A Cheeky Look At How Tech Affects Education

I've read several posts on the ways tech is changing education.  Here are a few:

• 3 ways technology has changed education : access, boundaries, communication
• 4 ways technology has changed K-12 education : collaboration, research, remote learning, prep
• 5 ways technology has changed education : sharing, apps, SM
• 6 ways tech changes education : MOOCs, practical skills over soft skills
• 7 ways teaching has changed : emerging literacies, mobile tech, constant connectivity

And the list goes on.

I like how posts like these all take a different bent on the effect of tech on education.  Some look at higher learning; some look at devices; most include some part of what's commonly referred to as 21st Century skills (communication, collaboration, critical thinking, creativity).  But all have a bird's eye, sitting in a comfy armchair, chin scratching and wearing a smoking jacket kind of view.  What about the educator in the trenches?  What has really changed day to day?

Not every teacher has gone "1 to 1", or done a Skype Chat, or got their students blogging. And collaboration and communication have been pillars of an educator's classroom for decades. (Remember Cooperative Learning?)

So here are my own four ways in which technology has changed education for me.

So many techniques, so little time
Educators have always felt constantly exposed to new educational techniques. Tech however has put our exposure into overdrive. Flipping, BYOT/BYOD, Project-based Learning, Inquiry: they all come at you quick, fast and in a hurry. You can Teach Like a Pirate. You can Lead From Within.  Even if you are not looking for it, someone will share with you over some kind of social media something new that they are working on.

This can be great.  Never before has the world been so small as to be able to build on ideas from around the globe.  Never has sharing been so easy--a tweet, a blog, an update away.  But without a modicum of restraint, it can be like drinking from a fire hose.  The new ideas can come so rapid-fire that there is no depth to the learning.  Patience is a virtue in this situation--a patient look at all the possibilities and patience with oneself.  There is no law against slow implementation, nor restraint.

Collaboration over sleep

If you've ever found yourself in an educational conversation with a complete stranger that extended into the wee hours of the night then you are not alone.  In fact, whether it is on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, or an Edmodo community, these kinds of conversations are commonplace.  Is this you?  You are up in the middle of the night and you grab your phone.  You open up twitter and see that Australia or some other country you could "dig to" is having a chat on something you've been thinking about.  You introduce yourself, and despite the possibility of getting a pillow thrown at you by your partner, you begin to wax on about student voice or digital citizenship.

True: the level of connectivity we have in this day is amazing.  But once again, boundaries need to be in place.  I do believe that the global connections we make are meaningful.  And it is wonderful to collaborate beyond the brick and mortar walls we find ourselves in day after day.  But mantras like: "Family over Facebook" or "Buds over blogs" are crucial to keep.  Next time a late night twitter chat catches your eye, you might want to put your phone down and catch some Zzzzs.  You know you're going to need them.

Digital dependency deepens
It used to be that your tech success was based on how old the overhead bulb was.  Now you need lab time, internet access, wifi, and multiplatform apps.  The success of your spirit assembly rests on the downloading of a certain 50 Cent YouTube video.  Your Air needs to Play; your Google needs to Play.  And perish the thought if someone contracts a virus or your school Wi-Fi is overloaded with Ultimate Fail Video downloads.  Now you have students sent to your class asking for your dongle.  And then they tell you its not the right one.

I'm not too sure a way around this one.  It seems once you leave the land of paper, you're stepping into a tech powder keg.  My tendency is to ride the wave.  Here we need a lot of grace.  Sometimes you just don't have the Prezi reader that the student needs for their presentation; sometimes the internet is down.  Try to be ready with a backup.  But don't get so down if things aren't as smooth as you like them to be.  There will just be those messy days. Typically the students don't mind a little mess here and there.

Differentiation desire
Teachers are now asking the question: how can I use technology to tailor my students' learning experiences.  Whether it comes from within or without, there is a sense that tech can help in the tailoring process.  Now you would never promote a "teaching machine" but you might ask yourself: how can tech in a way clone my efforts? How can it do what I don't have time to do?

EdTech is big business.  And there are a lot of companies out there that would be glad to help you leverage tech for your students' learning.  I would suggest doing your research before you start spending the PAC money, though.  Utilizing tech to aid in the learning process is great.  But even after you get into something, at some point take a step back.  Ask yourself:
- is the tech really helping? or is it creating more problems?
- is the learning genuine? or does it poorly generalize to other situations?
- does it support the connection with the teacher? or does it diminish the relationship with the teacher?
You might find the tech produces amazing results.  Or you might find that it is doing more harm than good.

In the movie Napoleon Dynamite, Kip loved technology.  But he loved Lafawnduh more.  If only we could keep our classroom priorities as straight as Kip's.  I leave you with his moving love ballad.

