Module 1 Blog Post: Integration of Technology in a Low Tech Classroom

Through my five years so far at Renton High School, the integration of technology has been slow.  More and more of our textbooks have online components but our classrooms do not have a growing amount of technology.  Every year we are asked and expected to use more technology with our students and within our lessons.  This is where my triggering question for the ISTE Standard 1 came from.  How can I better integrate technology into a classroom with minimal technology available in a key way to advance student learning and creativity?  I feel that I work hard to facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity but I don’t use a lot of technology within my classroom.  We have a limited amount of technology available for classroom use.  I am looking for ways to incorporate technology into my classroom that are easy to implement and do not need to be done every day to be successful. 

The first article I looked at to help answer my triggering question was 50 Alternatives to Lecture by Alexandra Pickett.  This article was one of the class readings.  In this article a list of activities you can do in your classroom besides lecture were given.  One of the ideas I found particularly interesting was when students were given a list of solutions and were asked to create the corresponding problems (Pickett, n.d., p.3).  This idea struck me as a way to bring technology into the classroom in a low stress way.  Students would work with their teams to create the questions to go with the answers they were provided.  I would then have them create a google doc they can share with me.  Once I have all of the responses we can make a class list of the different questions that all have the same answer.  This article gave me one idea of how to bring technology into my classroom even though technology is scarce.

After looking at the class articles I began researching for more answers to my question.  I have not yet found an article that fully answers my question but, I have come across some helpful articles and Tedx Talks that provide partial answers and ideas.  The first resource I found pertaining to my triggering question is from Stanford University (https://edpolicy.stanford.edu/sites/default/files/scope-pub-using-technology-report.pdf).  It is titled Using Technology to Support At-Risk Students’ Learning.  In this article my desire for more technology in my classroom and ideas for how to utilize the technology I have become more profound.  This article emphasizes the idea that technology can help close the achievement gap if used correctly alongside quality teaching. (Darling-Hammond, L., Zielenzinski, M., Goldman, S, Using Technology to Support At-Risk Students’ Learning, 2014)  Working in a low income, high needs school, the gap in achievement between my school and the other two high schools in the district is apparent.  I am hoping I can find a balance in my use of technology, student directed group work, and teacher time that can help my students close the gap.  The second resource I found helpful was a TedxRainier Talk by Jessie Woolley-Wilson titled Blending Technology and Classroom Learning (https://youtu.be/o0TbaHimigw).  She talked about the importance of quality education being available to all.  Her big question was how do we make that happen?  She talked about the idea of blended learning and using adaptive learning programs in classrooms.  This talked left me with the question, is there an adaptive learning program for high school math?  From these two resources I am still wondering how I can use the technology I have available to enhance my students learning experiences?

As I was continuing to look for relevant articles pertaining to my triggering question, I was reading an article my classmate Conrado found titled “U.S. Educational Secretary Announces Guidance to Ensure All Students Have Equal Access to Educational Resources” written by the U.S. Department of Education.  This article states, “All students- regardless of race, color, national origin or zip code- deserve a high-quality education that includes resources such as academic and extracurricular programs, strong teaching, technology and instructional materials, and safe school facilities” (“U.S. Educational Secretary Announces Guidance to Ensure All Students Have Equal Access to Educational Resources,” 2014).  I truly believe this to be true.  The math department I work in is working to bring equity to our students.  This year we were able to get the district to purchase brand new graphing calculators for each classroom.  I have already seen the effect this has had on our students.  When it comes time to use the graphing calculators they get excited.  Our new calculators graph in color and for the students it is a whole new world.  Another piece of the article Conrado found that struck me was, “Despite major progress in some areas, many students, especially students of color, continue to lack the opportunity of a quality education” (“U.S. Educational Secretary Announces Guidance to Ensure All Students Have Equal Access to Educational Resources,” 2014).  As a teacher in a low income school I experience every day the hardships my students face when it comes to education.  I also notice it when talking to the math department chairs from the other two high schools.  Their “problems” are different than ours.

My triggering event questions of, how can I better integrate technology into a classroom with minimal technology available in a key way to advance student learning and creativity, is still a question I am trying to answer.  After my research, I am going to look into a blended learning structure for my classroom, if there is an adaptive math program for high school, and how I can use my computer to aid in a more interactive technology based classroom.  Some questions I am still grappling with are, what are simple technology activities students can do in class with phones or COWs, how can I bring at least one technology element into each lesson, and what can I do to help bring more technology to my school and classroom.

Works Cited

Pickett, A. (n.d.) 50 Alternatives to Lecture, SUNY Learning Network

“U.S. Educational Secretary Announces Guidance to Ensure All Students Have Equal Access to Educational Resources,” 2014, U.S. Department of Education

Woolley-Wilson, J., Blending Technology and Classroom Learning, 2012, TedxRainier

Darling-Hammond, L., Zielenzinski, M., Goldman, S, Using Technology to Support At-Risk Students’ Learning, 2014, Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education