The goal of an intelligent Tech Integration Initiative is creation, not consumption...
As educators, we know that great pedagogical ideas can often be misinterpreted or executed poorly... The same is true for Technology Integration efforts in K12 education. As I learned from attending a national Ed Tech conference last year and from the troubling Pearson/iPad scandal in Los Angeles, many educators and corporations are using Ed Tech in frightening ways:
- to simply replace textbooks or paper
- to replace teacher-developed curriculum
- to keep students "entertained" and "calm"
- to standardize more (and more) of the educational experience
DIGITAL does not always equal BETTER
If
that's true, then what's the point of all this? Why give our kids devices and
go through the trouble of learning so many new skills? Two reasons:
1. Ed Tech provides students and teachers with
more tools for instruction and expression. Notice I said
"more." As a proponent for Universal Design for Learning, I believe that
everyone benefits when we provide a spectrum of modalities for teaching and
expressing knowledge. Our little $300 Chromebooks add the modalities of: music, animation, video, mindmapping, images, audio, graphic design...
2. Ed Tech allows us to bring connectivity
into our educational practice. The tools I mentioned above are great, but the
INTERNET is the real game-changer here. Ask yourself--how has the ability to
search for information online changed your life? How has your experience as a
LEARNER improved now that you have the Internet in your pocket? Connectivity is
reinventing education by:
Allowing students to work collaboratively and share perspectives
in new ways beyond the classroom.
Creating AUTHENTIC audiences for student work. Students can express what they have
learned with each other, not just the teacher. Students can share their work
with professionals in their field of interest or the whole world making student
work more important and meaningful.
Promoting Teacher Collaboration. Teachers can use social media to
collaborate and share best practices outside of their building or district. Twitter is
your friend.
Empowering students with information. The classroom and the library are
not the only repositories of knowledge anymore. Students can seek remediation
or go further with their learning on their own, at home, at their own pace.
Supporting more engaging, student-centered curriculum. Having the Internet allows
teachers to provide more INQUIRY-based learning experiences in which students
generate and answer their own real questions with guidance.
- Why is some learning
considered to be more important than other learning?
- What role does whiteness
play in these determinations?
- Why do we measure higher ed by
seat time instead of mastery?
- Why do we need to engage in
"traditional schooling" when learning opportunities
are becoming available to all for free?
- Do standardized test scores
really matter if students can easily demonstrate skills and share
authentic work products?
- Will degrees and Ivy Leagues
lose their power as information continues to decentralize?
Is it an iPhone? (Thanks to Bill Klaus for the idea)
Educational Technology is big and we cannot ignore it. Take it from educator and author Will Richardson:
"The biggest challenge facing schools is that the modern world amplifies our ability to learn in the classic sense, and increasingly renders the official, school based theory of learning pointless and oppressive. While our kids’ love of learning can flourish outside of school, it’s extinguished inside of school as we take away agency, passion, connection, audience, authenticity, and more." -- Will Richardson
If
that's true, then what's the point of all this? Why give our kids devices and
go through the trouble of learning so many new skills? Two reasons:
1. Ed Tech provides students and teachers with
more tools for instruction and expression. Notice I said
"more." As a proponent for Universal Design for Learning, I believe that
everyone benefits when we provide a spectrum of modalities for teaching and
expressing knowledge. Our little $300 Chromebooks add the modalities of: music, animation, video, mindmapping, images, audio, graphic design...
2. Ed Tech allows us to bring connectivity
into our educational practice. The tools I mentioned above are great, but the
INTERNET is the real game-changer here. Ask yourself--how has the ability to
search for information online changed your life? How has your experience as a
LEARNER improved now that you have the Internet in your pocket? Connectivity is
reinventing education by:
Allowing students to work collaboratively and share perspectives
in new ways beyond the classroom.
Creating AUTHENTIC audiences for student work. Students can express what they have
learned with each other, not just the teacher. Students can share their work
with professionals in their field of interest or the whole world making student
work more important and meaningful.
Promoting Teacher Collaboration. Teachers can use social media to
collaborate and share best practices outside of their building or district. Twitter is
your friend.
Empowering students with information. The classroom and the library are
not the only repositories of knowledge anymore. Students can seek remediation
or go further with their learning on their own, at home, at their own pace.
Supporting more engaging, student-centered curriculum. Having the Internet allows
teachers to provide more INQUIRY-based learning experiences in which students
generate and answer their own real questions with guidance.
I
believe that this CONNECTIVITY will eventually change Education in systemic
ways. Our students are learning All. The. Time. They are going to start
asking questions:
- Why is some learning
considered to be more important than other learning?
- What role does whiteness
play in these determinations?
- Why do we measure higher ed by
seat time instead of mastery?
- Why do we need to engage in
"traditional schooling" when learning opportunities
are becoming available to all for free?
- Do standardized test scores
really matter if students can easily demonstrate skills and share
authentic work products?
- Will degrees and Ivy Leagues lose their power as information continues to decentralize?
|
Is it an iPhone? (Thanks to Bill Klaus for the idea)
|
"The biggest challenge facing schools is that the modern world amplifies our ability to learn in the classic sense, and increasingly renders the official, school based theory of learning pointless and oppressive. While our kids’ love of learning can flourish outside of school, it’s extinguished inside of school as we take away agency, passion, connection, audience, authenticity, and more." -- Will Richardson
