Ed Tech in the Classroom

Today's questions is about the ed tech tools we use in my classes. Here's are the ones that are on my mind right now since we're in the midst of using them.

We use a range of Google apps in my class. We use and share Google Docs and Slides. Currently, my classes are learning how to use the "comment" function on Docs to facilitate peer revision. A third Google app we use is Blogger. This semester, students will publish between eight and twelve blog posts. This is my sixth semester using Blogger.

Another blogging tool we've used and will use again is Storify. Storify is an online tool that allows users to curate a variety of Internet sources: web pages, tweets, Tumblr and Facebook posts, and YouTube clips. The feature that makes Storify special is its ability to sequence the clips into a coherent narrative. Between each clip, you can include your own text to set up a "story". Your text stitches the together, providing transitions, explanations, and statements of significance to tie the different clips together. 

I've used Storify to "flip" lesson, to curate tutorials. And I've assigned students to curate their own stories. Here's a post I curated to leverage the Donald Sterling story to teach a rhetorical concept. Here's another one about rhetoric.

To communicate with students, I use three different "channels". Our learning management system, Blackboard, has an email function that lets me contact students all at once, in groups, or individually. Blackboard is my purely academic/class-matters channel where I discuss assignments and content. It's also the channel I encourage students to contact me. Students can also communicate with each other through Blackboard without having to share their private email addresses.

We also use a secret Facebook group page. Because it's a "secret" Facebook page, students don't have to friend each other (or me). Our Facebook group page is the channel we use to share information about the campus and the larger community. Folks announce sports and campus events. Or they can post community events that are related to class content. Or web links and YouTube clips related to class. Students use our private Facebook page to encourage each other and to vent. Students can ask each other what's going on in class or for assistance. But if they ask me questions on the Facebook page, I'll direct them to use my email address.

This is my second semester experimenting with Twitter. We use Twitter as a "back channel", for folks to comment and curate what's happening in class. Students often take pictures of what I've written on the board or of each other working.

I use both social media channels to "push" content to students. I may share a "teaser" of an upcoming class or a video that we discussed in class. Or an article I found that relates to a class topic. Something short and sweet to whet the appetite and to extend our discussions beyond the classroom. Doing so encourages students to post content, too.

I am experimenting with more ed tech tools: Haiku Deck, Padlet, Professor Word, and others. Still on a learning curve with those programs - still trying to figure out if I'm being seduced with cool web tools or if these tools will enhance reading and writing instruction. 

Five Year Plan

The question of the day for the Reflective Teacher Challenge is, "How do you envision your teaching changing over the next five years?" This is one of the questions that compels me to come up with a more precise answer than simply saying, "I will be a better teacher".  A step in the right direction would be able in five years to claim the title of "teacher-leader", to be a stronger teacher leader. A bit more precise, if unclear. 

Indulge me as I write my way into clarifying what I mean by being a stronger teacher leader. 

I want to lead, to be one of those people who are at the forefront of implementing new strategies, new tools. However, as strong (Effective? Is that the word I'm want?) leader, I wouldn't be suckered into trying something new for the sake of being an early adopter, as sexy as that sounds. I will have developed a strategy, a set of questions I can use to figure out if I'm being deluded by bells and whistles, or if a tool actually improves learning. Does the new tech enhance learning? Will the new group-work scheme increase opportunities to learn?  An effective teacher leader can tell if a new tool or way of thinking merely appears to be "innovative" or a "game changer". Transformative doesn't necessarily mean embracing "new" for the sake of "new".  

I want to be someone who is open to trying to things. I want to be fresh in my approach. At the same time, I want to be wise enough to figure out if I'm being seduced, drawn to shiny objects rather than practices that actually make a positive difference. The changes I make won't be cosmetic or trendy. 

I say all this because I'm in the midst of making pretty big shifts in the way I teach. I'm using more digital tools than ever before. I'm moving away from lecture to more of an experiential approach. I'm moving away from prescriptive tasks, textbook lessons and projects toward more inquiry based, student-centered writing situations. It's been exciting. Feedback and assessments are positive. 

At the same time, I admit that my attraction to using social media and digital tools is about the flash and fun. And the move away from lecture to more collaborative work, from the "sage-on-the-stage" approach to "guide-on-the-side" coaching approach, has everything to do with how engaged students are, how much joy it looks like they are experiencing. The question that persists is, are these strategies - technological, pedagogical, and andragogical - making learning better? Do these approached enhance instruction, or do they just look and feel good? And how can I tell? 

In five years, I hope I am increasingly reflective and intentional with my teaching practice. I admit - this sounds just as vague as my earlier iteration, just as packed, Yet the act of writing about my intentions helps me unpack the layers of meaning embedded in my desire to be an "effective teacher leader". And writing about it, as I'm doing now and throughout this blog challenge, is a concrete practice i can use to keep on reflecting, to keep on asking these important questions.