Digital Classroom Project

There are many considerations that go into designing a digital classroom. By digital classroom, I am meaning preparing my physical classroom for digital learners. I will always love the powerful interactions that come with face-to-face teaching and learning, exactly why I am going into this profession. Feel free to check out my in-depth analysis of designing a digital classroom here!

To me, the most important question to consider when implementing technology: Is the implementation of this technology going to enhance my students' learning? From there, I consider my pedagogical beliefs, the design of my classroom, and the hardware students will use. 

My pedagogical beliefs include my teaching philosophy. Every decision I make is putting my students first. Take a look at my considerations I make when determining technology's place in my classroom: 

That being said, I firmly believe that technology deserves a permanent place within my classroom. Effective technology integration has the ability to reach the students “traditional” education often misses, adapting to these diverse learning styles. Technology can advance student-learning to that next level, empowering students to be lifelong learners by sparking their interests. Technology use also boosts student motivation by enhancing the material being taught. These are all priceless and crucial components to my reasoning behind integrating technology into my classroom. 

From there, I considered the tools that will help meet my pedagogical beliefs. I don't want to say that I considered the bare minimum, but I am also realistic about budgets schools have and know excess technology is not necessary. I decided anything outside of the bare minimum wasn't necessary and was sure not to duplicate on purposes of technology. That helped me narrow down which technology tools were most important. I also considered the many classrooms I have been in and by combining my favorite components, I decided the most necessary tools! As a future early childhood education teacher, I designed my classroom to be developmentally appropriate for preschool through 3rd grade students. 

My Top Technology Tools:

• Projector mounted to the ceiling, out of the way but easy to use
• Allows the entire class to have a visual at once, key to this age group’s development
• Mounted to the ceiling prevents the need of a cart, allowing for seamless functionality

• Document Camera
• Another option for the whole class to be able to see a visual
• Allows for hands-on learning to showcase work (i.e. having a student demonstrate how they solved a math problem using manipulatives for the whole class to see) 

• 1:1 tablets for each student that stay at school 
• Appropriate for students’ small hands and limited typing skills as well as easier for this age group to manipulate this size of device 
• 1:1 allows for seamless integration and differentiating instruction for all children at once
• Tablets stay at school as they are not necessary for growth at home and are not developmentally appropriate to give this age group this kind of responsibility 

• Mobile lab of laptops for each grade level
• Allows more access to computers than a single computer lab shared by the whole school
• Shared with grade will be plenty of access due to 1:1 tablet integration 

I hope all of these tools are available in my future classroom. To have my technology tools and pedagogical beliefs aline most effectively, it would be useful to have a classroom that physically allows for this to happen. Effective technology implementation, to me, looks like:

• Tables instead of desks to encourage collaboration
• Ample electrical outlets
• A reliable high-speed Internet connection
• Easy-to-control lighting
• Access to a digital classroom to access online resources (blog, website, Symbaloo, etc.) 

Feel free to check out my digital classroom project for a more in-depth analysis of my choices!

The "Four Cs"

I reflected on the NEA article I read called An Educator’s Guide to the “Four Cs.” Feel free to check it out here!

The “Four Cs”
     -Critical Thinking

     -Communicating
     -Creating
     -Collaborating

To better prepare my students for the challenges of 21^st century citizenship, it will be important to integrate the “Four Cs” into the everyday functioning of my classroom. I can do this by being intentional in setting up my classroom, in my teaching style, and the activities I prepare for my students to accomplish. The “Four Cs” should also be embedded in a cross-curricular fashion in order to reach its full potential and purpose. The “Four Cs” should also not function separately but rather be intertwined and used together to help students reach their full potential.

Being intentional about incorporating the “Four Cs” is crucial to its success. To help my students become critical thinkers, I will present opportunities that allow them to reason effectively, use systems thinking and analyzing, make judgments and decisions, and solve problems. The other Cs connect well to critical thinking and should often be used while thinking critically. Likewise, being able to communicate is crucial to being able to collaborate. Communication refers to oral and written articulation as well as listening. Creativity pushes students to their fullest potential and truly makes their minds work. 

