Thing #21: Emerging Technologies

First Steps

We are truly fortunate to live in an age when technology is so prevalent in our lives. Being able to access most resources online is amazing, especially when physical distance might be a limiting factor. However, this connectedness can also be viewed as a curse. Oftentimes, I feel overwhelmed when I begin researching a topic or reading articles and blogs. I’ll log on simply to read one article, and before I know it, I’ve spent two hours reading related articles, but still haven’t found the information I originally looking for.

With that being said, there are a number of extremely high quality and useful resources at our disposal. Blogging and vlogging have become essential in the field of education. Even things like podcasts are becoming more common in many classroom. Throughout this course, I’ve read many articles and blogs related to education. While there are many resources that I have discovered and fallen in love with, recently I have found podcasts to be very helpful, as I can listen while I’m walking around my town or commuting to and from work. One great resource to find audio files related to education is Bam! Radio Network. I really like how organized this website is, and how easy it is to find interviews or presentations on a wide-range of topics.  Since I’ve been very interested in flipped classrooms, I decided to visit the Flipped Learning Radio part of their page, where I found an interview about cultural differences in the flipped classroom. The title of the program I listened to was “The Cultural Factors that Impact Flipped Learning.” One of the main reasons I was intrigued by this recording was the fact that one of the speakers was an ESL teacher.

There were many ideas that jumped out at me while I was listening to this episode. Being and ESL teacher in France, I am constantly thinking about diversity and multi-multiculturalism in my classroom. I appreciated that culture responsiveness was addressed, as well as finding ways of being inclusive. One best strategy that I learned about from listening to this episode was thinking about the cultural factors, specifically with flipping, based on culture and physical location. Once you buy into that, they’ll buy into you. Not only buying into different cultures, but finding ways of honoring it.

In thinking about ways of being culturally responsive and appropriate when flipping classrooms, we are finding ways of both transforming and enhancing learning. When thinking about the SAMR model, I think that being culturally responsive when flipping addresses ways of augmenting learning with technology (enhancing learning) as well as modifying various tasks (transforming learning).

Emerging Technologies

There are so many amazing things happening in both education and technology, and especially educational technology. I don’t think that we could have imagined all of the different ways of implementing technology into our daily instruction. It seems like each time we blink, there are changes or advancements being made in technology. So many great articles have been written discussing the role of technology in education, as well as thinking ahead. One such article was published by SpeakUp’s Project Tomorrow. The article is titled Digital Learning 24/7: Understanding Technology–Enhanced Learning in the Lives of Today’s Students.

Within this article are some key ideas that we as educators need to be considering. Among the most interesting, even surprising to me were:

• Blended learning environments hold great promise for the future: While I know that blended learning has been being used at institutions of higher education for quite some time, I was slightly surprised to see the impact that it could have at lower levels. This got me to thinking about ways that I could create a blended learning environment in my current role.
• Every student should be able to use a mobile device during the school day for learning: For me, this was both shocking and not shocking. It makes sense that we should be meeting students where they are, and today we are living in a technologically connected society. However, in France, where I am currently teaching, cell phones and personal electronic devices have actually been banned from schools and institutions of education.
• Students connect the use of technology tools within learning to the development of college, career, and citizenship skills that will empower future capabilities: Students recognize the connection between technology and their futures, so it is only appropriate that schools and teachers do the same. In order to prepare students for the future, we must be incorporating technology into our best practices.

Now, thinking about the future of technology, it is not a science to determine what the future is going to look like. Rather, we must look at trends and use data to help us make informed decisions. One tool that we as educators can use is the NMC Horizon Report 2015 K-12 Education. This report is extremely thoughtful and detailed in how it presents information. They not only introduce new technologies, but provide a projected timeline for implementation in the classroom. There is essentially a 5-year plan outlined regarding advancements in technology. One thing that I had to keep in mind while reading this report is that it is based on data from the United States, and therefore might not be a relevant to me in my current role and situation. I know that many of the devices outlined for the future already exist (at least to a certain level). For example, Bring Your Own Devices (BYOD), Makerspaces, 3D Printing, and Wearable Technology.

In thinking about my students and their futures, I believe that technology will continue to play en extremely important role in their lives and their success. I know that my students are becoming more and more connected with technology, but it seems that some students are beginning to lose the ability to interact in face-to-face situations. I believe that we are going to continue seeing technology becoming more and more integrated in our daily lives.

In thinking about which of these emerging technologies I would love to implement with my students, I would first choose BYOD, because I think that it is the most feasible at this time. Of course, I need to overcome many obstacles with administration, but I believe that this is a battle worth fighting for the sake of my students.

Hour of Code

Coding is something that has always intrigued me, unfortunately, I have never found the opportunity to try it myself. I had no idea that there were resources available for both teacher and students to try coding. Hour of Code activities through Code.org is an excellent way to dabble with coding. For my hands-on experience I decided to try a coding activity related to a unit I use with my students: The Civil Rights Movement. One of the activities that is linked to the social studies standards is to design a flag based on what you know about the March on Washington. At its base, I found this activity to be intriguing. However, once I began doing it, I realized that the activity was more about coding and less about demonstrating an understanding of the March on Washington. If I were working in a school which had technology standards, I would not see any problem doing this activity with my students. However, in my current capacity, I do not think that I would be able to justify dedicating class time to this activity. In the end, it was a fun activity, but I do not believe that my understanding of the March on Washington is represented in my flag (see below).

While I found it interesting to learn about coding, I did not understand why I needed to add multiple shapes (rectangles and circles) to my flag. I think that it would have been more beneficial to use images from the March on Washington and perhaps a text box with key words or phrases.

ISTE and CITW 9 Standards:

1. Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity: Being able to integrate and essential skill like coding into a lesson is an excellent way of teaching students valuable, real life skills. I believe that coding activities will truly engage tech-savvy students, as well as opening their eyes about future opportunities.
2. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: Again, coding is a very practical skill. I like that website like code.org provide students with the opportunity to try this skill in a variety of contexts, as coding continues to be an essential skill.
3. Assigning Homework and Practice: Providing students with the opportunity to demonstrate understanding or mastery of a concept or skill using coding is an excellent way to encourage creative thinking and expression.
4. Model Digital Age Work and Learning: Thinking about how to integrate the newest technologies into our classrooms and lessons is essential in preparing students who are ready to enter the real world.