The Great Tech Divide

I think that as a district we need to develop a two front approach... The first front is the digital citizenship/responsible use of technology for students and the second front is the creation of engaging lessons that incorporate technology.  By addressing the problem from these two different approaches we will see the divide grow smaller and see the most movement toward a blended environment that is awesome.

The first front of digital citizenship and responsible use of technology is vital if we want our students to be able to survive in the world.  Technology use especially social media has become a huge issue in the work place.  Some of the most common reasons for being fired deal with technology.  These include the following
    a. Inappropriate use of social media
    b. Inappropriate Internet surfing
    c. Inappropriate use of Cell phones during work hours.

All three of these issues can be and should be addressed with digital citizenship and responsible use discussions in the classroom.  I remember when I was in the classroom I was constantly having conversations with students about when it was appropriate for them to have their phone out and when they can be on social media sites.  This generation is multitask oriented generation that expects to be entertained.  If they have any down time during class their first impulse to check their social media feeds.  Digital citizenship and responsible use will help these students make decisions about technology that will help them succeed later in life.

The second front is engaging lessons for students.  If teachers are lecturing only and the lecture is all information that can be Googled then students will not be engaged and there will be lots of technology based problems.  An engaging lesson will keep the activities short and move students up Bloom's taxonomy into the higher order thinking skills.  These types of lessons could be a flipped model in which students are using class time to engage in higher order thinking and problem solving. Another approach is using project based learning to allow students to solve real world problems that incorporate technology in productive and useful ways.  Teachers should create lessons that embrace technology and leverage the technology that students bring with them to make learning more efficient and productive.

In our district, I began this transition by focusing on our e-learning.... I did not want our teachers to create e-learning that was merely a pdf of a worksheet.  So our e-learning model was based the text "E-learning by design" by William Horton.  In this text, Horton outlines how to create e-learning lessons and learning opportunities that are engaging for learners.  My biggest take away from this book is that effective and engaging learning opportunities are created intentionally.  I have spent the last year training my teachers in how to create effective absorb activities, do activities and connect activities so that their e-learning lessons will be engaging for students.

In the year to come we are working on doing the same type of transformation for our daily teaching by implementing a blended learning model.  At this time we are not sure what this looks like at all levels but it will be awesome and student centered.