Category: technology

being a teacher, future, technology

Do High-tech Gadgets Improve Learning – What a Dumb Question

Pernille Ripp
I love Time For Kids; this magazine invokes deep discussion in my classroom, it lets the kid explore career opportunities and it delivers news to us every week.  This week’s blaring headline was “Technology Takeover…Schools Nationwide Are Using Technology to Teach Lessons.  But Do High-Tech Gadgets Improve Learning?”  At which I immediately scribbled on a post-it – what a dumb question!

Dumb because the gadget has nothing to do with the learning.  Dumb because any new thing introduced to a classroom could be considered a “gadget” which makes it sound not quite serious, not quite ready to be used by students properly.  Dumb because it has nothing to do with the access to a new tool but rather how you use it.  In fact, you could change this headline to truly show its idiocy thus “Do Paper and Pencils Improve Learning?”  Well no, not really, but how you use them do!  We have all witnessed classrooms where paper and pencils do nothing to enhance the out-dated instruction being lectured.  Many of us have rebelled against the stale classroom by bringing in technology tools to connect our students with the world, to give them the tools they need to succeed, while still using paper and pencils.  So no high-tech gadgets do not improve learning but how you use them can.

Yet this question keeps popping up in media and school conversations.  Can tech gadgets really improve learning or is it all a rueful ploy orchestrated by Apple and its minions to get us to spend more money on it?  Should we be getting rid of textbooks in favor of iPads, will students ever use paper and pencils again, what will becomes of this generation?  Magazines discuss these topics as if technology means a farewell to everything else we hold dear, to everything else we know and trust.  But it doesn’t.  Technology adds (if used properly!), technology deepens, and it can enhance.  That can lead to improved learning but only if the facilitator uses it right.  Like with anything else we bring into a classroom, we determine whether it is worth it, or whether it should be forgotten.  We must embrace the future but that the tools of it will be the magic pill.  A poor instructor remains a poor instructor with or without the technology.

being a teacher, role model, Student, technology

You Don’t Have to Be A Technology Whiz But You Do Need to Be Fearless

Pernille Ripp
Image from here

As we find ourselves surrounded by more and more technology in our profession as teachers, we see teachers react in strong ways.  You have the embracers, the ones that think any tech tool will enhance their teaching whether it really will or not.  You have those who are open but sceptic, who look for tools that will create deeper meanings and not just be another flashy gadget.  You have the hesitaters, the ones that will not request but will use the tool when they get it.  You have the hand-holders, those who stare at something and do not use it until someone else walks them through the entire process, multiple times.  Then you have the skeptics, the ones that do not think any tech will enrichen their teaching because they don’t believe in gadgets.  Finally you have the resisters, those who resist pretty much any change, whether technology related or not.  All of these types of teachers have their reasons for being who they are, all of them base their perceptions on assumptions and on past experience.

So for all of them I offer some advice.

  • Don’t blame the tool.  Often we hate the tool before we have even tried it, it is like a gut reaction to change in education that one develops.  “Oh, here they come again with their fancy new ideas while the old ideas work just fine.”  And while there is some truth in that, it is not the tool’s fault it was placed in your room, so the least one can do is explore it.  Otherwise it leads to…
  • Judge first, condemn early.  How many teachers have gotten upset over new initiatives or things being introduced before they have even tried it?  Sometimes it is easier to get upset rather than just wait and see; many words have been eaten this way.
  • You don’t have to love it but do try it.  I don’t love every piece of tech in my room (SmartBoard I am thinking of you) but I do use it.  After all it is there so I might as well.  I may just prefer to teach in other ways and use different tools.
  • Mess with it.  Too many times teachers are afraid to even turn something on, let alone push several buttons.  This approach can no longer be accepted.  We should be guided by many of our students’ approach to tech; turn it on and mess with it.  You never know what you can discover on your own.
  • Give it more than one try.  Even with my SmartBoard I continue to explore it, hoping I will have that aha moment where I embrace it.  It hasn’t happened yet, but I will not give up on it.  It is there to stay and so am I.
  • Ask questions, but don’t gripe.  Yes, satisfaction can be reached through commiseration over the latest tool but will that really push us any further toward figuring it out?  Start a conversation, reach out to others, but leave it productive.  You will feel better when you walk away.
  • Get help.  Sometimes teachers are too proud to ask others for help but not me.  I ask my students to help me figure stuff out, I ask other teachers whether globally or in my school.  Somebody else is bound to have run into the same problem at some point so why not solve it together?  Team approach works best with technology.
  • Be fearless.  Technology is not the master of us and it never was intended to be, and yet, how many teachers are deathly afraid of it all?  Yes, you may break something but so what?  At least you attempted to use it.  Again look to our students for how we should embrace technology; try it, use it, make it work for you.  

