Tech in the Time of COVID-19

It has been a while since I have blogged about anything tech related. You have undoubtedly been impacted in some shape or form by the COVID-19 pandemic and have had to make adjustments to your daily routine. If you are an educator it may mean cancellation of classes, suspension of in-class instruction or an entirely new delivery model.

Prior to the pandemic I read many articles about banning cell phones from schools, back to basics teaching that purposely excludes any form of digital technology and districts banning devices. Now that we are engaged in some form of social isolation online messaging, chats and video calls have become a life line for many.

With students and teachers at home technology has been the means by which teaching and learning is allowed to continue. Some district have implemented Zoom classes, other are Google centrist and others are Microsoft. Regardless of the platform the goal is the same…. maintain a sense of connection and allow communication to occur. The same apps that were vilified like Tik Tok and Instagram are now being used to send messages of hope and love to students, families and communities. Students that were not engaged in a traditional classroom are now finding their voice in an online world. Teachers are looking at content in a different way and focusing on what is needed rather than what is mandated.

When we look back at this experience we must remember the pivotal role technology played for the betterment of school, community and society. Technology is not inherently bad, distracting or harmful. Look at all the wonderful stories of hope that are being shared online and the way technology is pulling us together as we remain apart. Let’s remember how students that were once voiceless found theirs amidst the social restrictions. How can we come back better for this experience and utilize tech to its fullest potential? I for one am eager to see what our new normal looks like.

Is there such a thing as too much tech?

What could I possibly be thinking? This is a pro-tech in education blog so how could there possibly be too much tech? This is coming from the guy that has a bluetooth coffee mug.

The reality is students are so engaged with their cellphones that teachers are shying away from any form of tech integration for fear of encouraging off-task behaviour. Administrators are seeing a rise in online bullying through social media. Students are becoming sophisticated in their ability to hide their technology and their use of it during class. The easy solution is to ban it entirely…. right? Wrong!

The internet is not going away and neither are personal tech devices (didn’t say cellphones as I can see a day where those will be obsolete). The difficulty is despite the fact our current cohort of students have grown up with the internet and we are nearing a quarter century of the internet being part of the public consciousness we are still lacking behind in policy and thoughtful implementation. Consistency in practice between teachers is an important first step. If students receive mixed messages on use of technology in the classroom they will be at higher risk of being called out for misuse. Instead of recording homework in an agenda students are typing it into their calendars or their online note-taking platform of choice. Instead of writing down notes they are taking photos so they can review later (I recognize the research that says writing down information is an effective way to internalize and retain knowledge). These are very basic uses of personal tech… the shift will occur when tech complements the work being done in the classroom. When a students access to technology becomes integral to learning, only then will we see a decline in incidents of inappropriate use. Misuse will never go away but holding students accountable for their learning will become the focus rather than confiscating devices and wishing them away.

Social Media and the Education System

I am looking for your feedback as educators and internet users.  How do you handle Social Media from a school perspective?  I am particularly referring to students that abuse Social Media and create discipline situations that schools are then asked to deal with.  Much of what takes place happens outside of school time but the ramifications manifest in issues at school.  I have my own opinion on the level of responsibility schools should have but I am curious to hear your feedback.

Assessment for Learning using Tech

Assessment for learning (AFL) has been a long-standing practice in the field of education. Unfortunately it continues to be misunderstood and under utilized.  In our ever advancing technological age how can tech / online resources be used to assist educators in implementing AFL in their classrooms?  Here are a few links to sites that may spark some ideas:

Digital Technology Tools for Implementing Formative Assessment

5 Fantastic, Fast Formative Assessment Tools

Integrating Assessment and Instruction Using Technology and Performance Assessment

Smartphones: Is Resistance Futile?

Try going anywhere urban and see if you can find someone without a smartphone or connected device of some kind.  Virtually impossible in today’s wired(less) world.  This holds true for schools as well.  Both staff and student alike connected 24/7.  This holds both potential and pitfalls for our education system.

Student information systems have been a part of everyday life for school staff for well over 20 years now.  With this the presence of computers in the classroom has become a must.  Teachers are required to input attendance daily and marks on an ongoing basis.  Administrative staff use the system daily to adjust schedules, lookup demographic info, schedule courses, etc.  Our reliance on computers has taken hold in some classrooms with teachers adopting connected tech to engage students.

Fast forward to 2016 and smartphones are a reality in every classroom (to varying degrees depending on socio-economic circumstances).  What are we doing to harness the potential devices walking into our classrooms each and every day?  Is there a sign on the door claiming no phones allowed?  Is there a bucket at the front of the class where phones are deposited?  Are students encouraged to record homework using Evernote or OneNote?  Are apps like Remind being used to keep students on top of upcoming assignments?  Is Google translator being used to help students understand a new language?  Are videos being created to demo dissections in a biology class?

