Reflecting on technologies in the classroom

https://www.brookings.edu/articles/how-ed-tech
-can-help-leapfrog-progress-in-education/

Back in January, I posted a list of 10 things teachers needed to know about using technology in the classroom. This list emphasized everything from teacher role modeling enthusiasm and usability of technologies to preaching humility when - inevitably - some kid knows better than you do how to use a tech tool. Here's the original list:

1. Your approach is infectious - if you’re excited about it, the kids will be too. If you are wary, communicate why and ask for the kids’ thoughts/concerns.
2. Know that you may not be the expert in the room on a particular tech tool. It’s fun to have kids come up and teach peers - and you! - tips and usages.
3. You are unlikely to wreck anything - don’t be afraid to poke around and experiment.
4. Teachers often have free or low-cost access to great tools - like Canva!
5. Don’t fight the conveniences of AI. It’s here. Let’s use it to our advantage.
6. YouTube is a great source of step-by-step guidance for anything you don’t already know how to do in a tech program.
7. Encouraging kids to use coding programs (Kodable, Scratch, Khan Academy) allows them to think of themselves as future developers, and it may surprise you which kids feel the most success and connection during coding classes.
8. To ensure that the videos you play as part of a lesson in class are accessible to everyone, turn on closed captioning.
9. Do not assume that students already know how to find digital documents they’ve created or shared. File organization, creation and retrieval all need to be taught.
10. Keep in mind Murphy’s Law: if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. You just never know when the wifi is going to be patchy or the construction job down the road will knock out the power. Keep a couple of sub plans at the ready in case you can’t proceed with a planned tech lesson.

Looking back on the list, I don't have many changes.

Credit: Phonlamaiphoto | Istock | Getty Images

The #5 item -- don't fight AI, it's here and you should use it to your advantage -- I recognize as a bracing statement I mainly wrote to myself. There is a not-small part of me that fears AI, because I fear that it will hurt students' abilities to persevere as thinkers, problem solvers, and researchers. As a librarian, generative AI engenders such conflicting feelings: it's cool and exciting and librarians should be at the forefront of embracing new tech innovations and, at the same time, AI spits out text that sounds authoritative but are sometimes complete baloney.  But, I stand by that it is a wonder for teachers -- particularly those who find the task of writing a rubric, say, to be insanely boring. 

Item #9 also deserves a moment in today's post. I took deliberate care with third graders this year teaching them to create documents, share them with a partner, organize them into a library file, and collaborate on a project. Ours is a Google shop, and it was rewarding to see kids nimbly interacting with docs. These are practical lessons they'll use for the rest of their lives.

And - oh! - #10!! The library computer connected to the overhead projector went on the fritz this past week in several highly public ways! It was super frustrating, and I didn't handle it gracefully the first time, but I got around it the second time by unplugging the HDMI cable and plugging it into my laptop all while I was leading a 5th grade class discussion on the dangers of misinformation. Phew! 

Credit: iStock, https://edexec.co.uk/top-ways-school-
leaders-can-support-teacher-collaboration/

Finally, I missed one major suggestion in my initial list: the need to collaborate with everyone in the building. I learn about fantastic tech tools from teachers, the IT support team, other librarians, admin, and - often - students. There is so much rich and proven experience right down the hallway. All you need to do is ask.