Post #9: Mindfully Integrating Technology

I recently stumbled across an old assignment from a technology class taken in my final years of college. As I read through some of my thoughts and ideas, I couldn't help but sink a bit deeper into my couch with a bit of chagrin.

 Reflecting on my first couple years of teaching, I eagerly wrote grants to add more tech to our classroom to supplement our four desktop computers. As we slowly started to get used to our new devices, we excitedly looked to differentiate learning and engage students with our new technology.

Looking back on it all, I can confidently say that I did the best that I could with what I knew, but I'm glad to realize that I now know different.  My use of technology in the classroom had typically been limited to substitutions and augmentations.  I relied on the fact that students would be excited to use the technology regardless of the fact that it was pretty much the same assignment as its analog counterpart.

Fortunately, I've since started to grow and learn better practices to intentionally integrate technology into our classroom.  We've tracked down better uses to extend our learning through the use of technology to make our learning experience better due to the technology.  We've started to use technology to empower students to monitor their own growth, amplify their own voices, and we've used it to give students an authentic audience.

We'll continue to be on the hunt for the trendiest educational apps and websites, and we'll adapt and learn more as better things present itself upon us, but it'll be most important to keep in mind what George Couros reminded us--"Technology will never replace a great teacher." We should be mindfully using technology to transform our learning rather than just replacing certain assignments or tasks.  When given that opportunity, our students are able to create and innovate, and there really is no ceiling they cannot reach!