Technology is beckoning at the door of your classroom, let it in. I am returning to school to improve technology integration in my classroom because I believe that all students need to have access to learning in the digital world. There are still a handful of teachers who avoid technology due to lack of understanding or interest. That has never been my style. I agree with Richardson (2010) that for the sake of student learning, teachers should embrace technology and use it to transform their practice. Teachers and students are both more effective when they learn to implement technologies (Richardson, 2012). I believe teachers need the opportunity and the time to learn how to bring about change in this ever-changing world. Through my most recent class at Walden University, I have read research on pedagogy relating to digital tools and had the chance to practice using them as a learner.
Technology equals change. At first, technology seemed confined to industry, then it took over retail, and permeated almost every form of entertainment. Now it is finally revolutionizing the classroom. I have always viewed technology as an important resource in my classroom. Students use technology for research and presentations, as well as typing of their final copy for writing. As the teacher, I use technology to gather data and present information to my students. After taking this class to better understand the impact technology can have on the learning process, I realize that technology use must be even more constant than in my classroom. Tucker (2014) found that with Web 2.0 students “are engaged in collective learning by helping, supporting, and encouraging each other as they work on problems and seek new forms of knowledge” (p. 169). I want to create a classroom culture that celebrates curiosity and collaboration and where students are developing technology skills while learning curricular content.
Teachers should not think What are some ways my students use technology in this unit? Instead, they should consider How can students use technology throughout the learning process? Technology can help to make the world a better place by allowing students to work on authentic problems locally or globally while creating artifacts for an authentic audience that also demonstrate their learning. Students can use technology to collaborate with each other and with people around the world. What students learn is no longer limited by classroom resources.
This year, my third-grade students will write and post to a blog regularly and will have a class Twitter account for microblogging. One of the greatest benefits of blogging is critical thinking. Vance (2015) found that blogging promotes the development of “critical reading and thinking skills as a result of giving and receiving feedback in an authentic writing situation” (p. 2). To provide a consistent audience of peers for feedback, we will be blogging with a group of three other classes from outside our area. Communication, an important skill for 21st-century learners, is another great reason to blog. According to the International Society for Technology in Education (2016), students should be able to communicate well using a variety of digital media to advance their learning. It is also important, according to Richardson (2015) that students have exposure to a steady stream of ideas from others. On Twitter, we can get information regularly from NatGeoKids, NASA, author Kevin Henkes, Defined STEM, and a wide variety of others. Additionally, students can reach out to expert, pose questions, post their work, and inspire kindness. Blogging is a tool that enables students to have an audience beyond their teacher (Richardson, 2015). Producing work for others engages students in the learning process. Through blogging and Twitter, I can show students how to connect safely and communicate effectively online, meeting the International Society for Technology in Education Standards for Teachers (2008).
The only roadblock I anticipate in implementing blogging and a class Twitter account is parents who may have concerns about internet safety. Parents will have the choice to have their student blog under a pseudonym if they prefer them not to be identified by name. I prefer that students are not recognizable in photographs, but some parents may not want their child’s image shown at all on social media. We can comply without compromising the important benefits of being on the Web. I do not anticipate any parents refusing to allow their student to blog, but this is possible, and may only be temporary. In this case, I would request the parent to share the child’s writing directly with several family and friends and share the feedback with the child. I do not foresee any insurmountable problems implementing the two programs.
The next technology step I would like to implement is to have my students begin creating wikis by February. Wikis, websites that are editable, are beneficial because they are designed to promote collaboration. They also help children to develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills.
For the 2019-2020 school year, I expect to continue with Twitter, blogging, and wikis. I also plan to add social bookmarking to our repertoire of technology skills that fall. Social bookmarking services like Delicious and Diigo offer a group discussion feature and the ability to share resource links. Social bookmarking would allow asynchronous collaboration with students from our blogging partner classes across the United States on topics of shared interest. Bookmarking also improves digital citizenship by having students collect and organize their resources, (Richardson, 2015) as well as give credit to their sources.
Homework is becoming a hot-button issue I would like to investigate further. Some schools (Kirk Elementary, 2018) are abandoning traditional homework and promoting family time and book talks. Custom and common sense tell us homework is effective, but new research shows that it can be detrimental. Research by Viljarana et al. (2018) shows the more mothers help with homework, the more difficulty students have in staying on a difficult task in class. I do not want to continue assigning homework if it work may compromise student self-reliance in school. I would like to investigate what role technology can play in students doing effective work at home, collaborating with classmates instead of getting help from mothers. If homework is assigned, it must always be meaningful to that child.
Taking classes regarding technology has given me the opportunity to make major changes in my classroom. As new digital tools become available, I will continue to evolve in my role as a facilitator of learning, not the focal point. I am looking forward to improved technology integration to meet students’ widely varying needs, to spark their curiosity, and to extend the walls of our classroom infinitely.
I'm excited to enjoy the journey!
References
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2008). Standards for teachers. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers
International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). (2016). Standards for students. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students-2016
Kirk Elementary (2018) Top 10 things you need to know #2: Ditch that homework. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/Bm2DYX6lPFQ/
Richardson, W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other powerful web tools for classrooms (3rd ed.) [Kindle Edition]. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.
Richardson, W. (2012). Why school?: How education must change when learning and information are everywhere [Kindle Edition]. New York, NY: TED Conferences, LLC.
Richardson, W. (2015). From master teacher to master learner. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Tucker, S. Y. (2014). Transforming pedagogies: Integrating 21st-century skills and Web 2.0 technology. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 15(1), 166–173. Retrieved from the Walden Library databases.
Vance, N. (2015). Web 2.0 in the schools. Web 2.0 in the Schools - Research Starters Education, 1–6. Retrieved from Walden Library Databases.
Viljaranta, J., Silinskas, G., Lerkkanen, M., Hirvonen, R., Pakarinen, E., Poikkeus, A., & Nurmi, J. (2018). Maternal homework assistance and children's task-persistent behavior in elementary school. Learning and Instruction, 5654-63. doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.04.005
