Technology Changes Outside the Classroom

Over 15 years ago, my then-boyfriend and I spent one of our first dates watching a local band play a show at the Portsmouth Music Hall, a beautiful renovated theater in Portsmouth, NH.  Fast forward to 2012, and we (now married) were sitting in the same theater watching the very same band as they played a reunion show to promote a documentary about Portsmouth's music scene in the 1990s.  Before the show started, as we looked down from our balcony seats at the crowd beneath us, I couldn't help but think of how different the world has become.

Portsmouth Music Hall

Bright spots of light dotted the crowd, as people checked their smartphones.  It seemed everyone was updating their Facebook status, no doubt tagging the people they were with and posting their location.  A guy behind us was texting the friend he was meeting there, trying to find each other in the crowd.  It was a strange juxtaposition between of the 19th century theater and the 21st century ticket-holders.

The show began with the documentary's producers introducing the project.  One spoke of the fact that much of the footage in the movie was filmed during a time when people had to go to a record store to buy music or go out to show to see a band, instead of just sitting behind their computers searching iTunes or YouTube. There was a sense of nostalgia for a time when there was a feeling of community among not only the musicians, but also their fans.

But the producers were not just living in the past.  Trying to move their project from a local level to a national audience, they invited the audience to film parts of the performances, they encouraged us to post those videos on Facebook or Tweet them.  They want word about their film to reach the masses, and they know the way to do that is likely to be through social media.  During intermission, they asked everyone to take out their phones, and had a specific message they wanted us to text or Tweet as part of their campaign to get into a film festival in the Southwest.

Much of the documentary was made up of footage from the early and mid-90's.  In one of those old interviews, one band member said, "We're doing whatever we can to get out there, so we're playing lots of shows, we're working on making a video, we're trying this Internet thing." That drew a roar of laughter from the crowd.

Once the bands came on stage, phones all around the theater started recording, perhaps creating as much footage that night as the producers of the film had to work with from years of shows played in the early 90s.  By the next day, there were several different videos posted to YouTube, two of which I shared on Facebook for a couple of friends who weren't able to make it to the show.

Yes, our world has changed. Some might say for the better; some might say for worse.  The Music Hall was built in 1878. Its walls saw first showings of moving pictures and the transition from silent movies to "talkies." Now, ticket holders sit in its velvet-upholstered chairs with computers in their pockets.  As I looked at the ornate scroll work along the balcony, I realized that although our world is changing at a rapid pace, but we can move forward while still respecting the values of the past.

Apply and Discover 3.1

Apply and Discover 2.2

Because students coming into our classrooms are digital natives who have grown up with technology at their fingertips, it is unrealistic—not to mention unwise, and maybe downright unfair—to expect these students to unplug and power down when they go to school each day. 


They have become accustomed to a fast-paced world where they have random-access to information, as opposed to the linear approach textbooks offer.  They have become practiced experts at multitasking, parallel processing, and networking.  What can appear to be a short-attention span is, in reality, a different way of thinking.  Instead of fighting this, we can incorporate technology to capitalize on the skills students possess.  


We can use sites like TodaysMeet and Sync.in to create opportunities for collaboration among students. TodaysMeet allows students (and teachers) to hold a backchannel chat during a class.  Why would we want students to "chat" during a class?  Because it allows them to process information in a collaborative manner.  They can ask and answer questions, discuss application of information, and internalize the lesson.  Sync.in (and other similar sites) allow students to collaborate on a single document, and also has a chat feature on the screen.  I've used this site when students have worked together to answer interpretive questions about literature.  I can post a number of questions about a book or story, and use the chat feature to ask probing questions as they work.  Students can add to each other's answers, and jump from question to question when they have ideas to contribute.  When using this site, I found that not only was student engagement much higher than during a traditional class discussion, but I could also post a link to the collaborative document on our classroom Moodle page.  Unlike a whiteboard that is erased at the end of the period, students had continued access to all of their ideas.  


Integrating technology allows teachers to better meet the needs of all learners in the classroom.  Today's devices offer more opportunities than ever to hook visual and kinesthetic learners, and students with special needs can seamlessly access support.  

Alphasmart

When I began my teaching career, students whose fine motor skills impacted their ability to hand-write work were obligated to carry around an Alphasmart for word processing.  These were provided by the special education department and were generally reserved for students with IEPs.  They hated it.  And no wonder.  For one, only a few lines of text showed on the screen at a time and it was cumbersome to print their work (requiring connection to a PC).  Most importantly, though, it was like carrying around a big label that said "I'm a special ed student" and was a constant reminder of their disability.


Today's devices, on the other hand, are not only more user-friendly and have greater capabilities, but they also have the cool factor.  And cool factor is big, especially among middle school students.   


Integrating technology is fast becoming a non-negotiable in education.  It is no longer just a matter of trying a new program or device every once in a while; it requires a paradigm shift in our way of thinking about curriculum, about our instructional practices, and about students themselves.  We can’t expect digital natives to change their way of thinking when they enter the school building, so we have an obligation to change our ways in order to meet their needs.