Managing distractive technologies 2 of 2
Sunday, July 18, 2010 at 05:59AM I've been asked to write an article on classroom management related to technology. The editor writes:
This topic is interesting because I hear so many teacher say they don’t want to use technology in the classroom because their “kids can’t handle it” or the “students would be uncontrollable.” I think it would be good to give some reluctant educators some tips so they feel more comfortable diving in.
Here's the deal. I have a pretty good general feeling for the topic, but I would love to gather some "front line" comments, advice, strategies and experiences from my readers, the real experts. I will fully credit your input. Remember the audience is the beginner and reluctant user!
I'll be doing this in two parts. Link to first. Here's the second.
4. Enhance traditional educational practices.
In The Digital Backpack, Karen Greenwood Henke describes ten technologies that are entering the classroom by way of our student's backpack. For each devices, Henke describes its common, intened use, but then goes on to list it's "learning" uses. For example:
CELL PHONE
Common Use:
Call & text-message friends
Learning Use:
• Jot down reminders, due dates, and notes with alarms
• Share ideas and drafts
• Poll groups of students (locally and geographically dispersed)
• Access assignments in visual, text, or audio formats
• Practice speeches using the stopwatch
• Photograph research documents that can’t leave the library
No technology, no device is inherently educational or recreational. It's all in how that device is used. And savvy teachers will figure out how to change "distraction" to "focus" - and use students' personal technologies to improve teaching and learning.
One very simple way to begin thinking about how individual classroom technologies can stop being distracting and start being engaging is to start with common classroom practices and adding a technology “upgrade.” Nearly any common teaching strategy or practice can be enhanced by the judicious use of technology. For example:
Lectures can be supplemented by polling students with cell phone response systems such as Poll Everywhere. Other teachers record their lessons, post them to a video streaming/downloading site, and allow students to view them multiple times on their phones, PDAs or laptops. Some teachers allow students to record their lectures and instructions for later review.
Worksheets/study guides that may have previously been distributed as paper can be moved to electronic "forms," using tools like GoogleDoc's forms or downloaded in template formats. Completed work can be saved online or moved to a teacher's drop box, cutting down on printing costs and simplifying the "paper chase."
Learning games in physical form have long been an educational mainstay (Spell Down, anyone?) Educational games accessible via mobile devices run the gamut from "flash card" reviews to sophisticated online worlds. Manipulatives have made a successful transition from cardboard and wood to digital formats, especially on touchscreen devices.
Assigned textbook readings can be supplemented or supplanted by more lively writings accessed online.
The written expository paper is no longer the only format through which students can share their understanding of a subject. Videos, audio recordings and multimedia presentations created by "distractive" devices allow students to display multiple talents and are more likely to ask for creativity (and are less subject to plagiarism.
The key any of these "technology-enhanced" activities is that there is a genuine benefit gained by adding a technology component. A criticism may be that this type of use is simply maintaining the traditional model of education, but if the traditional model can be made more engaging, more interactive, I don't see a problem.
5. Use the technology to restructure the educational process.
To the disappointment of many progressive educators, technology in the classroom had not been the transformative agent they had hoped for. But the increased amounts and kinds of technologies available to students in the classroom may spur the kinds of changes needed for schools to prepare students for academic, career and civic success.
The ISTE NETS Standards can certainly be addressed using student technologies in the classroom, including:
Inquiry-based, problem-solving is enabled by student's abilities to access information sources from within the classroom. While younger students may be given small "everyday" problems to research, older students may independently or in groups work on genuine problems and questions related to a subject. One possible classroom structure would be to allocate a small percentage of class time to set out a problem(s), a large percent to do research on the problems, and the remainder of the class to report and discuss findings. Individual students can be designated as a "Google Jockey" to research questions that come up during class discussions.
The ability to do inquiry using primary sources can be facilitated by student devices. Taking polls, conducting/recording interviews and taking photographs are all good uses of those "problematic" cell phones.
The provision of materials electronically allows for true differentiated instruction, even individualization. Using the results of formative tests, teachers can give students access to learning materials to meet specific learning styles (visual, auditory, verbal) and to meet specific learning tasks. Students needing remediation in a math concept, for example, can complete an online tutorial/practice during class. Special needs students have long had their particular needs met through adaptive/adoptive technologies. The question we might ask is if not all children can be considered "special" needs?
