Guiding Principles

I believe that my guiding principles for technology use in my classroom run from one end of the spectrum to the other. I use technology just because it is there when I allow my students to take accelerated reader tests. We do old things in old ways in my classroom when we use the internet to research “ask the expert” questions that we cannot answer through our own scientific investigations. I also use technology to do old things in new ways in my classroom when we watch news clips for current events to spark social studies discussions. Technology also creates new and different leaning experiences for my students by allowing them to learn in ways that are not available without technology.

Because I teach first grade and many of my students have little or no computer knowledge, I do find myself using technology for the sake of using technology at the beginning of the school year. I add reading literacy games and websites to keep students engaged and interested in learning how to use technology. Students log on and access pbskids.org etc. or take Accelerated Reading tests throughout the day. This serves as practice in reading literacy and allows practice in basic computer literacy. I welcome any ideas about how to practice computer literacy without using technology just to use technology. Teaching 21 first graders how to log on with passwords and navigate the web is not always easy!

In science, I have my students develop their own questions about the phenomena we are working with. From there, we decide which questions we can answer through our own investigating in our classroom. The questions we cannot answer by ourselves (non-investigable) we label “Ask the Expert” questions. We often utilize the web for these “Ask the Expert” questions. According to our reading, Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom, this would be doing old things in old ways. I would agree with that. However, sometimes the focus in science at early ages is designing your own investigation or some other basic scientific skill and the internet simply facilitates the learning of that basic skill. I feel that the expected learner outcome has a great deal to do with where the priority of technology usage falls.

We also use technology to do old things in new ways in my classroom. How very exciting to watch Punxsutawney Phil emerge from his hole LIVE! on the internet! as a hook for writing, history, math, etc. This is something that has more pull because of technology. Seeing something happen as it unfolds holds more power than simply reading about it in a weekly reader, newspaper, or book.

My favorite way, by far is to use technology to provide learning experiences for my students that would not be possible without its use. The most graphic example I can think of is when my students had their ideas and conceptions blown apart when we were working with Newton’s Laws. We cued up NSTA video of an astronaut in space. He would ask the students questions about what would happen when he... (dropped a hammer etc.) They would make predictions based on their experience. He would show them how things reacted without gravity. It was truly amazing to watch the students reshuffle their learning equilibrium to account for such a powerful visual impact. I know how I feel when scientific concepts are too much for me to wrap my brain around. That is how I felt about Newton’s Laws. I wish I had had technology at disposal earlier! My brain would have hurt less.

My guiding principles can be summed up fairly easily. The role technology plays in any given lesson depends on the expected learner outcome. If computer literacy is the goal, I use technology because it is there. If a more complex learner outcome is expected, I use technology to the best of my ability to facilitate student understanding.

Again, I am always open to learning a better way. If you see opportunities for me to better utilize technology in my teaching, PLEASE comment.