Technology and the Teacher
Oooo Technology! Not to age myself by I always thought I would be living like the Jetsons at this point but it seems we are a bit away from the flying cars and a robot named Rosie that is doing all of the chores around the house. Teaching with technology is a double edge sword. I love having 1:1 technology so students can research something right away or look at a video clip for background research on a particular topic. But just like any rabbit hole - my students can get lost in it! It is so easy for them start clicking and suddenly class is over.
I have been fortunate that during my time as a teacher I have been able to grow with education technology instead of having to integrate it after the fact. I am considered a digital immigrant but most of the time I don't feel that way. My current district is one of the fortunate ones that has money and support in technology spending. While other districts were just getting 1:1 integration during Covid, my district was already supporting students and building on their current framework. Since my districts started ahead, I felt it was important to evaluate myself by looking at the newest methodology of technology support. As an educator I am always thinking about the fact that we are preparing students for jobs that we don't even know exist at this moment so what I am doing as an educator should be evaluated by new and upcoming methodologies. Using the Technology Integration Matrix is a way for me to focus on the bigger picture and the executive functioning skills that will help my students long after they leave my classroom. One of the things I really love about this matrix is that it focuses on not only what I am doing as a teacher but also what you should see from yours students. I am going to try very hard to not rank myself as the Ideal or on Target for each of them but it is easy to really think reflecting that we are always the top level. Man self reflection is so tough!
Research and Information Fluency
As a teacher this means that I am looking to create and provide chances for students to become independent learners. Students are able to look at what they need to understand and able to pull important information out.
My students spend a lot of time working on the engineering design challenges and working through the engineering design. These steps help students walk through a problem and create a solution. In order to do that, students have to conduct background research on their topic prior to starting. For example, my 8th graders do an egg drop at the beginning of each quarter. The students start the activity by understanding how this relates to real world. The students will watch a video on NASA's mission to landing a rover onto Mars. The students have to create a vessel that will allow the "rover (aka egg)" land on the surface. After watching this movie, students discuss important topics related to science (gravity, pay load, impact to name a few). One area that I could be a bit better on what when it looks at what the students should be doing. Students are able to gather data but most of the time I am presenting them with the digital tools or the organizing the information. The students could and should be doing more that independently.
Communication and Collaboration
For this category students are working together to achieve something usually answering a question or putting together model, prototype, etc.
Students needs to learn to work with others and communicate their ideas to other effectually while focusing on how complete a task. STEM is a great way for students to discuss, debate and share about their thoughts on a topic and how to create a solution to a question. Each of my projects ask for students to work with others, create a prototype to solve a problem and then share that with others. For example, students asked to work together to create a room for a person who is either hypersensitive or hypersensitive. The students learn about the ideas of creating space and what a hypersensitive or hypersensitive person. The students then work in groups to help create concepts to then eventually make a model of that room. They then create a video to sell their room to the Shark Tank sharks.
During a majority of my activities students are doing a great job working through different tools especially for my 8th grade project. One are that I think needs more attention is the reflection students are doing when working on their projects. Many times students have to work through different ideas and compromise their ideas to complete the task.
Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
One activity that I incorporated with my students centers around this idea. In this project students are asked to create and solve a question using the Glowforge technology. Students start by thinking about different issues around them. In the past, students looked at issues such as organization, having fun, helping younger students learn something to name a few. They then created a template of the different pieces they want to cut out in order to make their prototype. The first prototype is developed using cardboard and the students will then make adjustments and tweaks until they are happy with their product. The students then use wood or acrylic to build their final prototype. Students then to create a video in order to sell this prototype to the Shark Tank sharks.
Again one of the areas that I need to develop more clearly is the reflection piece. I should create a way for students to think about they worked through the challenge or question and discuss ways to improve on this process.
Creativity and Innovation
Students will need to be creative to think about solutions and feel that they can create new ideas to solve problems. Students should be able to create what they think would solve an issue as long as they can have the freedom to do such. We began using FUSE studio from Northwestern last year and will continue to use that moving forward. This program allow students to create solution to a variety of problems. Students are able to engage in topics or concepts that they want to learn and discover more about and then create solutions that they enjoy making.
Students are able to take risks in my classroom. Part of my discussion with the students in 6th grade centers on the idea of failure and how it is okay to not be able to create or make something. They will fail in the class but reflecting and providing ways to improve upon their previous process is important. In this section I have done a great job of enforcing that and asking students to reflect upon the process.
Final Thoughts
Overall, my integration of technology in the class falls in between an approaching and ideal/target area. I have many amazing projects that are helpful to developing and cultivating student's executive functioning skills in the four categories. But when I examine what the students should be doing there are areas that I can push myself and expand my expectations of my students. One big area area of focus moving forward is on the reflection piece. There are times that students are able to reflect or on specific sections but overall I can be better on that in all of my projects. Students do reflect at the end of the quarter but it is something that should be explicit in my teaching more often.
It's not uncommon to have different areas for different lessons. I think it's fantastic that you recognize areas for development such as reflection. I truly believe if we teach students to reflect more this will spill over into their "every day exisitence" and reflecting more might calm some storms before they brew.
ReplyDeleteHi Katie, I also wish I had a robot named Rosie to clean my house. You make a great point about how important it is to keep up to date with new and upcoming methodologies. It never occurred to me, but as educators you really are preparing your students for jobs that don't exist yet. Reading your post I feel like I am attending a masterclass in technology integration. The tools you use are so innovative and engaging, but I also like how you encourage the students to reflect on their mistakes. Self-reflection is a fundamental aspect of personal growth, and your students will benefit from it. This was a great read and thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteHello, Katie! I appreciate that you discussed the context of a school's technological resources. It goes to show how important it is for schools to receive funding in order to fully support their students' growth as future leaders in the real world. I think it's neat how you related the egg drop activity to the real world Mars rover landing. I also think it's neat that you are looking to grow by having the students be more independent - discovering the tools on their end, rather than solely using the tools that are provided on your end. If you were to redesign this experiment, would you have students work by themselves? In student-directed teams? Or something else entirely?
ReplyDeleteI agree that reflecting can be a powerful tool for learning from failure - and from success! Out of curiosity, what does student reflection look like in your classroom? Do students reflect with pen and paper? Or is technology used in the reflection process?
Thanks for the insightful post on the Technology Integration Matrix! I'm confident you'll continue to grow as an educator and role model for your students.