Final Grad Class Blog Post: Technology Integration

What is Technology Integration?

"Technology is not taught as a separate class, but integrated into the classroom. 

It also means that students use technology to learn content 

and show their understand of content, 

not just their expertise with a tool."

 -Mary Beth Hertz

          I agree with Mary Beth Hertz given her blog post about technology integration. I like how she includes that for students to be successful, they must understand the tool they are using or else the tool is what is being learned and shown, instead of the concept that the digital tool is trying to communicate. I thought about this after reading a peer review of my webquest. The editor asked if I had given any thought to the difficulty of the task. What I didn't portray in my webquest is that the digital story I was asking my students to complete had been done before. My goal is for students to be extremely familiar with the tool so that the learning is focused around the topic of addition and subtraction of fractions and not around the creation of a digital story. The digital story is just a way to express said knowledge. 

http://bit.ly/THe5Uk

Integration of Technology 

http://bit.ly/1hN9uuI

     In Angela Maiers post titled, "12 Most Genius Questions in the World", I was fixated on question number six. This question states, "What is possible?" The reason it is important for teachers to integrate technology into their lessons is that it raises the level of what students can learn and what they can produce. It gives new possibilities to what students can accomplish. Many say that some of our students will be doing jobs that are not even invented yet. We need to raise digital literate learners so they have the tools to be successful in those future jobs. I have also seen the personal benefits of using digital tools in the classroom with students as young as kindergarten. I have seen iPad apps assist students in learning their letters and sounds. I have also seen videos instill grammar concepts in fourth graders in ways they understand and retain. 

Barriers

http://bit.ly/1oKYgHy

      When thinking about technology integration, two main barriers come to mind. The first being access. I think schools need to prioritize their funding so they get more digital tools into the classroom. This includes smartboards, ipads, laptops, etc. Although it isn't impossible, it is hard to use web 2.0 tools when you only have six computers and a class full of students. 

The second barrier is professional development. In Marc Prensky's post labeled, "Shaping Tech for the Classroom", he says that schools are famous for resisting change. I think in some sense this is very true. However, at the same time, there are many teachers who would love to learn new ways of teaching, but aren't given the appropriate professional development to follow through. I know personally, I had to be very proactive to learn the digital tools in my classroom. I had to ask fellow colleagues for help when my smartboard was giving me trouble and I met with the technology integration teacher over April vacation to learn how to use my smart clickers. I also had to seek out the IT guy in our building when I was having trouble troubleshooting a particular program that the entire fourth grade was using for a project.     

Web 2.0

     I have learned about some great Web 2.0 tools that I will use in my future instruction. I have made a bulleted list of them below. I believe using these tools and technology in all curriculum will allow me to engage my students more and allow for better retention of the information being taught. 

• Animoto Digital Stories
• Weebly Webquest
• Voki
• Tagxedo
• Easel.ly
• Google Drive

WebQuest: Addition & Subtraction of Fractions

I made a webquest to explore addition and subtraction of fractions with unlike denominators. It also explores finding equivalent fractions. This webquest will be done only after the students have had time to explore digital stories. 

Fraction Webquest

"What Kind of Place Should School Be?" (Technology Integration)

With the use of technology, teachers, 

"act as a learning catalyst, orchestrating and facilitating activities that spark 

defining moments for students". 

(Blair, 2012)        


*Brainstorming Ideas*

When I first started this assignment, I wasn't sure what to write about. Technology is such a broad, growing topic in today's society. I started by researching online and came across a Ted Talk given by Greg Toppo, a educational researcher/reporter who has previously taught in both public and private schools. I thought his Ted Talk was interesting because his premise was that he would make you think about technology differently...and he did just that. He showed that technology isn't just iPads and computers, it's also the development of simpler things such as classroom slates (white boards). 

(Still Shot from Presentation)

He also stated that animals have been using technology far longer than we have. This is seen with ants carrying leaves down into their colonies to grow fungus on to eat or a monkey using a stick to get hard to reach bugs. 

Although this seems like a deviation from the original topic, it's not... 

My point is, for all those teacher out there who are afraid of technology, you are already using it! It's in the pencil you hold and the copies you make. Yes, technology in the 21st century is more advanced than a pencil, but we can only continue to develop tools/ideas in our society, by showing a willingness to try new things. Personally, although I tend to get easily frustrated with new technology, I still enjoy learning about it and using it in my classroom. I also can quickly see the impact technology has in my personal day-to-day life given my digital footprint below. 

http://www.easel.ly/

*Current Technology Use*

http://bit.ly/1flPokD

http://bit.ly/QvL2S5

        When thinking about my classroom, I see technology playing a pivotal role in the future. Already in my classroom I use classroom laptops and the SMARTboard daily. The students use the laptops for educational games and for Kidspiration, a tool that helps them outline a writing assignment and then with a click of a button, it turns the outline into a word document. This tool has been very helpful with the development of their NH Animal Research Project. I use the SMARTboard and the document camera to help show visuals while teaching. The SMARTboard is a great tool because it also allows students to use manipulatives of all shapes and sizes. I also use it to show videos that focus on key concepts we are learning....just ask my kids about Reading Streets; Grammar Jammers or the video I showed last week of a climber rappelling after reading a story about a little boy who liked to rock climb, but found himself in a tricky situation. As a class, we are currently using the computer/SMARTboard to create a song about literary elements to the tune of "Happy" by Pharrell. We are submitting the video to the local film festival.  

*Future Integration*

http://bit.ly/1mvBFwE

There is an article I read in Edutopia about technology integration. It said one of the key ideas is to make the technology in your classroom, "routine and transparent" ("Successful technology", 2007). I like the thought of that. Clearly with any new activity, you have to teach the children proper use and how to navigate, but I like the idea of technology enhancing the learning not distracting the student FROM the learning. The article then went on to discuss the use of project and game based activities, using student response systems, web-based projects, podcasts, google docs and Wikis, and social media to enhance learning through the use of technology ("Successful technology", 2007). I could see myself in the future using more podcasts with my struggling writers who have great thoughts, just get stuck on the mechanics of writing. I could also see myself using google docs as a group brainstorm that leads to quicker, more efficient conversations. If every child is expected to post, then the quiet children who usually don't raise their hand will still have a voice, and the child who doesn't quite understand will be able to look at other student's thoughts for ideas. As stated in a previous post, I am also working with an IT person over April Vacation to further develop my knowledge of student response systems (clickers) and how to use them in the classroom. Given the age range of my student, I do not see them using social media at this point for their learning. I do see the benefits of including social media as students get older. It's one way to get information out and be readily available to answer questions asked by students and parents, but surprisingly and thankfully my students haven't discovered Facebook yet!


*4-Cs*

Now, looking ahead as a teacher who is expected to tech to the Common Core and not only getting students "college and career ready", but also preparing students for the future and jobs that don't even exist yet, I will try to focus my instruction around the "Four C's" that were discussed in an article on the NAESP website (Blair, 2012). 

CRITICAL THINKING

CREATIVITY

COMMUNICATION

COLLABORATION

        

References:

Blair, N. (2012, January 1). Technology integration for the new 21st century learner .NAESP; National Association of Elementary School Principals. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.naesp.org/principal-januaryfebruary-2012-technology/technology-integration-new-21st-century-learner.

Toppo, Greg. (2012, November 21). A different way to think about technology in education. April 20, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D17P3kqB3_0.

What is successful technology integration?. (2007, November). Edutopia. Retrieved April 20, 2014, from http://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-guide-description.
**Since been updated