Being a 21th century teacher means we have to equip our students with the know-how of technology, there simply is no excuse to not fulfill our job.  Our students learn from us, even the way we react to change, so think of your approach as the newest thing is shown to you.  Will you model how to be fearless?

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being a teacher, Student-centered, technology, tools

Teachers Do More Than Teach – Why Technology Can Never Replace Them

Pernille Ripp
I hate that technology and education seem to be at odds with each other as presented in some media.  This “either or” mentality is, in my opinion, detrimental to the future of education.  We should embrace technology when it serves its purpose, but not treat as a replacement for teachers.  Computerized tests may be better at accurately assessing which reading skills my student needs to focus on, but a computerized test will not know why that student has not mastered that skill.  It can dictate a learning program fit to fix that gap, or to propel them forward, but hitting rewind and watching it over and over will not always guarantee that a student masters a concept.   So when we let videos be the only teaching tool for a child, or a computer program, then we stop figuring out why that child is not understanding. We lose that human connection that teachers provide.

We need the human connection for that, we need some form of a teacher to sit down and figure out what is happening in that child’s mind.  To figure out how we keep them engaged and interested.  How we keep them invested.  A computer program will always analyze but forget about the human aspect.  It will assess the problem from a deficit standpoint whereas lack of understanding may be as easy as lack of vocabulary or lack of sleep.

In high school, I failed math and I repeatedly asked my teacher for help to explain the concepts to me.  She would explain it the same way she had explained it before and I finally stopped asking, it simply didn’t make sense to me no matter how many times she repeated it.  Mind you this was before YouTube and vast internet communities, before Google, and Twitter.  The only other place I could turn was the library.  And yet we let tools that do nothing but repeat take so much value away from the job that we do every day as teacher.  We have let the media portray it as the saviour of education.

A frightening future to me would be one where teachers are nonexistent or serve a secondary role to the almighty computer.  Where students are greeted by machines from their own private spaces and curriculum is served through a computer program.  Lunch is served by themselves and extracurricular activities are gone by the wayside.  Drastic sure, but scary nonetheless.  Teachers don’t just teach the curriculum; they process it, they analyze it knowing their students’ skills.  They invest their time in it so that students will want to invest their own.  They make it meaningful, relevant, and they make it fun.  Technology can help with that, but it shouldn’t replace.  Teachers do more than just teach; they shape, they mold, they model behavior, and they connect.  Often that connection is worth more than any curriculum.  Worth more than any computer program.

So the path of the future is our hands; we can show the way of how to use technology correctly as a tool to help propel us forward as practitioners or we can hide from it and lament its coming.  Technology was never meant to replace teachers, but it slowly is, it is up to us whether we let it.

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connections, global, student blogging, Student-centered, technology

Why Students Should Blog – My Top 10

Pernille Ripp
Image: Kristina B

I have written about it before, I will write about it again I am sure, so here is why students should blog:

  1. They have an actual audience to write for.  The writing is no longer just for me but the whole world. When we write science diaries, we have scientists write back to us and push their questioning skills.  When students write about a book they are reading, other students ask them questions and give them more recommendations.  When students go on vacations they write to us to tell us all about it.  You get the idea.
  2. You can track their writing progress.  I have always had them keep track of their writing in their binders but invariable papers got lost.  Here I can see their growth, print it out and hand it to them.  I can have them focus on specific skills, just like regular writing, but they can go in and edit on their own time.  They can see their growth and the electronic version seems to appeal to them more.
  3. It opens a dialogue.  Students have a direct line to their teacher and to anyone else they are connected with.  Blogging helps us write back to each other, but great blogging is like a conversation with questions and critique.  My students are learning how to engage in written dialogue with topics they care about. 
  4. It establishes their internet identity in safe manner.  Students are getting on the internet earlier and earlier so as teachers it is vital we embrace this opportunity to teach them safety.  My students know the safety rules by heart and help each other follow them.  By being on the internet and establishing a presence they are actively practicing staying safe rather than just talking about it.
  5. They teach each other.  Numerous times my students have corrected misconceptions or created new awareness of concepts being taught within our room.  They become teachers rather than just students in our classroom and blogging allows them to continue that outside our classroom walls.
  6. They are global citizens and global collaborators.  We speak of creating global citizens but then forget to actually connect kids with kids.  My students know where places in the world are because they speak to kids from those places.  We have connections around the world that we can use when we study other places and this year my students will even be working on a project together with another classroom.
  7. Transparency.  Too often teachers shut their doors to the world rather than sharing the amazing things we concoct along with or students.  Blogging opens up that door and shows the whole world what is happening.  My students have more than once inspired other teachers to try a project.
  8. They become aware of themselves as writers.  Students start to create their own essence as a writer first playing around with fonts but then creating tag lines for their blogs and deciding how they want to present themselves to the world as writers.  This is powerful at the elementary age.
  9. I can easily check in on their learning.  When my students blog about a concept I can quickly see whether they are understanding the essential concepts or need another learning opportunity.  
  10. You give them a voice.  Students need a way to express themselves to take ownership of their learning, so through our blog students tell the world their thoughts on education, their learning and their needs.  I am a better teacher because of their blogging.