Accessing social/collaborative online workspaces is possible when enough students can get to wikis, blogs and other websites like Buzzword or GoogleDocs that allow for sharing and joint creation of work. My experience is that collaborative work helps keep kids on task - there is a certain degree of peer-pressure brought to bear on slackers. Collaborative activities do not require that a 1:1 device to student ratio be in place - one laptop per team is often better than one per student.
Whole-class collaborative efforts can be enhanced with the use of group editing tools like GoogleDocs or Wall Wisher that are then projected for the entire class to view.
Online collaborative tools enable the "conversation" to continue past class time - at home, in study halls, anywhere that students have access to an Internet connection. Such communication vehicles have shown to "bring out" the comments of shy students. And publication for an audience of peers raises many students' level of concern about the quality of their work.
Interaction with students from other countries and cultures is possible with communication technologies like Skype, chat and e-mail. "Keypals" have long been a staple of creating global communities of learners with students sharing observations and perspectives of issues from different cultural standpoints. The Flat Classroom project is a popular and powerful effort to expand this connectivity using a variety of classroom technology tools.
Let's face it, personal communication and computing devices are here to stay. "The horse is out of the barn." and trying now to close the door is futile. Instead of trying to get the horse back in the barn, smart educators will be figuring out how to saddle and ride the it. An increasing number of educators are writing about and sharing practical strategies for using technology productively in the classroom. Seek out those specific projects and application and turn those "distractive" technologies into technologies that make your classroom more effective.
Henke, Karen Greenwood "The Digital Backpack," Threshold, Fall 2005 <http://www.ciconline.org/thresholdfall05>
Image: http://www.canby.k12.or.us/News/740.html
Reader Comments (7)
Good stuff Doug. Our Powers that Be are hammering on differentiation, so that's something I bring up when working with teachers. I get the eye roll sometimes, but at least they're getting ideas on what it looks like.
As a teacher, I find cell phones in my classroom distracting. At the K-6 level, these devices aren't even allowed in the building. After reading your article, I can now see how cell phones, especially smart phones, can be used constructively in the classroom. Thanks for the insight.
Doug,
Many blog platforms, Word Press for one, allow for voice posts directly from cell phones. Think of all the classroom applications!
One way we've used cell phones is in our economic class during a trading unit. We construct a mock futures pit and have customers around the world call in orders to our students using their phones. Sans phones this wouldn't work to well. We use IM as well.
Here's the video: http://www.vimeo.com/3513666
Good article, Doug. That "the technology is too distracting" argument always gets me. What, you think w/o technology kids are always 100% engaged in your class? It's just more obvious when they're not engaged if they're actively texting as opposed to staring blankly into space! It is part of the job as instructors to monitor students, and that's no less true with technology. Get out from behind your desk and walk around the classroom!
grin--probably not something to use in your article. Just an observation!
Hi Nathan,
Yeah, I think it is easier to advocate for "differentiated instruction" than to actually pull it off. I wonder if the trainers who teach people how to differentiate actually do it themselves during the training???
Doug
Good to know, Ernie. Thanks.
(I use a $10 cellphone and a pre-paid plan. When I am lucky, it makes telephone calls.)
Doug
Thanks, Charlie. Great example that may well end up in the final piece.
BTW, the kids in the video weren't all sitting in desks looking straight ahead. What's up with that?
Doug
Hi Jeri,
I think the "get up and walk around" is a great piece of advice if I can figure out how to say it in a nice way!
Doug
"The question we might ask is if not all children can be considered "special" needs?" I am a special education teacher who creates individual education plans for students who have been identified as having a learning disability. One of my tasks is to suggest the accommodations classroom teachers need to make so that a student can do his or her best. Sometimes some teachers feel that when I am asking them to make the accommodations the specific student needs,I am asking them to do something extra, but that is really not the case. In most instances, I'm asking the teacher to use good teaching practices. Your question might be rephrased to read " do not all children need to be taught using good teaching practices." Some kids are independent learners and can learn on their own and can seem to learn despite what a teacher does or doesn't do, but students who are not independent learners need good teaching practices. Fortunately most teachers recognize this.