Technology Integration: Next steps

Our Middle School Division meeting of February 9 focused on the use of technology in the classroom. The faculty were divided into small working groups. Members were asked to share some new way in which they used technology with their classes; something they would not have been able to do prior to the 1:1/BYOD program. All were willing to share some new lesson or project and are clearly at various stages of their understanding of technology integration and how it informs their teaching practices and student learning outcomes.

Reflecting in a positive way about the information that was produced from the group with which I was involved is that all of the teachers from different grades and disciplines and varying comfort levels with the Chromebooks and GAFE were able to contribute something that they had done with this "all student" access to technology. The degree to which it changed the model of teaching and learning was minimal. One teacher noted that with the addition of CAD design and 3-D printing he was likely to have to re-design his curriculum and possibly even his approach to the way he teaches. This was a bright light among some other observations demonstrating that people are in very different places in understanding "technoloyg integeration" and what it means. Many are concerned that skills will be lost, that curriculum will not be covered thoroughly, or one even noted that the 1:1 environment makes the classroom more self-contained (Yikes!) Technology integration should indeed do the opposite.

Where do we go from here? How do we move teaching and learning along the continuum and help people think broadly about discovery, discussion and demonstration? Probably one of the best explanations of what technology integration is not can be found in the article "Activating Digital-Media-Global Literacies and Learning" by Heidi Hayes Jacobs from the Fall 2014 issue of Independent School. According to Jacobs, "having SMART Boards, tablets, smartphones, and high-tech media centers does not make a school a 21st century learning environment. One-to-one laptop programs do not necessarily mean that students are engaged in relevant and timely content. Cherry picking apps to include in a given assignment, if not connected to a larger vision of what a 21st century school should be, can become a distraction, a teaching diversion, an obstacle to change" (p.62).

What then does this transformation look like? How are the concerns for loss of skills instruction or curriculum addressed in this new model? Is it possible? According to Janet Hale and Mike Fisher as cited in the Jacobs article, there needs to be a commitment to formally make transformations in curriculum and teaching. Hale and Fisher as noted by Jacobs suggest "possible entry levels to assist teachers with replacing dated practices with contemporary approaches starting wth the instructional plan for a unit of study or a series of lessons  focusing on digital, media and global literacies " (p.66)  Project based learning can be the key to integrating the three literacies and also can be most useful when creating new curriculum. In project based learning the technology use has a clear purpose supports these literacies and allows the student to demostrate new understanding and new knowledge creation.  

How do we plan five or ten years along if we haven't brought our technology rich schools up to the present? We can start by asking ourselves this question, "What is it we want our students to know and be able to do in the years to come?" (Jacobs, p.68)

AAJJacobs, Heidi Hayes "Activating DIGITAL-MEDIA-GLOBAL LITERACIES & LEARNING." Independent School 74.1 (2014): 60-68. Academic Search Elite. Web. 18 Feb. 2016.