All of the “Four Cs” are incorporated intentionally through modeling, creating a classroom environment that pushes for “Four C” thinking, asking questions to push my students to think and act this way, and creating activities that allow my students to put the “Four Cs” to work, so it becomes second nature for them. The “Four Cs” advocate for higher level thinking in all content areas, taking my students’ learning to that next level. Activities that are project-based and problem solving by nature will allow the “Four Cs” to come about naturally.

Collaborating creates more holistic results, and modeling this for our students will encourage them to collaborate effectively with their peers. Working collaboratively with other educators will also improve students’ performance of the “Four Cs” when teacher teams and leaders within the district are behind this movement. Students’ performance will improve when educators are given the resources to help them to embed the “Four Cs” in the curriculum, instruction, professional development, and even assessment. Using technology through social media, professional learning networks, etc. to see how other educators are successfully implementing the “Four Cs” is also a wonderful collaboration tool.

Technology presents itself as a wonderful opportunity to put the “Four Cs” into action, as each of these Cs often come about when technology is used effectively. Students can think critically while coding, can communicate through social media, can collaborate through project-based tools, and can create using creator apps. These are just a few examples off the top of my head while the possibilities are endless. I plan to be a “Four Cs” educator.

SAMR Evaluation

(Jamie Fath lecture, 2015) 

“Teaching above the line” is often used when discussing SAMR. I think this is an important concept because it pushes teachers to take technology use to that next level. Just as the image shows, teaching above the line transforms learning with the use of the technology tool. This model helps support teachers as they design and integrate the use of the technology. When teaching above the line, student engagement becomes more of the focus, pushing students to "transform" their learning. In my opinion, this is exactly why technology should exist and reasons why integration can help take student learning to that next level.

Depending on the age group, SAMR is a good model for teachers to use when discussing technology use with students. As a future Early Childhood Education teacher, I do not foresee myself using this terminology with my students, as it is nowhere near developmentally appropriate. Even when finding words that would make sense to them, I have a hard time seeing this as a concept that even really needs to be discussed. Perhaps I should challenge myself to incorporate this into my classroom to take my students' technology understanding to that next level. When it comes to older students, this could be incredibly beneficial, as they would have a greater understanding of the purposes of technology and its different uses.

SAMR relates to Grounded Technology Integration as I would say each of the five steps of Grounded Technology Integration consider SAMR.

The five steps of Grounded Technology Integration:

1.     Choose learning goals.

2.     Make pedagogical decisions.

3.     Select activity types to combine.

4.     Select assessment strategies.

5.     Select tools/resources. 

(Harris & Hofer, 2009)

SAMR really focuses on Step 5, select tools and resources, but it includes steps 1-4 in deciding how beneficial the tool is and what purpose it is serving. 

I evaluated the Arizona Technology Integration Matrix, also known as TIM. This matrix considers the level of technology integration into the curriculum, which I would say is where SAMR falls, with characteristics of the learning environment. SAMR has more of a technology-driven feel to it with the underlying emphasis that when "teaching above the line," student engagement and learning will be increase. 

I like how TIM considers the characteristics of a learning environment when considering technology integration. I also appreciate the resources that come along with it. It is a lot more extensive, so if I lacked knowledge or experience with technology, it would be a great resource as a teacher. I appreciate how SAMR is short and to the point. It serves as a quick self-evaluation of my integration of technology use. That being said, there are a few gray areas that come along with SAMR while TIM is a matrix of 25 cells, making it more cut and dry.

These both relate back to TPACK as technology will never reach its full potential if content knowledge and pedagogy are not considered first and then successfully intertwined together with technology. To me, SAMR and TIM are useless without considering TPACK when integrating technology. TIM and SAMR are useful resources when it comes to integrated technology as long as content knowledge and pedagogy are always considered when choosing tools.

Articles and websites contributing to my reflection and opinions: 

Grounded Tech Integration by Judi Harris and Mark Hofer

Arizona Technology Integration Matrix