Reading Review #3

My research experience and learning through this inquiry blogging world so far has been a positive one. I had never posted on a blog before but had read some blogs and would be redirected to blogs through certain websites. I enjoy the blogging platform and reading other people’s more personal accounts and opinions on topics (versus using very academic based and often dry, research articles). 
 

My topic of integrating technology successfully into primary classrooms had many hundreds of hits both through library search engines, google, Pinterest, and Youtube. I am a visual learner so I definitely preferred the sites that included pictures, video, graphs, and charts to the long and lengthy written articles where you have to spend a good amount of time reading to see if they have any relevant or interesting information on your topic. A skill set that I need to learn, as a TL and teacher, would be to learn to speed read or scan resources effectively. 

                                                            (image retrieved from Pinterest)

Of the resources and articles I found, I would recommend the following links below as the most relevant and interesting. I also wanted to have a variety of resources so I searched academic journals, websites, blogs, and videos. An additional article I came across since my last blog post (that was sent to me by a parent), I have included below because I found it very interesting. See link below.

Silicon Valley Billionaires remaking America's Schools

The article talks about how businesses are influencing what students learn, and how teachers teach — with millions of children serving as de facto beta testers for their ideas and new apps.

This same parent who sent me the article also attended a presentation by Amanda Lang at Crofton house in Vancouver, about innovative thinkers. She said it was really interesting and talked about encouraging kids (and adults) to be curious and ask questions. Or as we educators are calling it - Inquiry based thinking and learning! :)

I decided to google this Amanda Lang and found that she is a Canadian business journalist and I have also started following her on Twitter. I cannot find anything about her speech or info night at Crofton House but I will keep searching.

Here are the following links to resources I found useful:

A blog site called “Education to the Core.” Making Technology Meaningful in Primary

An article on the Edutopia website titled, “What is Successful Technology Integration?” Technology Integration Guide

An article by Nesta Publications, titled “Decoding Learning: The Proof, Promise, and Potential of Digital Education.” Decoding Learning

A section from the handbook by Voogt & Knezek (2008) titled “International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education.”
International Handbook for Technology Integration

A video from TEDx titled “Blending Technology with Classroom Learning”
TEDTalks

In the literature, my topic was discussed with success stories, data, new research, and technology models. The reason I selected these articles was because they offer different perspectives and various opinions, ideas, and research for successful implementation. It is key to create a safe and inclusive classroom environment where technology can seamlessly be incorporated into everyday lessons and learning. I explain each resource in more detail below.

                                                            (image created using Wordle)

In Emily Liscom’s blog she talks about her success with implementing technology, specifically Showbie, into her classroom. She mentions how it is our responsibility to prepare students to use technology as a tool – to use it to explore, create, and produce.” She teaches Kindergarten, and if she can prove 5 years olds can successfully document their learning and use technology as an assessment tool, then my Grade 2 class can too! Making Technology Meaningful in Primary

In the article found on Edutopia, “What is Successful Technology Integration?” it provides a good definition of what technology integration is. It also includes many other useful links. For example, it had a useful link to an article about which iPad apps can tie in with Bloom’s taxonomy of higher order thinking. I found this very useful. It has six categories for K-5 apps that help with remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.  
iPad Apps

Additionally, the Edutopia article presented two frameworks on technology integration. I liked the TPACK framework because it “attempts to identify the nature of knowledge required by teachers for technology integration in their teaching, while addressing the complex, multifaceted and situated nature of teacher knowledge.”
TPACK

Finally, it provided a link to “Integrating Technology with Limited Resources,” something I am currently struggling with in my own school. It provided ideas of how to use a stand alone desktop computer as a technology station where students can do various activities independently or in pairs rotating through a schedule.
Free Tech Integration Resources and Ideas

In the TEDx video, “Blending Technology with Classroom Learning,” Jessie Wolley-Wilson talks about intelligent adaptive learning and how some programs are designed to learn as the child learns to produce the next lessons to be taught. She mentions such programs as Dreambox, the same program from the article in the New York Times, that the parent emailed me earlier this week.

