: 
• Small group Literature Circles using the 4Cs
• Literature Circles in Action (Polizzi, 2012)

*A great source of information can be viewed here on Common Sense Education's YouTube page

Integrate the use of technology to help students access, manage, and use information in an ethical manner, and create media products -

• non-examples:
• Tech classes that teach only typing or one isolated function of technology
• examples:
• Design and extension of creativity through the assistance of apps and programs.
• Using the internet to extend research to a Global reach while developing skills that will come into play later on at university.
• Sharing of ideas through social media to collaborate and reach new people/gain new insights.
• Promote critical thinking through the use of news media, polls, more advanced terminology and references, and having students evaluate the ethics and implications of what is accessible online.

Students of tomorrow need to be ready for a changing world. 

"This Framework describes the skills, knowledge and expertise students must master to succeed in work and life; it is a blend of content knowledge, specific skills, expertise and literacies" (P21, 2015).