How are you using technology in your classroom?

Full transcript below video.

Video Transcript

Alright guys, are you ready? Today we are talking about for really bad ways to use technology in your classroom. If you want more information like this, more content like this, you want to keep getting awesome things from our team, make sure you click, like and subscribe to the link down below, so that you can never miss something awesome that we put out here.

So speaking of awesome these four ways to use technology, most decidedly are not awesome, so let’s break it down. Number one if you are using technology as a paper substitute, that’s great for the environment, but it’s not necessarily great for learning. For example, I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve seen teachers essentially take a worksheet, put it on the computer, and call it technology integration.

Guys, that’s not it, that’s not cutting it, a worksheet that simply asked students to answer a variety of questions is a worksheet, whether it is on paper or whether it is on the computer, there’s no added value for the students to put it on the computer. So if you want to do on the computer, great, but that doesn’t mean that you are innovating and transforming learning, you’re just giving them a worksheet, yeah, it’s a worksheet on a screen, but it’s just a worksheet. So consider how you can take that and transform it into a learning experience that’s actually meaningful, that goes deeper, that isn’t just regurgitation of facts back onto a digital piece of paper, okay?

Number two really bad way to use technology in the classroom, don’t do this one. I can’t tell you the number of times I walk into a classroom, and guys, it drives me crazy, it’s okay you’ve done this, you can fix it moving forward, but it’s time to change. Don’t use the technology as busywork. Alright, it is not there so that you can work with a small group of students, as the rest of the class is clicking away on the computer or tablet doing some kind of game or some kind of digital worksheet like we talked about in the first bad way to use technology. Tech is not busywork, you want to use tech well, and when you use it to transform learning, you’re not going to use it just as busy work..

Third really bad way to use technology in the classroom, the first two annoy me, this third one, actually makes me a little bit angry, and that’s because I see people using technology in the classroom as a pacifier. Guys, the students sitting in your classroom are not two year olds who need their binky, so they can get out of your hair.

The students sitting in your classroom are students who are there to be in engaged learning experiences diving into content really investigating, and when you give them a tablet or computer or something and say, “Okay, why don’t you get on coolmathgames.com,” you are giving them a pacifier, you’re saying get out of my hair, go do this thing and it’s not really benefiting you, it’s not really taking you any further in your understanding, but I need you out of my hair. That is why we put students on those websites. So tech is not a pacifier, tech is not a binky. Kids give up binkies before they come to school, we hope. Don’t give them a new one when you give them a tablet.

And last but most certainly not least number four bad way to use technology, and this one is kind of a catch all. When teachers use technology as the end all be all, that is a really bad way to use tech. I am a techie, I love tech. My Twitter handle is at @TechieTeachOtt, I think it’s awesome, I think there’s amazing things you can do with it, but technology cannot replace every learning experience our students have in the classroom.

You want to go paperless? Awesome. You want to teach them technology skills? Great. But, there are times and there are places when the technology really needs to be put away. If you are doing a stimulation, a classroom simulation, where students are connecting and talking and moving around the room, it doesn’t necessarily need tech. Don’t stick tech into your activity just because you’re trying to put technology into your activity. Use the tech in the activity when the activity calls for it, alright, when it improves the learning, when it takes it a step further and really can transform the experience for your students, but that doesn’t happen every single activity of the day, and I’ve seen some teachers who are uber excited about getting technology in their classroom and everything goes to tech.

Kudos to you for trying something new out, but pull the reins back just a little bit. Make sure there are some things that you do in class that are not on the tablet, not on the computer. It’s all about balance, guys, you’ve got to find a balance between using it for awesomeness and using it way too much.

So if you recognized yourself in any of those four really bad ways to use technology, I wanted to say first and foremost, it’s okay! We can all move forward, we can all get better, and if you disagree with one of these four really bad ways to use technology that i’ve said, please let me know. Leave a comment, let’s have a discussion about it because I want to hear your thoughts too. Thanks guys for watching, and I can’t wait to hear the ways you’re using tech to tech better.

Blog header image photo by William Iven on Unsplash.