Blending Technology with Classroom Learning

In the publication, Decoding Learning (2012), they provide wonderful examples of how technology integration has been successful in schools and explain how and why it was successful. For instance, they give an example of students learning from experts, with others, through making, through exploring, through inquiry, through practicing, from assessment, and in and across settings. In my last blog post I gave an example from the Chapter “Learning through Making.” Today I will provide an example from the chapter titled “Learning through Inquiry.” It suggests that students can connect their inquiries to real world scenarios more easily with the use of technology and take part in critical debates by problem solving, thinking critically, and using organizational tools to help support their research (p.32).
Decoding Learning

I wanted to mention this quote again, even though I mentioned it in my last blog post. The quote is from the handbook titled, Information Technology for Primary and Secondary Education (2008). It stated that, “Education is no longer limited to taking place in one physical environment at a certain time during the day” (p. 30). We don’t need to be putting aside a block a week to teach technology. It should be seamlessly integrated in our day-to-day teaching and lessons. However, for me, this seems to be hard to implement, both because of the lack of individual technology devices available at our school, and limited time available for educators to find apps and online tools that will support their lessons. It is an overwhelming digital world out there! Yet, being able to use technology is seen as one of the core competencies in the twenty-first century (p. 32). This handbook is a little outdated, almost ten years old, but it still makes some valid points that I did investigate further since my last post.
Information Technology IT handbook

Here is what I found. It states that, “teachers’ use of IT is affected by will (attitudes towards IT), skill (IT competencies), and access to IT tools. A competent teacher is able to blend subject matter knowledge with appropriate pedagogy and IT knowledge and skills” (p. 37). I agree with this, as you are more likely to use something if you are interested in it, skilled, and have it readily available to use. This statement does leave me feeling unsure about where I stand in my competency. I am fairly good with technology, but not as confident as many other educators. Will I be able to blend subject matter seamlessly with pedagogy and IT skills? I don’t know. 

However, through my research and deeper exploration on my topic, the key learnings, findings, and takeaways have been to give something new a try, take a risk, and learn along side your students. You don’t have to be the expert all the time, your attempts may not be successful the first time, but you can learn from these technology tools and ways of incorporating them into your classroom by first giving them a try, then thinking critically and reflectively about the process and learning that took place for both you, as the educator, and your students. You will not lose by bringing technology into the classroom! Below are some I will try this year!

                                                              (image retrieved from Pinterest)

Bibliography

Blog

Liscom, Emily. “Making Technology Meaningful in Primary.” Education to the Core. May 12, 2015. https://educationtothecore.com/2015/05/making-technology-meaningful-in-primary/#respond

Video

TEDx Rainier. “Blending Technology and Classroom Learning.” Youtube, commentary by Jessie Wooley-Wilson, December 17, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOTEQVYDPpg

Websites

Edutopia. (2007, November 5). What is Successful Technology Integration?  Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/technology-integration-guide-description

Edutopia. (2011, October 25). K-5 iPad Apps According to Bloom’s Taxonomy. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/ipad-apps-elementary-blooms-taxonomy-diane-darrow

TPACK. (2012, September 24). Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge Explained. Retrieved from http://www.tpack.org/

Edutopia. (2010, August 11). Integrating Technology with Limited Resources. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/free-tech-integration-resources

Articles

Luckin, R. et al. (2012). Decoding Learning: The Proof, Promise, and Potential of Digital Education. Nesta Publishing, 15-43. Retrieved from
http://www.nesta.org.uk/publications/decoding-learning

Singer, N. (2017). The Silicon Valley Billionaires Remaking America’s Schools. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/technology/tech-billionaires-education-zuckerberg-facebook-hastings.html?smprod=nytcore-iphone&smid=nytcore-iphone-share

Voogt, J. & Knezek, G. (2008). International Handbook of Information Technology in Primary and Secondary Education. Springer, (20), 30-38, ISBN: 978-0-387-73315-9 Retrieved from: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-0-387-73315-9/page/1