Anna Leiss
Science Teacher
Education technology can be used in a variety of ways including increasing student achievement, differentiation, assessment, monitoring student progress, and communicating with colleagues or families. Technology is rapidly changing and it is imperative that I remain current with the latest and most effective educational technology available for my classroom.
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While teaching remotely during distance learning in the 2020-2021 pandemic, I was able to use education technology with which I was already proficient and learned how to use new tools to better address the learning needs of my students. Examples of tools include:
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Google Classroom including Google Meet
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Zoom
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YouTube including creating original content using iMovie
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Screencastify
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Newsela
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EdPuzzle
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Quizlet
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Quizizz
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Kahoot
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BrainPop
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Padlet
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PhET Simulations
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Gizmos
Whether in the classroom or online my students are familiar with and proficient in the use of technology that's needed for class.
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Technology allows me to vary my teaching strategies and expand my repertoire to accommodate the needs of all students. Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory tells us that within my classroom I will have students that excel in learning using their different strengths and preferences. Educational technology gives me the variety of learning tools needed to allow my students to engage with and demonstrate their knowledge in a variety of ways. Educational technology also addresses Carol Tomlinson’s research on differentiation where students need to demonstrate their knowledge in different ways where students can create an even greater number of different products using technology.
Educational technology also allows me to introduce students to the tools they will be using outside of school in academia or in the workforce. That said, any technology I use and in the classroom needs to be developmentally appropriate and effectively utilized. Using technology just for technology’s sake is an inappropriate use and is likely to end up outdated quickly. My intention will be to make sure students are using technology that enhances their learning.
Acquiring and utilizing appropriate technology means that I will need to remain up-to-date with the latest equipment and software. By staying up-to-date I can be better informed with technology that can meet the needs in my classroom but I can also maintain my knowledge of how technology is changing or remains the same. In this way I can better prepare my students for the world outside of the classroom and also be sure to use technology that has remained effective over time.
Take a look at some of the lab videos I created for students to use during distance learning.
Artifacts
Quizlet
My students use Quizlet to study unit vocabulary. I provide the study sets but it is up to them to determine how to best use it. What is nice about Quizlet is there are many ways for my students to study vocabulary. Quizlet makes it easy for me to post to Google Classroom so students can have easy access to the study sets. Often, I will give students time to study the terms on their own and then we will play Quizlet Live as a class.
Kahoot Quiz
The use of digital assessment tools has made the teaching cycle significantly more efficient and informative. This particular quiz was used to gain more insight to the prior knowledge students had on plants. Based on this pre-assessment I was able to appropriately pace my unit and create heterogeneous student groups based on achievement.
Collaborative use of Google Suite
I was fortunate enough to work in schools where students had access to laptops when needed. The laptops at both schools were Chromebooks and students often utilized the collaborative properties of the Google Suite. I used this technology for students to enter their group's data and then they could view and analyze the whole class data.