"Top Ten Things Teachers Should Know About Technology," Part 2

At the beginning of the semester, we made our own list of the top ten things teachers should know about using technology in the classroom. After a semester of exploring different kinds of technology for the classroom, I have a slightly different take on the Top 10. The first six are from the beginning of the semester, and the last four are thoughts and learning since then. #7-10 have been directly influenced by what I've learned about pathfinders, social media, and gaming (none of which I would have thought about before).

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1. Experiment and play: Teachers need time to fool around with resources, just like kids do. We need to explore all the possibilities of the app or website in advance, so we can troubleshoot and use the program to its full advantage. Unfortunately, many teachers skip this step because of time constraints.

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2  Back-up plans: Inevitably, something will go wrong, and it will go wrong in front of a group of students (or even during an evaluation!). Know what you will do if your plan won’t work, either using different technology or a lesson without any technology.

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3. Inch by inch: It’s overwhelming to get tons of information at once, especially if you’re new to technology use. We can focus on one thing at a time until we’re comfortable with that new learning.

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4. Students are often the experts: In many situations, students know as much or more about the technology we use. They have instincts we have to learn (the whole ‘digital native’ thing), and they have much more experience with technology than we do. We need to let go of having full control and let them troubleshoot and come up with new learning possibilities.

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5. Create your own professional development: Whether it’s a Twitter discussion or an RSS feed for blogs, we can keep up with changes through discussions with others. Find others who are learning and learn with them.

6. Technology doesn’t improve instruction all by itself: Teachers need to find ways to integrate technology into best teaching practices. Technology is a tool, not a substitute for instruction. With 1:1 devices and BYOD an approaching reality for many school districts, this outlook will be even more important.

7. Change is constant: No matter how up-to-date we think we are, what we are using this year will either be obsolete or replaced soon. In addition to keeping up with professional development (#5), we need to keep exploring the new features of what we are currently using.

8. Students benefit from vetted research sites: Whether through LibGuides, Pathfinders, tabs on school catalogs, or other ways, we can provide our students with accurate, grade-level appropriate research websites. Curating websites for students reduces the chances of them finding inaccurate information, and enhances the time they actually spend comprehending and synthesizing their learning.

9. Using technology at school means being a good digital citizen. Students need to know about plagiarism, citations, fair use, and more if they are creating content. They also should be learning about privacy, safety, and school policies.

10. Social media and gaming can be effective learning tools. In addition to blogs and wikis, schools can use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. to show student learning and keep families involved with what’s happening at school. There are also ways to incorporate gaming into the classroom, such as using Minecraft to develop math and social studies skills.