The
number one job of teachers is to meet the needs of our students. This isn’t a simple task, however. Our students have a diverse set of needs and
any given class can have a multitude of different needs the teacher must focus
on. Some students come into our rooms
needing help simply reading the content.
They won’t be able to apply it until they can comprehend it. Some students come into our rooms and need
someone to work with them step by step through their assignments. Some simply need an adult who cares about
them and their successes. Tom Carroll
compared the funding for technology in education with the funding for the space
program (Bransford, Lin, and Schwartz 2000).
But the similarities between the two programs end with the figure for
their funding. There are not drastically
different goals for individual space projects the way that there are in
individual classrooms or schools. There
are not clear cut ways to determine if success was met in the classroom since
success for each individual student can meet something drastically different
from their peers. But the funding for
educational technology is essential to success by students in the classroom as
much as it’s necessary to reach Mars. With
such a diverse set of needs in the classroom expected to be met on a daily basis,
technology can assist the teacher in helping to reach each student on a regular
basis.
There
are a variety of ways I have incorporated technology into my teaching practices
as well as several ways I have yet to try.
One way that I have used technology is by allowing students to
collaborate with each other on an assignment.
By using Google Drive, students could work on the same document from
different locations to create a collaborative piece to be turned in. When
students work together on a project and teach each other the information they
both learn and benefit from the experience (Kashy, Thoennenssen, Tsai, Davis,
and Wolfe, 1998).
Another
way technology can be used in the classroom is to help meet the accommodations
of students in the class. In my 7th
and 8th grade history classes I had a lot of students who read well
below grade level but a lot of the curriculum was delivered via readings. By using the internet I could piece together
readings that were specific to what I was teaching without all of the extra
filler that can sometimes be found in textbooks. I could also use tools in Microsoft Word to
customize the readings that I created for students who needed it. I could translate it into different languages
to appear side by side with English from the ELL students. I could enlarge it very easily for students
who had sight problems. I could use auto
summary to make it even shorter and more concise for students who struggled to
read on grade level and needed something short and sweet.
Technology
also opens up the information available to both students and teachers in a way
that never existed before. While
encyclopedias and other print sources contain a wealth of information, the web
allows teachers and students access to information as soon as it becomes
available as well as information from the past.
The internet can keep up with ever changing research and conclusions on
any number of topics and never really goes out of date. Bransford, Lin, and Schwartz (2000) discussed
how the best of the best learning modules can be accessed from their program of
study. But in reality, the internet
allows for the best of the best of all teaching practices to be shared with
teachers from around the world. Teachers
who have great ideas can easily share them with their peers with the click of a
button. Conversely, teachers who are in
need of a great idea for teaching a particular topic can see what others have
done and adapt great lessons from other teachers to fit the needs of their own
classroom. Teachers can collaborate with
an almost infinite number of colleagues from across the globe to learn from
each other and share best practices.
It’s wonderful to not have to reinvent the wheel every time you want to
try something new. Chances are someone
else has already tried it and a teacher can use the experiences of others to
help ensure success in their own classroom.
I think
the most important way that technology can be used in the classroom is to
create lessons that are scaffold for the diverse learners in our rooms (Kozma, 2003). In history, especially at the middle school
level, most classes are inclusion classes with students from all levels in one
room. It’s not ok to just teach to the
middle. There needs to be accommodations
made for the students at the top as well as the bottom to make sure they get
the most out of their education and have the opportunity to be successful. I found that web quests worked great at
reaching all students. I could customize
them and add more for some students who needed the extra stimulation and I
could remove some pieces for students who needed it. I look forward to using other applications
such as Prezi in the future to accommodate diverse learners in a
classroom.
Technology
also gives students who might not normally find their voice in a classroom of
their peers and opportunity to participate in their own education. At Vanderbilt University they found that
students who came to trust their teachers were more likely to open up about
their struggles via email then they were face to face (Bransford, et al. 2000). Some students, especially young teens, are
afraid to ask questions in front of their peers so they simply keep it to
themselves and never seek out the help that they need. Email and other forms of technology can help
students get the help that they need without feeling embarrassed or scared in
front of their peers. Students who are
shy and won’t speak up during a class discussion or debate can still make their
thoughts known online especially if they can remain anonymous to their
classmates. This avenue for them to
participate in their education will provide them with benefits that a
traditional classroom setting never could.
Technology,
when used effectively, can create numerous opportunities for teachers to meet
the needs of diverse learners and create an environment where each student has
the opportunity to succeed.
References
Bransford, J., Lin, X., &
Schwartz, D. (2000). Technology, learning, and Schools: Comments on
articles by Tom
Carroll & Gerald Bracey. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher
Education, 1(1),
145-182. Retrieved from https://onlinecampus.edinboro.edu/d2l/le/content/1602761/viewContent/7594633/View
Kashy, E.,
Thoennessen, M., Tsai, Y., Davis, N., Wolfe, S. (October 1998). Using Networked Tools to Promote Student
Success in Large Classes. Journal of Engineering Education, volume 87
(no. 4). Retrieved from https://onlinecampus.edinboro.edu/d2l/le/content/1602761/viewContent/7594632/View
Kozma, Robert B., (2003). Technology and
Classroom Practices: An International Study. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, Volume 36 (number 1),
pages 1-14. http://robertkozma.com/images/kozma_jrte.pdf
