Leveraging technology to empower learning in your classroom can be compared to the story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. On one side of the coin technology is empowering, helpful, and upstanding. However on the other side, it turns against you and becomes evil. All joking aside, I think the purposeful use of technology is NECESSARY in the classroom. Purposeful technology allows students to dive deeper into the curriculum, learn more about themselves, while also educating the educator about student strengths and weaknesses. Some teachers might say, “well I can get students to dive deeper into the curriculum in others ways.” I do not necessarily disagree. However, there are a few things I have learned about my students and ways I have empowered learners in my classroom, only through providing purposeful technology instruction for my students.
1. Teaches students to work through difficult times and problem solve. Students live in the microwave era. If something does not come to them instantly, they become frustrated. There are times in my class where it will take a student five minutes to load a webpage, then they get behind, and worried about meeting a deadline. For a student or two, the class period will end in tears. I hate to see any child upset, but these tears are necessary for growth. Students NEED to learn to work through problems and find answers. It is one thing to solve a scientifically proposed problem, and another to work through a curve ball thrown at you in life. When students solve their problem, and “conquer” the technology, they feel a new sense of worth and accomplishment. This is one of those “freebie” lessons I tell my students I won’t charge them for. What better way to build a foundation for problem solving in life, than in the safety of the classroom?
2. Educates Educators. There are times I think I have my students all figured out. I know what makes them tick. I know their strengths and weaknesses and even what they like to do on the weekends, but put a piece of technology in their hand and they become a different person. I have seen my lowest performing students create the most amazing projects. I have seen students who suffer from a severe speech impediment, create beautiful Voice Threads and iMovies. I have see the “lazy student” who does nothing, step up to the plate and lead a group of fellow students through a collaborative technology project. I have also seen the confident AIG student who excels in all classes, crash and burn because they are thrown something new.
I don’t know what the proper formula for technology use should look like in your classroom or school. However, I do encourage you to try new things. There are so many benefits for taking technology risks in the classroom. Yes, it might end up looking a lot like Mr. Hyde, but learn from the experience and let your students teach you how to turn the experience into a Dr. Jekyll.
Love the Jekyell and Hyde analogy. Very well written post, Erin.
Amneris
Erin, this post is very cool! I love the transformation of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde! Do you think that transformation is what happens when we are waiting for connectivity…or when we think we’ve saved something on a thumb drive only to find out something has gone “corrupt”…or when our computer crashes and we have all of our National Board entries saved and aren’t sure if we’ve backed our files up to include the latest revisions.
My Jekyll and Hyde moments happen in those scenarios but I know there are several others that bring us into the “?!?!?!?!?” moments.
Your insights about making sure to mind the gap will be something that I keep in mind as well when I’m writing curriculum. When I was reading through the document that’s on our Moodle for writing lesson plans I thought about how difficult it is to put yourself in another person’s shoes. Mind the Gap…it’s a make it stick comment that I’m going to use!