The article written by Liz Keren-Klob is about doing
more than just using technology in the classroom. It is about using technology in the classroom
so that students become engaged in their learning, the technology enhances the
learning, and it altogether enriches students learning. In the beginning of the article it showed
that student-teachers and even veteran teachers did not know the true meaning
of these three words. To me engagement
means making students excited about learning, in the article engagement means “the
teacher is trying to find a way to motivate or interest disengaged students.” (Keren-Klob, 2013, p. 20) To me enhancement means making learning fun
and valuable, in the article enhancement means “using technology to develop
understanding of learning goals that could not have been accomplished without
those tools.” (Keren-Klob, 2013, p. 20) To me enrichment means
learning the material will be helpful in life, in the article enrichment means “the
technology brings learning outside the classroom walls and into students’
everyday lives, where they can continue to grow after they leave school.” (Keren-Klob, 2013, p. 20) As you can see even I did not truly know what
these three words meant when it came to technology and education. This article opened my eyes and made me think
about what this all really meant and how to use technology correctly in my
classroom.
As
I was learning more about engagement with technology I found a great video that
shows how one elementary school uses technology to engage students in every single
classroom. The thing that I found most
interesting was that they even used technology to engage students in specials
like music. They use it for Math, Reading,
Science, and Language Arts. The students
use iPads, iPods, computers, microscopes with cameras, SMART boards, stylus, and
clickers. The activity I liked the most
was seeing the students use the microscope with the camera to look at rocks and
see them on the computer. The teachers
talk about how they use technology and how they think it helps students learn
and stay engaged. This video shows how
students are constantly engaged through the use of technology because throughout
the video the students look like they are enjoying what they are doing and they
seem motivated because they are mostly taking ownership of their own work and
working in partners.
When
I saw this picture after reading the Keren-Kolb article I automatically thought
about enhancement with technology. The
key concept of enhancement is understanding learning goals that could not have
been accomplished without technology. In
this image the learn is where the enter key, it is a key that opens a world of
opportunity, gives you resources, and can ultimately help you to understand why
you are learning what you are learning. It
embraces enhancement with technology for students.
In a book titled Learning, Media and Technology authors did a study to see if students use technology more in school or in everyday life. “The findings suggest a wide diversity of usage of technologies with the usage rates of technology in academic study being generally lower than those in everyday life.” (Corrin, Lockyer, Bennett, 2011) With that being said teachers can teach students apps, websites and other things that they can use outside of school. This goes right along with enrichment and showing that students can use what they learn in the classroom and technology in their everyday life.
These multiple articles and other resources really opened my eyes to how we should use technology to better benefit students. Technology should be engage, enhance, and extend learning. As a teacher I will have to make sure to plan my lessons so that they do these things for students. Technology will be key in my classroom.
References
Corrin, L., Lockyer, L., & Bennett, S. (2011). Learning, Media, and Technology (4th ed., Vol. 34, pp. 387-401).
Keren-Kolb, L. (2013). Engage, Enhance, and Extend. ISTE, 20-27. Retrieved September 2, 2014, from https://e.edim.co/398708/engage_enhance_and_extend52.pdf?Expires=1409712345&Signature=FRuzdt7-PZeTD4Iuqis43t9SnBQs7Hsu1M2FOw1hQD65Vg5Gu1om4PiUSiC4lYKzvT21-d1lCZ8FuHr2iQsRAPFNQAMOqzh5OoddBuHn8rDWQg7PUB5bWjuQhPLiH9O-nWUD-VBPVk7SElB1LYZn2rsISKOiYbW305eWca6kWkQ_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJI74L7OXO7CNJA7Q