I could keep going but I hope that this inspires you to try it.  Reach out, connect, I will gladly help anyone that wants to try blogging with their students.  My students tell me now that blogging is one of the best things that has ever happened to them.  To see their work and their thoughts visit them here

For more reasons why students should blog, check out this post:
being a teacher, smartboards, technology

Technology Does Not Make the Classroom Succesful- the Teacher Does

Pernille Ripp
It appears that technology is sweeping the nation as the answer to the “broken” education system in America.  Everywhere you turn school districts are touting their Interactive Whiteboards, their iPads, their one to one systems and anything else tech related.  Since I am techie myself, most people assume that I think this is a good thing.  Well, you’re wrong.

I love technology and more specifically integrating it into my curriculum.  So my students blog to create writing portfolios, learn how to write for a specific audience, and document their learning.  We also journal every day in a notebook using that great tool; pencils.  My students create wordle’s on our computers to watch for main ideas or overused words.  We videotape science experiments so we can post them for parents to ask us questions.  We use computers to do our research.  We participate in the Global Read Aloud so that we can share a book with classrooms around the world.  We project videos that boost our understanding, and yes, we even have a SmartBoard.  But the thing is, this doesn’t mean anything if I don’t know how to properly use the technology and then pass that on to your students.

You can stick a SmartBoard on any classroom teacher’s wall and then claim that they are 21st century.  Well, guess what?  They are not.  Unless they know how to use the tools provided all you are doing is dressing up a dog and passing it as a circus horse.  The race to be more 21st century seems to be clouding the judgment of districts everywhere.  It is not about the tools, it is about the teachers.  So yes, some technology is phenomenal and does help student learning, but all tech is not created equally.  So it shouldn’t be judged equally.

So when test scores don’t rise even though a district is heavily tech integrated, people tend to blame the technology.  “See it isn’t working.”  And yet, the technology shouldn’t have been part of that equation really.  I don’t care how many computers you stick in a room, if a teacher is not facilitating them properly, or the wireless is awful, or they are outdated etc then they wont make a lick of difference.  The teacher is what will raise test scores, that is if we ever have enough time to actually teach in between all of the tests we have to give.

The truth is there is no simple answer to create a successful classroom.  You need to have a teacher that is invested, students who know that their teachers care about them and that they are in a safe environment.  You need administrators that actually trust their staff and engage them in discussion.  You need parents that are invested in the classroom as well.  And yes, computers make my classroom work better and I would say that classroom computers are a must-do investment.  But everything else? It’s nice, but not absolutely necessary.  So perhaps we should be investing in teachers, raise their salaries so they don’t have to work 2 jobs.  Stop cutting their benefits so they don’t have to look for a new job.  Rather than investing hundreds of thousands of dollars into technology that may or may not get used.

being a teacher, technology

4 Steps to Teaching Others About Technology (And Getting Them to Use It)

Pernille Ripp
I am fresh off of teaching a week-long class to teachers on how to integrate technology into their classrooms. This experience was a great one for me because it reminded me of how overwhelming technology that I take for granted can be to others starting out. And yet, these teachers got hooked. So how?

They all did a couple of things that took them from skeptics to believers (and comfortable!)

  1. They figured out their purpose.  Technology should never be used just for technology’s sake because then it has no educational value.  These teachers narrowed in on which areas they thought could be enhanced by technology and then worked specifically with those.
  2. Pick a few.  I showed them more than 50 tools just to let them see what was out there but then we narrowed it down for each one of them.  There were things they immidiately gravitated toward; Google Docs, and others that took time; having a classroom blog.  Some they just thought were cool and got archived for later use – maybe, and I am ok with that.
  3. Work on it right away.  We have all been to classes where the instructor showed us a lot of cool things but we never had time to play with it, and guess what, most of the time we never go back to those tools.  We introduced tools then gave them time to mess around, set up their accounts, mess up and get help.  These teachers actually left the class with products they felt comfortable using and all had set up their own classroom blogs already.
  4. Give it time and purpose.  I shared why I use different tools, how it was meaningful to my students or parents, and also how mch time I spend on these tools.  When teachers can experience for themselves why a tool may be easily integrated and valuable, chances are they are going to actually use it after the class.  And that was the whole point.

So which tools were the most favored?  Prezi, Animoto, Google Docs, Blogger, and LiveBinders won this week.  Twitter, Edmodo, and StoryBird came in close second.  All the teachers left more confident and couldn’t wait to go back and share what they had learned with others in their building.  So although I may have only taught 12 teachers this week, the impact that they could have on their buildings is bigger and that is the beauty of getting teachers comfortable with technology; it spreads like rings in the water.