Successful Practices Reflection
Technology is persistent and continues to knock on every human’s door. As a teacher, the word ‘technology’ is in almost every conversation. In my district, you won’t find a classroom that does not have some form of technology, whether it is a classroom that has document camera, a SMART classroom with 6 SMARTboards, a class set of iPod touches, or an extra laptop. Technology should not be swept under the rug anymore. There are many successful practices to keep in mind when bringing technology into education.
With technology so prevalent in today’s education, there are many things to consider when implementing technology use in the classroom. First and foremost, the district must be on board with the implementation process including, administrators, teachers, and the IT department. There must be a solid infrastructure in order to handle all devices online at one time. The IT department must be able to handle the daily obstacles that the teachers and students may encounter during the learning process; otherwise the new and exciting technology lesson may be seen by some as a “flop.” There is nothing worse than getting excited to use technology in the classroom and finding out the internet is down or that the webpage has been restricted.
The district administration must have a clear AUP and/or RUP to keep all staff, parents, and students on the same page regarding what is acceptable and allowable during school hours. The teacher needs to set classroom expectations from the beginning and be consistent throughout the school year to ensure a smooth running classroom. There will always be a few discipline problems to take care of as students test the waters, but with the necessary procedures taken care of ahead of time, this will lesson as time goes on.
In addition to the logistics of setting up technology in the classroom, there are several other successful practices to consider. Many students, or digital natives, are used to going to school each day and sitting through a lecture from their teacher, or digital immigrant. Sara Potter stated in an article about BYOD in her high school, “Students get excited about a lesson just because computers are there” (Jones, 2016). With excitement comes engagement With the presence of technology in the classroom, many students are found to be more engaged and willing to listen when they have the ability to use technology as part of their lesson. It is seen as a reward to bring out their personal devices or school-provided devices.
As students use technology more for educational purposes, they become more digitally responsible at the same time. May students have only used the internet for browsing, playing games, or accessing social media. When they are introduced to the educational benefits and capabilities of technology, a whole new world opens up. Students soon realize that they can communicate and collaborate in ways that will help them learn and grow as individuals in a world full of technology.
With the use of technology in the classrooms, teachers and students will learn new ways to use technology. According to Pocketgamer.biz, there were, on average, 1,439 new apps (excluding games) submitted each day in January 2016. With this amount of new apps each day, there is always something to learn. Thinking about Google searches for a moment. The simple search of “BYOD classroom” resulted in 603,000 links in 0.7 seconds. This is far too many websites to access to find exactly what one might be looking for. A tool that teachers and students should really be using is something called RSS (Really Simple Syndication). This allows a search to be narrowed down to more current articles that relate directly to your search. The user would receive an email when something similar is published regarding the search. This would help with the overwhelming task of doing a research project in school and it would provide new and relevant information decreasing the amount of sources to sort through. There is so much to learn and explore, so why not make it easier for yourself and your students?
Implementing technology in schools should no longer be met with hesitations. The quicker we, as educators catch on, the sooner our students will be able to thrive in the world today with the help of technology. “Mobile learning is an exciting opportunity for educators, but in many ways we are just scratching the surface of all that can be achieved with it. With proper training, and time to explore these high-tech gadgets, teachers will soon be able make rapid strides with them, and be able to support and instruct the use of such devices in the classroom on a regular basis. Now is the time to act. Our digital natives are counting on us” (Wylie).
References
(2016, January). App store metrics. Retrieved from http://www.pocketgamer.biz/metrics/app-store/submissions/
Jones, J. (2016, January 27). BYOD could come to sixth grade. Retrieved from http://www.crowrivermedia.com/hutchinsonleader/news/local/byod-could-come-to-sixth-grade/article_83a21ae6-40d6-5ec7-aff5-0740fefb17cd.html
Wylie, J. (no date). Mobile learning technologies for 21st century classrooms. Retrieved from http://www.scholastic.com/browse/article.jsp?id=3754742