The research says...

    Technology is changing at a rate that makes it hard to fathom what will be available 20 years from now, which is why I find research surrounding technology in education to be interesting. The combination of cell phones and the internet has caused much of society to become addicted to instant gratification and the need to be entertained, and as time goes by children are being given phones/iPads at younger and younger ages. Although there are some benefits, if you work with children it is clear to see that all of this screen time is effecting the way students act in school. Last year I felt like I noticed more than ever that my students expected to be entertained and did not accept boredom. Did this make me resent the youth, just like my teachers probably did with my generation not too long ago? Do I worry about the future of society when the most sought after career of my students is to be a famous YouTuber? Yes it does. But that didn't stop me from trying to find new ways to keep them engaged. I could not imagine trying to do this without technology. I would try to break up my 84-minute math class into several different activities, using technology whenever I could. Students would start out working on Khan Academy many days, where I'd push them to drive their own learning. I would use the websites Desmos and Geogebra to help students discover the math themselves with visual tools and engaging activities.  When I looked at Project Tomorrow's Infographic titled "Ten Things Everyone Should Know about K-12 Students' Digital Learning, 2018", the very first section made me really think about when technology started making a real difference in my classroom.

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What this says to me is that just because a student is engaged with a screen in front of them, that does not mean that they are learning. I think of when I first started using sites like Kahoot and how exciting it was, but then being frustrated that students weren't really getting enough out of it because they were guessing answers without doing any math, or some students didn't have enough time to think of answers on the spot. I've found that self-paced activities on Desmos are much more thought provoking, allowing students to develop creativity skills through recognizing patterns, which leads to building a deeper understanding of the math and getting better grades. People at my school make fun of me for liking Khan Academy so much, but it was such a game-changer in my classroom for helping struggling learners catch up or advanced learners jump ahead to the next level. Plus it pretty much lead to me getting my current job as the Tech Coordinator (check out my Khan Academy website).

Bridging the gap 

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Another research article that hit home for me was from Project Tomorrow, titled The Educational Equity Imperative: Leveraging Technology to Empower Learning for All, written by Julie A. Evans, Ed. D. The article talks about the importance of schools providing their students with an assigned computer if they are going to truly provide an equitable education. If students are not provided opportunities to learn how to use technology in a professional environment, they will be way farther behind those who do when it comes to competing for jobs. Even though digital media use by teachers is reported as being just as prevalent in Title 1 and urban schools as it is in suburban schools, technology is much more effective when it is in the hands of students. The article states, "53% of principals with a 1:1 program report that technology is used effectively in math classes at their school with resulting academic benefits.  Only 43% of all principals say the same about technology usage in their math classrooms." The school that I currently work at, Conrady Junior High, has won a few awards in the time that I've worked there for being a high achieving Title 1 school. The graphic below, which shows how well our school does academically compared to schools in Illinois close to our demographics, really makes me proud to know that we are providing our students with an equitable education. Two very broad reasons I can attribute this to are having high expectations and utilizing technology. Technology gives students who fall behind a chance to catch up if they set their mind to it. It also allows them to continue to push themselves beyond what they are provided in the classroom. Many of my students move in from different countries, not always given much of an opportunity to receive an education in the past, but they have leveraged technology with support from teachers to level the playing field with their peers, and that is what gives me some hope for my bored, instant-gratificationified students.

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Here's a link to my previous post on this topic.