One trend in education that has really grabbed my attention is the increased use of digital devices and technology in the classroom. It is something that appeals to the ‘tech girl/apple girl’ in me. I love my gadgets! I’d be lost without my iPad, iPhone and Apple Watch. All of these devices I use in my classroom everyday for some aspect of learning or teaching. Maybe I need to talk to the school about subsidising my next upgrade!
The 2014 “Future-focused learning in connected communities” report identified that being digitally competent was a necessity for our students to become successful, contributing members of the modern society. To achieve this students needs to have access to suitable technology regardless of location, ability and financial means. The importance of digital technology is further emphasised by the introduction of Digital Technologies into the National Curriculum from Year 1 to 13 in 2018.
I am in the fortunate position in my school to be part of the ICT team and am currently the team leader. Keeping abreast with technological developments and sharing my knowledge is part of my job description. We are predominantly an Apple school with all teachers using Macbooks, classrooms having a mixture of Mac desktops and iPads and a pod of Macbooks available for classes to use via a booking system. We have, however, over the last eighteen months acquired a number of Chromebooks (130+ and rising), with classes from Years 3 to 8 having between 10 -16 devices using GAFE applications. In my classroom I am using Google Classroom to present more and more content and students are being introduced to a number of methods in which to complete their learning.
Flipped Learning
One digital learning trend that I would love to try is the use of flipped classrooms where direct instruction moves from the more traditional group learning sessions to individual, self-paced, learning sessions that take place outside of the classroom, ideally at home (Flipped Learning Network, 2014). Group sessions in class then become opportunities for practise, interactive discussion and clarification. One hesitation I had was the lack of access that some students may have outside of the classroom to the internet and/or devices. Peterson (2016) identified a number of workarounds for this situation. She suggested allowing students to access devices in the classroom before school, using the school library during break times or setting up a station where students can view the learning materials while others start the follow up activities. These are definite possibilities. Now I just need to work on the budget to go 1:1 devices in the class!
References
Digital Technologies and the national curriculum – what’s it all about? (n.d.) Retrieved June 15, 2016 from http://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Curriculum-areas/Digital-Technologies-in-the-curriculum
Flipped Learning Network (FLN). (2014) The Four Pillars of F-L-I-P™ Retrieved June 15, 2016 from https://flippedlearning.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FLIP_handout_FNL_Web.pdf
Future-focused learning in connected communities (Rep.). (2014, May). Retrieved from https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Initiatives/FutureFocusedLearning30May2014.pdf
Peterson, J. (2016, January 14) Flipping the classroom when home access is a problem. Retreived June 15, 2017 from https://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/01/14/flipping-the-classroom-when-home-access-is-a-problem/
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