In the August 2012 issue of Tech & Learning, Editorial Director Kevin Hogan wrote about the waning need to define terms like “21st Century Skills” or “BYOD” (Bring Your Own Device) in the not-too-distant future. In the Editor's Note, he paraphrases a CDW-G survey which concludes that “77 percent of teachers are using more classroom technology today than just two years ago, including laptops/netbooks, smartphones, or whatever students may have with them.”
On July 27th, 2012, Derrick Kyriacou (@DCKyriacou), my long-time colleague, tweeted: “We keep trying to get our tchrs/kids ready for 21C tchng/learning when we're 12 yrs in. We're so beyond starting. #edchat #edreform #edtech”
These statements show a growing frustration over the snail's pace of change in our educational practices. Having embedded myself with a group of teachers in my district who embrace learning-centered technology, I can't say that I disagree. We are among several professionals who believe that these practices should be so commonplace one dozen years into a given century that the need to define these terms is quickly becoming obsolete.
But are we wrong?
Is the idea of a tech-focused learning environment universal or are some educators marching forward without looking over their shoulders to see if anyone is following?
Which teachers are hesitating and why? What professional development strategies work best and what (preferably free) tools are available to the teacher on the verge?
Neither hesitation nor fear should get in the way of learning. A quote from Karl Augustus Menninger reads, “Fears are educated into us, and can, if we wish, be educated out.”
When I taught a session of professional development in my district, I described this fear as being similar to watching your students in a race. They run the track that you have set them on according to your lesson plan. The goal may not be to outpace each other, but the objective is at the finish line of the day's activity. If the students are on foot, the pace is easily measured. If they are on horseback, the pace quickens, but not so much that a single teacher can't manage it. The introduction of new media techniques places the students in Formula One race cars. They may get to the intended goal much more quickly, but one sidestep or jerk of the wheel can cause a burning wreck that irreparably damages the lesson. Social networking sites have their share of hazards. Animated distractions, adult material, and instant messages between students plague most modern teachers' nightmares. No one denies this.
However, it's important to recognize that the fear of using technology in the classroom is only nearly as great as the potential benefits. Constructive professional development and an appropriate amount of lesson/unit planning is needed, but before that happens, you should take it upon yourself to do some research.
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Google Docs
One of the main resources I use in the classroom is the Google Docs suite. Google Docs is a collection of apps that mimic commonly known programs. Document is similar to any word processor. Presentation is a slide show creator. Spreadsheet is an Excel-like table and graph generator. What separates these apps from the Microsoft Office and Open Office programs is the entire justification for their use in the classroom. They are web based.
As long as a student has a Google account, either through Gmail or through a school account, their efforts on Google Docs are always saved, current, and password protected.
Have you every used a student's USB key to find that the document does not open on your computer? Every teacher has. The same thing happens with email attachments.
Has a student ever claimed that he or she completed an assignment and sent it to you? You don't have it in your inbox or on the USB key in your hand, but the student swears that it was done.
One of the main resources I use in the classroom is the Google Docs suite. Google Docs is a collection of apps that mimic commonly known programs. Document is similar to any word processor. Presentation is a slide show creator. Spreadsheet is an Excel-like table and graph generator. What separates these apps from the Microsoft Office and Open Office programs is the entire justification for their use in the classroom. They are web based.
As long as a student has a Google account, either through Gmail or through a school account, their efforts on Google Docs are always saved, current, and password protected.
Have you every used a student's USB key to find that the document does not open on your computer? Every teacher has. The same thing happens with email attachments.
Has a student ever claimed that he or she completed an assignment and sent it to you? You don't have it in your inbox or on the USB key in your hand, but the student swears that it was done.
With access to these apps, you can allow the student to sign on and resend their assignment. The answers to whether they finished their tasks or not are made clear in moments. These situations of ambiguity or document-incompatibility should no longer exist.
__________
Google Sites
My Language Arts website has a wealth of resources for students to access at all times. This site helps my students and their parents keep current on assignments and updates. I started it from a self-explanatory Google Sites template two years ago and built it up from there through trial and error.
__________
__________
Google Sites
My Language Arts website has a wealth of resources for students to access at all times. This site helps my students and their parents keep current on assignments and updates. I started it from a self-explanatory Google Sites template two years ago and built it up from there through trial and error.
__________
Diigo
The third free tool that I use is a web-annotator called Diigo. Using Diigo, students can bookmark, highlight, comment on web pages. All of the notes that they make are saved on their accounts, so they only need to log in and their whole body of work is accessible on any computer. Students then share their annotations with me so that I can assess critical reading or research-based assignments.
Collaboration is a major bonus when using Diigo. Students can comment on each other's notes and highlights, which is great when they are working in teams.
The teacher's first step is to set up a password protected educational account. Students create their usernames and passwords and apply to join a group that the teacher makes. If the student's username is not recognizable, do not accept them. Only people in the group can view and comment on each other's annotations. This adds a layer of security to the process.
__________
The third free tool that I use is a web-annotator called Diigo. Using Diigo, students can bookmark, highlight, comment on web pages. All of the notes that they make are saved on their accounts, so they only need to log in and their whole body of work is accessible on any computer. Students then share their annotations with me so that I can assess critical reading or research-based assignments.
Collaboration is a major bonus when using Diigo. Students can comment on each other's notes and highlights, which is great when they are working in teams.
The teacher's first step is to set up a password protected educational account. Students create their usernames and passwords and apply to join a group that the teacher makes. If the student's username is not recognizable, do not accept them. Only people in the group can view and comment on each other's annotations. This adds a layer of security to the process.
__________
This is just the start of what can be done with a wireless network and the will to take reasonable risks in the classroom. As with any new technique, planning and preparation is critical. There are many who know far more about educational technology than I do. Certainly there is someone in your building who can expand on what I wrote here.
Ask about your district's acceptable use policies and work with other teachers to infuse technology into daily classroom activities. Try to avoid making technology a "station" in your room and stay away from useless apps that do little more than distract or entertain.
Most importantly, don't be afraid to show that you haven't mastered some specific website. Teachers who show that they are willing to learn new ideas model the way we want students to embrace learning as a process.
There is resistance to every advance in technology. An amazing blog by Laurence Sanders, another innovative colleague of mine, researched how people once thought that the printing press and pencils were bad ideas.
If Kevin Hogan, Derrick Kyriacou, and I are wrong and terms like “21st Century Skills” and “BYOD” still need to be defined as though they are new, let them be listed alongside the terms new teachers need to learn like “student-centered instruction” and “project-based learning.”
Hopefully this conversation will become obsolete sooner rather than later. I'm not willing to wait another twelve years for our practices to catch up with the world around us. By then, we'll be too late.
There is resistance to every advance in technology. An amazing blog by Laurence Sanders, another innovative colleague of mine, researched how people once thought that the printing press and pencils were bad ideas.
If Kevin Hogan, Derrick Kyriacou, and I are wrong and terms like “21st Century Skills” and “BYOD” still need to be defined as though they are new, let them be listed alongside the terms new teachers need to learn like “student-centered instruction” and “project-based learning.”
Hopefully this conversation will become obsolete sooner rather than later. I'm not willing to wait another twelve years for our practices to catch up with the world around us. By then, we'll be too late.
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