Inking: The Undiscovered Country

I have a dream.  A tech-agogy dream. (Just made that one up.  It sounds like it could be the name of a Japanese internet café, but I'm considering it "a technology implementation that betters my pedagogy").  The dream isn't flashy.  But it is something I have longed for.

Recently, I went back and read some of my first blog posts.  I did that because I had been losing my blogging focus and I always make it a practice to start from the top and read over my work whenever I get stuck or off track.  The other reason is that I love taking a peek back to where I've been.  I do this both professionally and personally.  It is like time travelling.  I get to re-experience what fears, hopes, dreams, desires, prayers I had back then, and then get to celebrate where things have gone since.

Here is a dream I blogged on Feb. 20th, 2013 -- a year and a half ago -- in a post called: If I were a kid in my own class:

First Block: Math - Here is where paperless society meets UDL. 

I scan the QR code my teacher has on the wall as I walk into the class.  It gets me to the learning intention for the day: Adding mixed numbers.  I read the teaching notes and slip on my headphones.  There are two Youtube videos my teacher wanted me to view before I "play" with the manipulatives sitting on the table.  The teacher texts me saying that it is now time for a mini lesson at the front.  Anyone who doesn't get the lesson comes up.  I figure I know what I am doing so I start demonstrating 2 1/2 plus 3 4/6 with pattern blocks.  I take a picture of my answer.  I use the pattern blocks to try a few more questions.  I check with a student at my table if I am doing it right.  She figures I get it.  I watch her and it seems like she gets it too.  My teacher comes by and I show my pictures.  I get the nod and I move from manipulatives to models.  I "open in" the PDF set of questions in PDF Max Pro and start inking my answers with my stylus.  The teaching notes say I don't have to answer the questions by drawing just pattern block shapes.  I can use whatever shapes that I feel work.  I figure I'll draw pizza slices.  Next, I have to add mixed numbers without pictures.  There is a link for a video but after watching it, I still don't get it.  I put my name on a cue list for some help.  While I try another question, my teacher comes by: "You wanted some help?"  "Yah."  I get my questions answered and I continue on with the practice.  When I am done, I upload the PDF to the hand in box in my teacher's virtual classroom.  The teaching notes tell me which IXL sections are for homework and I work on a few questions before the bell rings for Nut. Break.

At the time all this was but a dream--a brainstorm of possibilities.  Since then, I have gotten a chance to see some of my dream come to fruition.  I have been using Edmodo to streamline workflow (I share about it here).  This allows for students (and parents) to access the teaching videos and criteria sheets I post for learning at their leisure.  It opens up the doors for students to learn in a social context. They can ask school-related or non-school related questions of their peers or myself from home.  Students can also do work on the device of their choosing and submit it.  I can annotate work electronically, giving them feedback to propel the student toward mastery.  Feedback, marks, questions, and answers are all kept in an accessible location.

I have also used QR codes to take students quickly to where I want them to go for the day.  Though, I haven't used them to bring students to a daily learning intention, the QR codes lead students to a site I want them to visit or a Today's Meet location to support leveraging the back channel. These discussions can take place while students are with me in the class or even different rooms.  The discussion can be stored for future reference and referred back to.

But I feel there is still a basic techagogy with which I haven't dealt. There is a place I want to go that isn't as snazzy as some of the places I've been but it seems to be a place I can no longer ignore: I want to find an inking workflow solution.

Now some might say that a workflow solution for inked documents doesn't lead to better pedagogy.  But consider this:

• an inked document has so much more flexibility than the typical document.  Pictures, diagrams, doodles can mingle, then be stored and shared -- this allows students to communicate their ideas more clearly; it supports students who don't fit in the "typed document" mold
• Inking has quick drag-drop and cut-paste properties. You can't select and drag on a piece of paper. A whole new world of editing possibilities open up for the student.  
• an inked document has all the benefits of an electronic document: it can be indexed, tagged, organized, and accessed by the creator, peers and teacher
• skills in artistry, hand dexterity, use of handwriting all become possibilities
• Drawing pictures, creating diagrams and sketching tables are all a part of numeracy.  If we are asking students to go paperless, these skills could be left by the wayside without a good inking solution
• Imagine: the teacher could take the inked work and screen cast comments.  Couldn't a video of teacher feedback working directly on a document improve learning?

A few provisos

• the solution has to work on the many types of tablets I might see in my class. I want to focus on the big 3 to start: Surface, Android, Ipad
• The solution would need to fit into existing structures well.  I plan on using Edmodo in the future but could be swayed in another direction if the benefits outweigh the losses
• What should I do with the student toting a laptop without a touchscreen?

Now, as always, I am sure others have tackled and beaten this challenge.  But this is the gauntlet that I throw down . . .before myself.  Thoughts?