Week 2: Technology in schools

You would think as an educator passionate about technology, who is also a student studying a Masters of ICT in Education, I would be advocating the introduction of technology into all areas of the curriculum, for all ages. However, this is not the case. When I first read Prensky's 'Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants' (Prensky, 2001) earlier in my studies, I could not help but disagree with some of his assertions. In particular, Prensky's idea that today's students "have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, video games, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age" (Prensky, 2001, p. 1), does not ring true with my experience as a teacher.

I remember teaching a Year 3 class a few years ago. Whenever I asked the students to grab a computer, one of my students hid under the desk and started crying. I had to start warning her early each day if we were going to use computers and promise to help her, to avert her hysteria. At home, this student did not have access to any technology at all. While she was the only student to have a panic attack at the prospect of using computers, she was not the only one from a technology-free home. A digital native? I don't think so.

The following year I moved to Year 4 where, for the first time, students were provided with their own laptop. You would think, as digital natives, this would be exciting, yet fairly straight-forward for the students. Definitely exciting, however, not straight-forward. It took all the patience I could muster to get them to all log on correctly. As stated by Smith, Skrbis and Western (2013), "[a]s scholars increasingly critique the Digital Native myth, a key lesson is that young people do not speak the digital language until, like preceding generations, they learn how to do so" (p. 115).

I have found that using technology in the classroom provides added interest and motivation for students to learn. I have also found that it provides students with more opportunities to avoid learning. The ability to switch between programs and Internet browser tabs takes nearly no time at all, and so using technology in the classroom brings with it a whole gamut of additional considerations for the teacher.

Given that today's students are not necessarily digital natives (Bennet, Maton & Kervin, 2008) (Smith, Skribis & Western, 2013), it is therefore not necessary to completely change our curriculum and way of teaching (Kennedy, Judd, Dalgarno, & Waycott, 2010).  If the use of technology improves educational outcomes? Of course. If not? Well, there might be a better way.

References:

Bennett, S., Maton, K., & Kervin, L. (2008). The 'digital natives' debate: A critical review of the evidence. British Journal of Educational Technology, 39(5), 775-786. 

Kennedy, G., Judd, T., Dalgarno, B., & Waycott, J. (2010). Beyond natives and immigrants: exploring types of net generation students. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 26(5), 332-343. 

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital natives, digital immigrants. On the Horizon, 9(5), 1–2.

Smith, J., Skrbis, Z., & Western, M. (2013). Beneath the ‘Digital Native’ myth Understanding young Australians’ online time use. Journal of Sociology, 49(1), 97-118. 

Week 1: Podcast and Video Reflection

The podcast and video both resonated with me in more than one way. Firstly, I agree wholeheartedly with Antony Funnell when he said early in the podcast that " in short, technology doesn't educate people, people educate people" (Davies, 2012). As a primary classroom teacher, I definitely do not want to hand over the reins of education to a device. I love teaching too much for that.

However, as a passionate user and believer in technology, I am still not going to use it in my classroom unless it achieves better learning outcomes for my students than more traditional methods. This opinion is seconded by Greg Whitby, who stated that "if we just focus on the technology we'll miss the main game, which is the learning and a contemporary learning in today's world".

When Punya Mishra talked about the 'Technocentric Frame', where technology is placed front and centre in education, and everything magically works around it. Technology cannot be the centre. Students and student learning must always be at the centre of our pedagogy (Mishra, 2013).

Another quote from Punya Mishra that resonated with me was that "only repurposing makes technology an educational technology" (Mishra, 2013). This is so true! There is so much technology out there that has not been designed specifically for education. However, creative educators are using all kinds of technology to improve student outcomes. As teachers have become trailblazers in this area, some technology has embraced education and adjusted to suit educators. Many Web.2 technologies have added or included 'edu' features to cater to the education market. This has helped educators enormously.

My takeaway? Start with the curriculum and the students. Then add the technology layer.

References:

Davies, A. (2012, August 19). 21st Century Education. Future Tense [Audio Podcast]. A. Funnell, ABC Radio National (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). Retrieved from https://abcmedia.akamaized.net/rn/podcast/2012/08/fte_20120819_1130.mp3

Mishra, P. [Clases24H]. (2013, May 30). Punya Mishra Keynote Speaker @ 21st Century Learning Conference Hong Kong 2012 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/4TtBubdpzxE

Welcome to my blog!

Hello fellow ESC515-ers, and welcome to my blog.

I work at a K-12 Anglican school in Brisbane. I am currently teaching Year 4 three days each week, and on the remaining two days I am the STEM Coordinator for the Primary Campus. This is my seventh out of eight subjects for my Masters of ICT in Education. I can nearly see the light at the end of the tunnel...

Technology has become a passion of mine. I like using it, teaching with it, and teaching others to use and create with it. The problem with technology, however, is that it is always changing, so I always have something to learn. This year I have explored using and teaching a variety of technologies:

• I have been learning to code using the LEGO Mindstorm robots. My Year 5/6 Robotics and Coding Club entered the Qld State RoboCup Jr competition for the first time this year. None of the teams placed in their divisions, however, we all learned a lot.
  
• I have taught coding using Minecraft Education Edition for the first time this year. The students LOVE it, however, it requires quite a lot of managing as it is so popular.
  
• My Year 6 students experimented with a green screen and Photoshop this year. There was a lot of laughter in the room as students placed images of themselves in all sorts of interesting scenarios!
  
• My school has recently let me purchase a humanoid robot. This is my next challenge - learning how to code it. 
  

For many teachers, using technology in the classroom is akin to teaching a different language - one they don't know! Some of my colleagues were actually terrified when the new Digital Technologies Curriculum was introduced. This is where I come in. I decided that a passion for technology in education, and for digital technologies in particular, was where I wanted to head in my teaching career. I was also interested in further study, so decided to combine the two. The key for me is the difference between using technology for the sake of it or using technology to authentically improve learning and teaching. I'm hoping this subject will help me achieve the latter.

Good luck everyone!

Laurie