When I was a student (in the 1980s), the computers sat ominously at the back of the classroom, taunting us to touch them.  That mysterious box that you only got the privilege of using if you were finished all your work and in good favour with the teacher drove me to near insanity.  I was an energetic student with a penchant for mischief and a need to be the class comedian at every opportunity which meant that “computer time” was nearly impossible.  I almost never completed my work in class and being in good favour with the teacher would have been an extraordinary event.  It was a less than satisfying cycle of hope and despair that I encountered for most of my early education.  When I became a teacher, I swore that I would make all the tools and toys accessible to my students; no students were going to pine after “computer time” on my watch!

Computers used to be the carrot by which we bribed students to get engaged in their learning.  Fortunately, today this attitude is nearly extinct and we know that technology is not a bribe: it is a mode of delivery that can include every student in a meaningful education.  If you were to come in to my classroom today you would see 27 diverse learners creating 27 unique artifacts of learning, all made possible by technology that simply wasn’t available 20 years ago.  Some students are creating a podcast to describe a new science concept; some are reviewing concepts at the interactive whiteboard; while other students are working with virtual math manipulatives at the interactive table.  This is not the classroom of the past, or even one that we could have imagined ten years ago.  This is the classroom that accommodates for each student’s individual learning needs, and adjusts almost instantly to create learning tools that allows all of my students to access the curriculum at their own level.

Teachers have struggled to personalize education for decades, fighting to find a way to reach every student each and every day, often reaching personal burn-out before this task could be accomplished.  Now that most classrooms have greater access to the tools that make learning accessible for every learner, this goal is much more accessible.  Take, for example, the student who reads 3 grade levels below his peers. He is intelligent and articulates well in conversation, but for a variety of reasons, cannot grasp the written word.  He is sitting in a science classroom where he is expected to do a certain amount of reading to gather information, but the reading is at grade level. Defeat sets in early, motivation and engagement quickly fall, and he masks his constant disappointment with “bad” behaviour—it’s a good distraction so that the other students won’t catch on that he can’t read as well as them. This group of students is more common that you would think, and teachers used to struggle to keep these students involved and achieving in the classroom. When this vulnerable student turns 16, school will be optional and I really hope that I have convinced him (and others like him) that completing his education will be worthwhile.

The twenty-first century has introduced new ways to reach this student. We can create a podcast that he can listen to, provide him with text-to-speech software that will read a passage out loud (albeit in a tinny computer voice), or perhaps create a personalized digital book with a built-in audio glossary.  For the first time, all of our students can access the information equitably and it’s incredibly empowering for all of us.  I am no longer bound to the confines of worksheets and textbooks and my students can learn in a way that suits them best.

See some of Rachel’s Tech Toys/Tools (click here)

Next week we are starting a project where all of my students will create a representation of the particle model of matter, a task that used to be a series of Styrofoam balls fastened together in a variety of formations with toothpicks.  When I introduced it to my class this year, I heard mutterings of video, prezi, drama, podcast, digital storytelling, and a murmur of excitement that the particle theory rarely generates.  Because my students have so many ways to access the curriculum, they have turned around and thrown it back at me and use just as many, if not more, to represent their learning.  When I ask the students to represent their knowledge they automatically turn to their 12 year-old tablemate and begin to discuss how one application might do a better job than another and how, for instance, a podcast may or may not work for this particular assignment.  When was the last time a student received a worksheet and excitedly begin attacking questions and deciding how to best fill in that blank?  Thank goodness I rarely have to subject my students to rote memorization these days; now my students have the chance to interact with the curriculum in so many ways.
Have educators found the holy grail of education?  It all sounds so easy and problem-solved: the teacher wants to present a new set of vocabulary, a new concept, so she just reaches into that little technology tool kit and decides on a podcast, a reading, and an interactive whiteboard activity… done and done. Unfortunately, it’s not that easy, nor is it that obvious. Technology comes with a price, literally—these tools are not cheap and they have a tendency to create giant chasms between socio-economic groups.  Students who only have access to computers and tech-gadgets at school are less likely to be able to complete projects during class time.  Schools in areas with a lower socio-economic backing struggle to provide the access within classrooms which create a whole host of concern about how those students will succeed in post-secondary institution and the work force.  And, of course, planning for all of this technology integration  takes time, loads and loads of time. Teachers who plan and prepare as a team can split some of these tasks but for those in smaller schools, a lot of this work falls on one, and it’s much too large a task for one person to take on.

Despite some of the concerns, the good news is that the promise of a future where every student has access to the tools that make learning interesting and accessible is upon us.  The kid that sits and stares at a page of text, unable to decode more than 10% of the words, doesn’t need to be crippled by a reading disability any more.  The proverbial ramps are being built and every student will be able to enter the school knowing that her shortcomings will not be barriers everywhere she turns.

Some of Rachels Reasons to use Technology:

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