From my experience the reality is all of the above.  Yes there are still the classrooms where devices are taboo and must be kept out of site but there are those classrooms that fully utilize the potential of these powerful portable computers.  As an educator with a distinct bias towards use of technology to enhance both teaching and learning I cringe every time a device is handed to me after being confiscated.  Students have a responsibility to ensure they are being responsible in their use of smartphones by not texting or snapchatting during class but we as educators also must recognize that these devices are here to stay and we can either resist or realize the Borg were right all along.

Why am I changing??

Change is difficult at the best of times but technological change seems to be on a whole other level.  Educational practice is personal and perfected seemingly in isolation.  Feedback is available but typically in short supply.  With this professional isolation comes the development of a skill-set that has been tried and tested over time.  A comfort zone is established and an ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ mindset.  A set of tools are also established and a comfort zone with these tools soon follows.  Enter the technological revolution!

Change for the sake of change is never a good thing.  ‘What problem are we trying to solve?’ is a great question to ask.  The SAMR model, developed by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, looks at the evolution of technological integration in education.  Replacing one device for another device without significant change in practice or student engagement lacks meaning or purpose.  This is not to say the potential for change is not present but rather the comfort with one form of technology or one methodology is a strong force against change.  So how can we achieve change given this dynamic?  Peer collaboration and/or curricular change are the influences that can bring about meaningful pedagogical change.  Without the necessity the urgency will never exist.  Without peer support the buy-in will never be achieved.  Now I speak in absolutes but in general these ideas hold true.

Peer collaboration is, in my opinion, the single greatest vehicle for change that exists in our system. Working along side a colleague in the same discipline (or cross-discipline) is inspiring and rejuvenating.  One example that comes to mind is of a group of colleagues who worked on identifying the fundamental skills a student needs entering Science 8 and developed a series of activities to start the school year and provide this foundation.  Collaboration between these colleagues persisted the entire school year and the difference in the enthusiasm and ability of those grade 8 students was evident.  Another example is when I had the pleasure of collaborating on a project in Biology 12 with support from the University of British Columbia.  The project focused on what part of the curriculum and the students put together fine projects but it was the professional conversations and thinking through the various challenges associated with the project that led to meaningful understanding of my teaching practice.

Curricular change, as is slowly occurring in British Columbia, is another way to bring about fundamental change in a system.  Coupled with a reevaluation of what is important comes a reevaluation of assessment practices.  Asking yourself ‘why am I asking students to do this,’ or ‘what skill or concept am I assessing with this assignment,’ is key to any successful teaching practice.  If curricular outcomes drive pedagogy toward a student-centred approach with technology as its backbone then and only then will change not be an option.

Here we go….

It is wonderful to have a new school year begin with all the anticipation and anxiousness that comes with it.  Being in a school without staff and students makes you realize that schools are not bricks and mortar but rather the heart and soul of the staff and students that populate it.  It will be exciting to once again see the halls comes alive and see the wide-eyed optimism on the face of the students.  I wish everyone the best for the school year ahead and look forward to the challenges that await.

Tech Reflections for 2012

Well the world hasn’t come to an end so on goes the struggle to integrate technology into education.  2012 has seen the tablet take hold and firmly become the go-to device for many tech enthusiasts and casual tech users.  Schools are still struggling with less than ideal bandwidth and budgets still have little in the way of flexibility when it comes to tech spending.  But all is not lost as strides have been made to bring schools into the current tech revolution:

1. Wireless capability is slowly becoming a reality in most schools

2. Portable labs of laptops and ipads are more prevalent than in 2011

3. Social media is becoming a platform for communication and instruction in the classroom

4. BYOD is a reality – for better or for worse

5. Old tech like overheads and VCRs are being phased out and being replaced with Multimedia Projectors and CPUs

6. More projects are including a tech component, if not completely immersed in technology

7. Libraries are becoming Learning Commons and providing a venue for students to interact and synthesize information from a variety of sources

8. Professional development days are utilizing tech more and more with many schools opting to dedicate at least one day to technology integration

9. Educators are engaging in conversation through Twitter and developing networks across the globe

10. Educational resources and textbook companies are finally developing apps and publications that are cost-effective and easily integrated

We still have a long way to go to reach the level of tech integration students immerse themselves in on a daily basis, when not at school, but we are inching closer to parody.

