Digital Tools in a Digital Environment

I love using technology in my class, and I am always eager to learn from people in my school what new tools they are using and how they are incorporating them into lessons. I have also been extremely fortunate to work with an amazing librarian who was constantly searching for new tools that could be used in our classrooms. I like to use a lot of review games like Kahoot, Gimkit and Blooket both as individual review and class reviews, but I do see that students quickly become bored with these games because they are being used in every class. Instead of having students create physical vocabulary cards, they can practice their vocabulary on quizlet in multiple ways and even take practice quizzes. Last year, I had a split class of in-person and remote learners, and I relied on Nearpod to engage students during a more traditional lecture class. I could mix in multiple choice questions, drawing, open ended responses and a review game at the end. I will continue using Nearpod because I like that students can easily share their thoughts with me during a lesson without having to share it verbally with the whole class and can even stay anonymous on a discussion board that is seen by the whole class. I have a better grasp of what each student is thinking, and they feel comfortable to share without judgment from classmates.

Even though I am usually one of the first to use a new technology tool and quickly become comfortable teaching others how to use it, what I am realizing is that I am getting my technology tools from other teachers instead of being a leader and researching the trends and evidence myself. I need to do a better job of reading technology journals and studies, so that I can find and introduce new effective tools in my classroom to best support my blended learning environment. Sugata Mitra had a very powerful story of children’s abilities to learn on their own when presented with an interesting challenge or question along with the ability to investigate and experiment at their own pace. My goal in a blended learning environment is to create a space for students to explore an interesting challenge, and I need to learn more about the technology tools that can help make that environment possible.

Mitra, S. (2013). Build a school in the cloud. YouTube. Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3jYVe1RGaU