You are a teacher. You want your students 30 students to research a topic and write a critical essay in response. Here are your options:
- Take students up to the library to use a laptop cart. Half of the computers work and none of them connect to the Internet because there is no wireless connection. There are 6 desktop computers available with Internet connections. You may only use the library on Tuesday and Thursday and may have to share the space on those days.
- Take students to the computer lab where you will share an unfinished wall with another middle school class. No one may speak above a whisper because the sound reverberates off the 20-foot ceiling and carries into the adjoining room. Students from the other class throw pencils, paper balls, and erasers over the wall at your students. At least 4-5 students must share a computer because some computers are missing a keyboard, mouse, video cable, or other essential device.
- Rotate students a day at a time on the 2 computers (including your own laptop) in your classroom with Internet, taking 15 days to let every student have one day to do research, then work on paper to write their essay.
- Print and copy 5 articles on 2-3 pre-selected topics, let students choose one, and have students write their essays with paper and pen.
Each of these options has a unique set of pros and cons. As the teacher, you must choose between having the freedom and autonomy of your classroom and providing a more authentic learning experience. Furthermore, you must choose between being able to focus on student learning and having to focus on logistics and scheduling. There is no optimal choice.
It’s not about the tools?
It’s not about the tools?
Recent public rhetoric pins teachers as a bunch of luddites, who are either completely technologically illiterate or simply too lazy to incorporate technology into their classrooms. This might be true for 10-15 percent of teachers who are already burned out, but the majority of teachers I meet are eager to incorporate anything into their classrooms that will make learning exciting and relevant for their students.
However, many teachers either don’t use or have stopped using technology in their classrooms because of some of the challenges I listed above (and others), which is why I become not-so-quietly enraged when I hear people say, “It’s not about tools,” or “You don’t need gadgets to teach students 21st century skills.”
How many of you are reading this blog on a “gadget” (phone, tablet, laptop, desktop)? How many of you found this post through a social media outlet (Facebook or Twitter) using said gadget? And how many of you had this blog handed to you in hard copy or delivered via carrier pigeon/Pony Express/United States Postal Service?
Still think tools don’t matter?
In order for education to be relevant, students must learn the skills they will be expected to have in today’s world, which include, but are not limited to: navigating and leveraging social media; creating and sharing multimedia content; writing for a specific audience and utilizing feedback from that audience; and presenting and analyzing data and information in a variety of formats.
In order for students to become proficient in these skills, which are mostly web or computer-based, they must have consistent access to technology. You cannot give teachers 19th century resources and expect them to provide a 21st century education.
But Can’t You Just…
Let Kids Use Their Cell Phones:
However, many teachers either don’t use or have stopped using technology in their classrooms because of some of the challenges I listed above (and others), which is why I become not-so-quietly enraged when I hear people say, “It’s not about tools,” or “You don’t need gadgets to teach students 21st century skills.”
How many of you are reading this blog on a “gadget” (phone, tablet, laptop, desktop)? How many of you found this post through a social media outlet (Facebook or Twitter) using said gadget? And how many of you had this blog handed to you in hard copy or delivered via carrier pigeon/Pony Express/United States Postal Service?
Still think tools don’t matter?
- How do you encourage students to write blogs without giving them regular access to a computer and/or popular blogging sites (most are blocked with web-filters)?
- How do you create a video without recording equipment or editing software?
- How do you share that video on YouTube? Or post it your own website?
- How do you design your own website without a computer?
- How do you record a podcast without an audio recorder? How do you post that podcast to the web?
- How do you learn to leverage social media outlets appropriately and effectively?
- How do you create professional digital presentations or visually represent data without access to PowerPoint, Excel, Prezi, or other data visualization tools?
In order for education to be relevant, students must learn the skills they will be expected to have in today’s world, which include, but are not limited to: navigating and leveraging social media; creating and sharing multimedia content; writing for a specific audience and utilizing feedback from that audience; and presenting and analyzing data and information in a variety of formats.
In order for students to become proficient in these skills, which are mostly web or computer-based, they must have consistent access to technology. You cannot give teachers 19th century resources and expect them to provide a 21st century education.
But Can’t You Just…
Let Kids Use Their Cell Phones:
- This is in direct violation of the district policy. Until the policy changes (we’re working on it), this could get me and/or my students in trouble.
- Not every child has his/her own phone, so this is limiting – and they especially do not all have smartphones. I teach in a school where 91 percent of students are living under the poverty line. Smartphones are not the norm.
- Have you ever tried to type an essay on your phone? Sure, it could be done – but why should my students have to do that when other students have real computers?
