Why use Technology?

I wrote in my first post that when I was beginning my journey in education, I was hesitant to use technology and was a little bit scared when I was placed in a classroom where students were using technology for almost everything. I believe that many teachers echo this attitude. I like to joke that there are two types of teachers: ones who fully integrate technology (or do so whenever they can--my first classroom had no smartboard and I was doing a lot of long term planning to be able to reserve the iPad cart) and ones who are scared to.

When I was at ISTE last Saturday, there was a session on how to engage reluctant teachers to use technology. Therefore, I decided it would be perfect to include a post about that in the blog.

It's scary to use technology--you have to experiment with apps and find out what technology works for your students. There are so many apps and websites that you can't use them all. You find your favorites and easy to use for students and go with it. During my year student teaching, I thought it would be brilliant to have students use a new video recording app (Puppet Pals)to create a PSA about the government. Big mistake. This project was a semi-failure. The students created videos but the process could have been smoother. Thinking about this project which was part of an Understanding By Design government unit made me realize that I want to rewrite this unit.  I wish I had stuck with what I knew for such a big performance task. During my year teaching sixth grade, I stuck with using many of the apps that were simple for student use.

One of the groups' PSAs

While I agree that not everything students do in school should be done with technology, I do think it should be used frequently. I had my students blog but I also had them write in a journal I gave them at the beginning of the year. They made outlines and drafts for writing assignments on paper graphic organizers and then used Google Docs or other apps for final drafts. It's important to have a balance of both. My students were used to texting and using their devices for social purposes (it's the way kids are now), but I wanted them to know that they could use their devices for learning and sharing their work. I had them publishing haikus using Pic Collage, going to a blog post, choosing a story to listen to and then writing a response in a blog comment, publishing research projects connected to social studies using Thinglink and embedding their Google doc bibliography within the thinglink presentation. They also loved responding to a weekly blog post and then reading each others' answers.

Technology is a way to create a wider audience for the students' work and also allow students to collaborate. Is there any job these days that doesn't require some level of collaboration and technology use? Students get tired of paper assignments (I personally dislike worksheets and packets except when absolutely necessary) and using technology to have students create is a great way to engage students. You don't have to go all out to begin with, but trying one thing and experimenting with what apps and websites work for your students is a great way to start. 

Teach with tech.

-Elle