iPads in Education: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

iPads in education is not a unique topic by any means.  Many have written about these wonder devices that will change the educational landscape forever.  In theory I agree wholeheartedly that iPads in the classroom can become a powerful learning enhancer and promoter of student engagement.  The practical integration of these devices in a classroom is another story entirely.  Having had experience with both laptops and iPads in my classroom I quickly realized what the potential advantages and disadvantages are for both devices.  My focus here is on the iPad but a future post will look at laptops in the same critical light.  Here are my impressions of iPads in education:

The Good:

Technology in general, for many schools, is still a novelty so student engagement dramatically increases as a result.  As I have stated in previous posts the more standard technology becomes in the classroom the less novel its use will be.  It is for this reason that sound pedagogy has and always will be the key to student engagement.  But on the novel side of things here are some definite advantages to using iPads:

1. Ease of use: The iPad is an intuitive device able to picked up and navigated by anyone.  For the classroom teacher this means minimal time being spent training students on how to use the device and more time being spent on the curricular advantages of having the iPads.  This also means that teachers can spend time focusing on a collection of apps they find useful and target instruction on the use of those apps and not the device as a whole.

2. No cords: Not being tied down to a desk or bench means free movement and increased collaboration.  A static computer lab is the antithesis of collaboration and discussion whereas the iPad in a standard classroom can be an individual or multi-user device with ease.

3. Network speed: Having tried laptops and iPads on the same network backbone the iPads clocked in at a faster connectivity, hands down.  Now this still might be painfully slow for dynamic instruction in the classroom, depending on your district network infrastructure, but it should be a more pleasant experience to a static desktop or laptop lab.  The reason of course is the proprietary nature of the iPad and the integration of the O/S with the apps.  Windows-based machines can come in so many different hardware and software configurations that seamless integration is much harder to achieve.

4. App Integration: The iPad allows for smooth integration between apps so creation of dynamic content becomes second-nature.  The ability to record a video, import it into iMovie, create a soundtrack in Garageband and export it into a Keynote presentation is amazingly easy.  The cutdown nature of these apps compared to the more robust desktop versions means the options are limited but the basics are easy to access.

5. Specific vs. General Apps: Many educators focus on looking for apps specific to their discipline but will sometimes ignore the power of using a generalized app.  As a science teacher I have looked at many of the specific science apps and some are good but most are mediocre.  I then turned to using apps like Dragon Dictation, iMovie, Toontastic, Keynote as a few examples.  These apps are not subject specific and depending on how you have embedded them into your lesson can be equally if not more powerful than a subject specific app.

6. Simple or Complex: Depending on your level of comfort the iPad can be used as a simple web-surfing device or a machine able to create rich, unique content.  This makes the iPad a wonderful entry-level to high-end user device.

The Bad:

It can’t be all sunshine and roses.  Here are some of the drawbacks to iPads in the classroom:

1. Proprietary: The seamless integration of apps on the iPad also means that getting content out of the iPad is really, really tricky.  There are ways to transfer content from the iPad to another computer but it takes a certain level of technical expertise and, more often than not, an iTunes account which then must be shared amongst multiple devices.

2. Single-User: The iPad was made to be a single-user device.  The very nature of the device is a personal tablet customized to meet the needs of a single-user.  This makes sharing a class set of iPads amongst an entire school cumbersome.  The difficulty becomes in partitioning content so it can’t be altered by other users.  A simple example are photos taken on the iPad.  There is currently no way to secure a bank of photos so only a single-user can access or delete them.  This means a student in another class can both access, use or alter your photos without difficulty.  There are ways around this, exporting to iPhoto being the ideal one, but this is not always a practical solution for a busy classroom with 30+ students.

3. Poor network infrastructure: Now this is not a fault of the iPad but rather a tragic reality for many schools.  A slow data pipeline into schools, coupled with the addition of new devices accessing an aging network means painfully slow login times and network speed.  The iPad can only do so much until it gets jammed on the same information highway as every other machine in the building.  Districts need to ensure the backbone of the network is sufficient enough to accommodate iPads, smartphones, laptops and other wireless devices logging in at peak times during the day.

4. Handing in Assignments: So a student has created a beautiful keynote presentation on Charles Darwin and wants to hand it in before the end of class… they run out of time and can’t hand it in to you until next class.  They come back and realize it is deleted.  Locking down content is difficult, if not currently impossible, to do on the iPad.  This means handing in assignments must be done immediately for fear of something terrible, like the scenario above, taking place.  All teachers must ensure they have an iTunes and e-mail ready to go for students to submit content.  Students will need to set up an e-mail account on the iPad before trying to e-mail content out to you.  The trick is making sure students delete their e-mail information before leaving the device otherwise their e-mail is now open for others to access.  This goes back to the single-user nature of the device.  If you are just using the iPads for the first time in your class and don’t realize this right away you may have quite a headache when students want to submit assignments at the end of class.