- Crowd-funding sites like Donors Choose are great for things under $500, like maybe a class set of headphones or a couple of mobile cameras, but they won’t work for huge infrastructural technology like 1:1 laptops/iPads.
- People don’t always put their money where their mouths are. Last year, I tried and failed to raise enough money to buy a class set of iPads in order to have a 1:1 paperless classroom. I got two donations, despite lots of encouraging words.
- It’s a LOT of extra work for teachers – there’s paperwork, maintaining the site, thank you packages, etc. I’m not saying this is totally unreasonable, but again, why should some teachers be required to jump through all these hoops while others are provided with resources directly from their schools?
Scenario Revisited
Let’s imagine the same scenario from above in a classroom with 1:1 (one laptop/iPad per student) technology:
Scenario: You are a teacher. You want your students 30 students to research a topic and write a critical essay in response.
In which classroom can the teacher focus on student learning, rather than juggling logistics?
In which classroom are students practicing skills that mimic the demands of a professional environment?
In which classroom are students learning to collaborate with their peers?
In which classroom are students using social media networks to establish themselves globally?
Tools first. Training second.
Of course, training teachers to use technology effectively is essential. If we’re talking about transforming learning, we must transform teaching, as well. Some teachers are tech-savvy enough to seamlessly integrate technology into their classrooms, but many will need training and support.
The necessity of training and supporting teachers to have a technologically integrated classroom should not be an excuse for not buying technology. It’s much easier to train teachers to use technology they do have than it is to encourage them to use technology they don’t have. This is not the place for thought experiments.
I’ll share a delightful anecdote illustrating this chicken-or-egg dilemma. A friend of mine is a principal at a public school in Baltimore. The majority of his staff is comprised of “old school” teachers. When he told them he wanted to outfit every classroom with a SmartBoard, they bemoaned the loss of chalkboard space. They asked if they could tape process charts on them, instead. In light of their disdain for the new technology, the principal could have said, “Well, shucks, I guess I’ll just buy more chart paper and markers, then...”
He bought the SmartBoards.
A year later, every one of those teachers uses her SmartBoard daily and can’t imagine how she ever taught without one. To his credit, that same principal also recognized the necessity of providing training and support to use the new technology. He even contracted a group of local high school students to visit weekly to help the teachers build their own websites and help them navigate other technology resources.
In Conclusion
Let’s imagine the same scenario from above in a classroom with 1:1 (one laptop/iPad per student) technology:
Scenario: You are a teacher. You want your students 30 students to research a topic and write a critical essay in response.
- You email students the assignment or post it to the class website
- Students pull out their device and begin researching a topic that interests them
- They utilize content curating apps like Evernote to help organize their research
- They use collaborative word-processing apps like Google Docs so you can provide real time feedback on their writing process or direct them to additional resources
- Students post their essays to a class blog or their own website where their classmates can comment on their work, providing increased validation.
- Students use social media to develop a professional learning network aligned with their interests and professional aspirations and promote their work using these outlets.
In which classroom can the teacher focus on student learning, rather than juggling logistics?
In which classroom are students practicing skills that mimic the demands of a professional environment?
In which classroom are students learning to collaborate with their peers?
In which classroom are students using social media networks to establish themselves globally?
Tools first. Training second.
Of course, training teachers to use technology effectively is essential. If we’re talking about transforming learning, we must transform teaching, as well. Some teachers are tech-savvy enough to seamlessly integrate technology into their classrooms, but many will need training and support.
The necessity of training and supporting teachers to have a technologically integrated classroom should not be an excuse for not buying technology. It’s much easier to train teachers to use technology they do have than it is to encourage them to use technology they don’t have. This is not the place for thought experiments.
I’ll share a delightful anecdote illustrating this chicken-or-egg dilemma. A friend of mine is a principal at a public school in Baltimore. The majority of his staff is comprised of “old school” teachers. When he told them he wanted to outfit every classroom with a SmartBoard, they bemoaned the loss of chalkboard space. They asked if they could tape process charts on them, instead. In light of their disdain for the new technology, the principal could have said, “Well, shucks, I guess I’ll just buy more chart paper and markers, then...”
He bought the SmartBoards.
A year later, every one of those teachers uses her SmartBoard daily and can’t imagine how she ever taught without one. To his credit, that same principal also recognized the necessity of providing training and support to use the new technology. He even contracted a group of local high school students to visit weekly to help the teachers build their own websites and help them navigate other technology resources.
In Conclusion
- We cannot expect teachers to use technology to which they do not have access.
- Teachers cannot lead students to use technology to which they do not have access.
- If you want teachers to create 21st century learning environments, give them 21st century tools. Literally.
