This week’s reading spurs considerable thought regarding the use of technology in the classroom, whether that classroom is remote or in person. From the perspective of a more experienced teacher, there may be hesitancy in implementing a technology rich classroom, for many reasons. Teachers should work to overcome their hesitation for the benefit of their students. Using the technology tools available to you can increase student collaboration and teamwork in real world/work like situations. Technology can help move assignments to be more student centered, and put them more in charge of their learning. It allows immediate access to a depth and range of information, images, etc. not otherwise accessible. Assignments will naturally be more cross curricular, which has been a goal of educators for decades. Multimedia assignments will also address multiple intelligences/learning styles. Students may find school more relevant, motivating and interesting. Publishing or posting work to the web suddenly means the teacher is no longer students only audience, hopefully improving the quality of work and ideas. Utilizing technology in the classroom will increase students’ competency with technology and help prepare them for the skills that will be used in the workplace.
There are certainly some issues to consider throughout your development and implementation of lessons using technology. Teachers need to learn not only to use technology appropriately for their instruction, but to evaluate student’s work as well. One of my biggest pet peeves as a teacher and union leader was a lack of quality professional development, including the time to collaborate with colleagues and to practice what you learned without having to risk unveiling it in front of students untested. Professional development needs to move in the same direction – allowing teachers to collaborate and to choose their path for learning. It needs to be more relevant to what they do every day in the classroom – and what they WANT to do. When designing and creating lessons, educators must be ever conscious of the digital divide, and how students’ access might impact their ability to do their work. There are a number of things regarding student access lesson designers need to consider, including whether or not a high-speed connection is available, and what types of devices students have at their disposal. Design principals should always be followed as much as possible to help maximize student learning. ADA compliance guidelines should also be followed. Making sure your hyperlinks are text within a sentence to support screen readers, choosing a sans serif font, using the same font throughout, and making sure all text is searchable are all steps creators should take to ensure compliance. These will help not only students with disabilities, but other students who might struggle, such as English Language Learners. Of course, lessons can always be updated and improved easily when using technology.
While many of these rules and principals come naturally to many, teachers not only need to keep them in mind, but need to use them to evaluate and improve lessons continuously.
Eric Minore MALDT 