5. Security: This is true for any piece of equipment but making sure all devices are back and in working order before the end of class is a necessary evil.  One solution is to assign a specific iPad to each student, like a textbook, so you have a list to refer to should something go wrong.  Another helpful tip is to assign the job of collecting and sorting the iPads to one student in each class so you have another set of eyes to help you.

The Ugly:

1. Meaningful Integration: This is not really an ugly but as you use the iPads more and more in the classroom you will need to make the experience more and more meaningful.  There are only so many keynote or iMovie projects you can assign.  The ugly part becomes the time required to meaningfully reflect upon your practice and decide how iPads, or tech in general, can complement your teaching style.  This is ugly because it is not easy to critically look at yourself and it is even harder to do when someone else is doing the looking.  This is why provincial, district or school initiatives that call for the use of technology under the guise of some new groundbreaking educational reform will always fall on deaf ears.  The critical analysis has to be on an individual basis and has to come from a genuine desire to see how technology can be used to complement sound pedagogy.

I welcome your comments and feedback on this post.  If anyone has solutions for the problems posed in this post I welcome your willingness to share them.

Can Tech Integration be Top-Down?

21st Century Learning is all the rage in education these days.  Many people still haven’t a clue how to define 21st Century Learning including many of its proponents.  I see it as good practice that capitalizes on student interest and inherit willingness to adopt technology.  Student engagement is the underlying key of 21st Century Learning as it has been for countless other educational initiatives that have been introduced throughout the years.  Maria Montessori had as her basic foundation student engagement.  So the concept is not new but the packaging has changed.  Instead of wooden manipulatives we have plastic cases and glass screens.

Another aspect of this wave of educational reform around tech integration is the top-down nature of its implementation.  Ministries, school districts and schools are making the decision to go tech and teachers are being asked to come along for the ride.  Now many teachers are willingly if not enthusiastically embracing this change but many are hesitant if not reluctant to adjust their practice.  Students are a major factor in driving this technological bus as they come to school with any number of devices capable of complex calculations once only possible in large desktop machines.  The ease by which students obtain information and digest content makes the acquisition of factual information seemingly obsolete.  Teachers today recognize this paradigm shift and are making the appropriate adjustments to their practice.  This is no different from a surgeon learning a new surgical technique or a mechanic taking advantage of computer diagnostics to troubleshoot an engine problem.  Professionals are constantly revising and improving upon their practice… this is part and parcel of being a professional.

So does the need for educational change need to come from the grassroots or can it be a top-down initiative?  I propose that the reason 21st Century Learning has been met with such resistance is because of the way it has been introduced to educators.  It assumes the system is broken and that change is necessary for its continued survival and relevance.  Now let’s take the obvious budgetary problems public education faces these days out of this argument for a moment and only discuss the day-to-day practice of educating children.  How would you feel if you were told that you are not keeping up and that your ways are old and out-of-date and unless you embrace this new approach to teaching you will be left behind or potentially out of a job?  That was the approach, maybe not so blunt, that the Ministry of Education took when introducing their education plan for the province.  My first reaction to such a statement would be to put my back up and defend myself.  Whatever comes after a statement like this is irrelevant as you have already lost your audience.  Videos shown to teachers exclaiming the backward nature of today’s educational system serve the same purpose.  How can you encourage someone to change when you start the conversation in such a negative fashion?  Perhaps a more appreciative approach to educational reform is what is required.

Let’s start with the fact that the system is not broken and that teachers are doing an amazing job of educating today’s student with fewer resources and dwindling budgets.  Move on to the reality that technology is here to stay and is becoming an integral part of our lives.  Then ask the question how education can take advantage of this technological revolution and have both teaching and learning benefit.  The conversation has begun.  There is no greater joy for a teacher than to see students engaged in meaningful conversation related to something you have introduced.  Conversation is necessary and must be had in a genuine way to truly allow ideas to blossom.  The trick afterwards is to have the resources in place to take advantage of the ideas generated.

Technology integration, as with any educational initiative, can start as a top-down introduction but then must be quickly handed over to the grassroots so they can morph it and make it work within their practice.  It cannot be force-fed or mandated.  It must be encouraged and fostered.  Champions must be allowed to flourish and must be provided the resources (time, money, etc) to truly thrive.  A clear rationale must be given and backed up by respected professionals in the field.  A wholehearted attempt to truly embrace this change must be taken, including upgrading infrastructure, providing release time and resources.  Concrete examples of what this may look like in a classroom should be provided so that educators can see what their colleagues are doing and perhaps found a way to make it work in their own class.

Ask yourself this question… have you been asked to define 21st Century Learning from your perspective?  If not then we have a long way to go.