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By Angel Almanzar
The use of technology has changed every aspect of American life and educators have the challenge to offer students effective media learning opportunities that prepare them to be competitive in an ever-changing world. The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) offers a Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT) teachers can use to promote, support, and model creative learning activities. Through the use of digital resources the ICOT supports the exploration of real world issues, collaborative problem solving, and creative processes.
A study to assess whether seventh-grade students’ use of information and communication technology was related to memory performance on tasks found that those who utilized video games and PC scored higher on a digit span test. The study did not find a difference on scores based on gender (Garcia, Nussbaum and Preiss, 2011).
Barr and Stephenson (2011) argued that it is a necessity to expose all students to the use of technological resources to enable them to envision new problem-solving strategies and to expand their thinking. They also indicated that all of today’s students will go on to live a life heavily influenced by computing, and many will work in fields dominated by computing systems.
During an Economics twelfth-grade class, 20 students and a teacher engaged in several learning activities relevant to the cost effectiveness of some controversial issues. Each activity utilized some form of technology that helped individual students better understand the topic. The use of technology in the classroom offered a sense of authenticity to the issues discussed by making a connection between classroom activities and real live situations. This article offers students learning activities that follow the ICOT model.
The Classroom
Several teachers in a public high school were asked how they utilize technology to offer students 21st century learning experiences. An Economics twelfth -grade teacher was most enthusiastic about the topic. An observation of his classroom displayed a table in from of the classroom that contained a document camera, a laptop and a LCD projector. Next to the whiteboard was a Promethean board and on the back of the room were 12 desktop computers. Conspicuously displayed on the right side of the room was a word-wall containing economics terms. The walls displayed student sample work such as problem-solving economic projects, written assignments, book reports, charts, and graphs that described methods of importing and exporting goods. In the back of the room a bookshelf had several easy to read books relevant to topics found in an economics class.
The Lessons
The teacher started the lesson by doing a review of quantity and demand. The teacher indicated that the lesson objective was to apply and analyze economics laws applicable to social issues that influence people’s income, price of products, product preferences, and consumers’ expectations. The teacher explained to the students three social dilemmas: should young people take care of the elderly rather than sending them to nursing homes, should young people be allowed to drive at the age of 16, or 21, and should alcoholic beverage be legal. The students were asked to work in groups of four to brainstorm and write down their group ideas about possible solutions. Each group picked a topic to explore, find solutions and develop a presentation to share with the class. The teacher stated that students were welcome to utilize their own technology resources to complete the assignment.
Utilizing the Promethean board and the laptop the teacher modeled methods of problem solving. Approximately 15-20 minutes later the students were directed to collaboratively brainstorm, organize their ideas, and search for information in the Internet. Each group utilized a computer in the room to research for information about the topic they chose. Some of the students navigated through the Internet, others utilized their iPhone, and/or iPods to locate information relevant to their topic. They utilized audio headphones to listen to videos and used word processors to take notes. The discussions between the students were enlightening as they searched for information and simultaneously assigned each other tasks to complete the assignment. The students owned their learning and the teacher served as a facilitator. The teacher utilized a document camera and a Promethean board to remind students about economic laws. He offered students websites to find information and used an LCD projector to demonstrate websites information.
A group of students downloaded from various websites character animations to create videos of accident simulations. They created digital charts of accident expenses as a result of drivers under the age of 21 driving under the influence of controlled substances. The conversations in the room where relevant to real life situations and students could be heard asking each other questions such as what is the solution to this problem and how can we improve our quality of life. Some students utilized pollseverywhere.com, a website utilized by CNN to conduct polls, to survey other students about their opinion whether alcohol should be or not be legal. Based on their survey, they developed a podcast that contained pictures, charts and audio describing their reasoning. Each group uploaded their presentations into portable hard drives to do their presentation.
The students were able to assess their own work by video recording their presentations. They analyzed the presentation content based on their findings and teacher directions. The infusion of technology to augment visuals, audios, discussions, reading, writing, and develop projects helped students learn at different levels. The students’ work exemplified real live situations. They had to think critically to analyze and evaluate different situations commonly found on daily news media. During the activities the students learned methods to find information, video stream, create podcasts, create PowerPoint with voice, conduct surveys over the Internet and create videos using animations. They also developed charts to demonstrate services cost effectiveness.
ICOT Assessment of the Lesson
The Classroom Observation Tool is an instrument that helps to monitor the use of technology in the classroom every three minutes. The ICOT was instrumental for the observation of the class to identify technology components that helped students learn. The room setting was conducive for the use of technology. The teacher effectively managed the media resources located in the room. The students had the opportunity to work collaboratively in groups to apply “Blooms Taxonomy” methods of learning. They evaluated causes and effects, analyzed economic cost effectiveness of identified social services such as what are the benefits of allowing young people to get a drivers license at the age of 21 verse earlier ages, and the elderly being sent to nursing homes rather than keeping them at home with their children. The role of the teacher was secondary as the students engaged in finding information and solutions to social controversial social issues. The teacher used a laptop frequently, web browsers, Promethean board, and document camera to help students complete their assignments. The students’ utilized cell phones to navigate the Internet, PC to create projects, word processors to take notes, and podcasts.
The teacher discussed the issues that enable the students to learn on their own. The learning activities were conducive for students to create presentations, write, read and create simulations. Technology was essential for the lesson. Without the media resources present in the classroom, the student could have not produced the same products. Their learning experiences would have not addressed the National Education Technology Standards (NEST) standards. The standards require that students prepare for work and life. The standards consist of creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving and decision-making, digital citizenship and technology operations.
The ICOT consists of a 3-minute chart to monitor student engagement using technology. The chart demonstrated that students did not utilize technology during the 15-20 minutes the teacher explained the lesson. Once the students began the assignment individually and in groups, they utilized several technology tools to complete the assignment.
Summary
Educators have a moral responsibility to offer students learning opportunities that connect classroom activities with real life situations. Computation thinking is a method of formulating problems in a way that enable students to use computers and other media resources to solve problems (Sykora, 2011). The use of technology in the classroom help students connect different subjects making learning meaningful. The use of technology in the classroom should no longer be an option, but a requirement.
References:
Barr, V., & Stephenson, C. (March, 2011). Bringing Computational Thinking To K-12: What Is Involved And What Is The Role Of The Computer Science Education Community? Comprehensive Articles. 2,1.
Digital Learning Environments: Tools and Technologies for Effective Classrooms
Garcia, L., Nussbaum, M., & Preiss, D.D. (2011). Is the use of information and communication technology related to performance in working memory tasks? Evidence from seventh-grade students. Computers & Education. 57. Pg. 2068-2076.
Smaldino, S. E., Lowther, D. L., & Russell, J. D. (2010). Instructional technology and media for learning (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Sykora, C. (2011). Computation Thinking: A Digital Age Skill for Everyone.
About the Author
Angel Almanzar has been a high school principal in Broward County Florida for three years. He was a principal at a middle school for one year and after one year as a middle school principal; Angel was assigned to be the principal of a high school. He has been in education for 14 years. Prior to his education he worked for the New York City Correction Department. After seven years on the job as a Correctional Officer, he was promoted to Captain. He obtained his BA of Arts from York College and a Masters in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. He is presently pursuing a doctoral degree in Instructional Leadership at Nova Southeastern University.
Angel Almanzar can be contacted by email at aa336@Nova.Edu
