Integrating Technology

Integrating Technology into the Classroom

1. How can integrating technology in the classroom prepare your students to be 21st Century Learners?

Because the digital divide is quickly shrinking and 99% of schools in American now have Internet access, how teachers teach and how students learn has been rapidly changing over the past couple decades. By effectively integrating technology in the classroom, I believe we as teachers are preparing students to be innovative, adaptable learners for life—successful in their current endeavors as K-12 students and empowered and successful participants in an unpredictable, ever-changing 21^st century workforce. Not only does integrating technology in the classroom—primarily through 1:1 programs where students have individual access to laptops or tablets—increase student interest, making learning more fun, it builds on interactivity, collaboration, and creativity, among many other benefits.

High-tech tools connect students to multiple worlds, multiple realities—many of which provide and enhance learning opportunities and give students a window into their futures. Teachers can start to help students at a very young age successfully navigate the globally interconnected nature of our lives. It’s exciting but we must also be prepared to know our strengths and weakness, improve our skills, and be open and ready to learn to better serve our students—this can also mean learning how to use the technology right along with out students or sometimes letting students teach us.

Another key component of preparing students to be 21^st Century learners is helping them become responsible digital citizens. We can build a sense of online community by addressing issues such as cyberbullying; foster critical thinking by helping students differentiate between reliable and unreliable sources (teachhub.com); and remind students of the importance of managing personal data to maintain digital privacy and security (ISTE 2016).

2. What technology tools would you use for a Science lesson “Butterfly Life Cycle?

In the context of a middle school or high-school science classroom where each student has access to a laptop or tablet (1:1 learning environment), I would make this lesson as student-centered and self-directed as possible. First, I would allow each student access to my pre-recorded video lesson on the “Butterfly Life Cycle” using a lecture capture technology such as Camtasia or Panopto. Instead of giving a traditional lecture, this allows students the freedom to pause, rewind, and re-watch—letting students learn at their own pace and also refer back to the material when they create their project. Next, I would give students a choice to show how they synthesized the information in the video lesson. Engaging students in active, creative, independent tasks enhances learning and retention. Options for demonstrating knowledge of the content could be: creating a comic through ToonDoo, a digital story through Voicethread, an animation through PowToon or graphic representation through other supported software.

3. Describe how you would use the technology tools.

In my future classrooms, I want to emphasize student-centered, project-based learning. In time, this will involve the seamless and thoughtful integration of technology, where students use a variety of tools on a daily basis to engage with self, peers, and instructor; and where the focus is on student needs and real-life learning. I believe in integrating technology to increase student engagement. For example, by utilizing something students are already engaged in and channeling it into learning, technology can become a transformative learning tool. I plan to achieve this by giving students a choice of applications to create projects that demonstrate learning objectives. For example, if researching forms of poetry and creating an original work I would give students time to research online, provide supplementary resources and models, and allow them to pick a format of presentation (Prezi, Animoto, Voicethread, etc.). I also believe in integrating technology to support student differentiation to give timely and meaningful feedback and assessment. This can be achieved through polling apps like Socrative and Polls Everywhere and course management tools like Edmodo, Schoology, or Moodle.

4. What is Virtual Reality?

Virtual reality is a computer-simulated reality/environment that allows the user’s physical presence to interact within a virtual or augmented space that replicates real or fictional settings and situations. I am curious to learn more about VR and AR applications in education after learning claims that VR-based learning increases student’s attention level by 100% and improves tests scores by over 30%. (EON Reality). If it is true that students “learn faster, remember longer, and decide better” (EON Reality) using this technology, I hope VR/AR becomes more accessible and affordable and teachers learn to use this tool effectively rather than it becoming a game or toy.