“How should we incorporate the use of digital technologies in our classrooms?”

During ESC515- Classroom Technologies, I have learned that there is much more to incorporating digital technologies into a classroom than first meets the eye. I am a self-proclaimed “early adopter” of technology in the classroom and it has become apparent to me that I need to think and critically analyze the many factors of technology incorporation so that it can lead to meaningful and rich learning experiences for students.
Models and frameworks for digital technology integration in the classroom provide “best practices” for tasks and assessments using technology. They allow a teacher to consider the various factors affecting technology integration in their specific situation and apply the appropriate framework (Ertmer, 2005). There are many different frameworks to suit teachers’ different technology integration philosophies and levels of comfort, and each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses (Phillips, 2015). This variety, however, can create inconsistencies across classrooms, subjects, or from grade to grade. This can create issues for students to move forward with the necessary skills and digital competencies for the next level of education. Hamilton et. al. (2016) has stated that the important factor of using any framework for technology integration in education is that the model is flexible and adaptable and focuses on deep learning experiences rather than a “check box” hierarchal mentality.
Once a framework is decided upon, there are many options for integrating digital technologies into the classroom within that framework. A Google search confirms this with the entire first page filled with scholarly articles on different methods, hardware, software, and benefits of integration. Eady and Lockyer (2013) create a checklist of sorts to determine if the integration method is valuable or not. However, the question remains of how many of these boxes must be “checked” to deem a tool valuable to integrate? They also highlight factors that could affect this evaluation process and outline barriers to technology integration. So I think that there is no real straightforward answer and a teacher must use all of these methods of evaluation and structure to purposefully decide their ultimate goal of a lesson or assessment.
Now that a teacher has worked tirelessly to create meaningful integration of technology into their student’s learning, they become a watchdog for misuse of technology, and should be aware of the various ethical and legal issues now a part of how they teach (Buchanan, 2019). This is assuming that they have received all necessary and up-to-date training and have the necessary experience dealing with issues such as cyberbullying. This doesn’t seem to be the case for new teachers who are viewed as being the most technologically savvy and charged with integrating technology (Redmond et. al., 2018). Even if all of these barriers are overcome, teachers are after all only human, and can professionally misuse technology as well (Warnick et. al., 2016). Is it appropriate and realistic to expect the kind of perfection necessary to be a “model” educator from a human? Or should the role of educator be a part of the new and emerging technologies that solve the “problems” of educational technology integration?
While we still fulfill the role of educator, rather than “jump in” with technology integration into lessons and assessment like I use to be, a teacher should use the guidance from so many recommended readings (Selwyn, 2016) (Newhouse, 2013) (Harasim, 2017) (Smith et. al., 1992), and follow their “proceed with caution” warning. What may seem like great ICT integration is nothing more than replacements of effective means of learning and collaboration. A teacher must use a critical eye to determine if technology is needed, or adds to a deeper understanding of subject material. Using Roblyer’s et. al. (2014) model has provided me with the guidance needed to ensure that deeper understanding and learning comes first when planning lessons and assessments, and is only supplemented with technology when it adds to the learning experience.

References

Buchanan, R. (2019). Digital Ethical Dilemmas in Teaching. In M. A. Peters (ed.), Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. https://www.academia.edu/40012109/Digital_Ethical_Dilemmas_in_Teaching

Eady, M. J., Lockyer, L. (2013), ‘Tools for learning: technology and teaching strategies’. Learning to Teach in the Primary School. Queensland University of Technology, Australia. pp. 71.https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1413&context=asdpapers&sei

Ertmer, P. A. (2005). Teacher pedagogical beliefs: the final frontier in our quest for technology integration? Educational Technology Research and Development, 53(4), 25–39. doi:10.1007/bf02504683.

Hamilton, E. R., Rosenberg, J. M., & Akcaoglu, M. (2016). The substitution augmentation modification redefinition (SAMR) model: A critical review and suggestions for its use. TechTrends, 60(5), 433-441. https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/article/10.1007/s11528-016-0091-y

Harasim, L. (2017). Learning Theory and Online Technologies. Taylor & Francis Group. ProQuest Ebook Central. http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/detail.action?docID=4865772.

Ibieta, A., Hinostroza, J. E., Labbé, C., Claro, M. (2017). The role of the Internet in teachers’ professional practice: activities and factors associated with teacher use of ICT inside and outside the classroom. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 26(4), 425-438.https://www-tandfonline-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/full/10.1080/1475939X.2017.1296489?scroll=top&needAccess=true#_i21

M. Phillips. Digital technology integration. In Henderson, M. & Romeo, G. (eds) (2015). Teaching and Digital Technologies: Big Issues and Critical questions. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. https://doms.csu.edu.au/csu/file/8dceecc0-ca68-4ea7-890b-3a41dae43521/1/phillips-m.pdf

Newhouse, C. P. (2013). ICT in the Australian curriculum. In Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on Computers in Education (pp. 914-919). Bali, Indonesia.  https://ro.ecu.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1378&context=ecuworks2013

Redmond, P., Lock, J. V., & Smart, V. (2018). Pre-service teachers’ perspectives of cyberbullying. Computers & Education, 119, 1-13. https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/science/article/pii/S0360131517302610?via%3Dihub

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2014). Integrating educational technology into teaching. 6th Edition. Pearson. http://ezproxy.csu.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=1418279&site=ehost-live&ebv=EB&ppid=pp_78

Sanders, M., & George, A. (2017). Viewing the changing world of educational technology from a different perspective: Present realities, past lessons, and future possibilities. Education and Information Technologies, 22(6), 2915-2933. https://link-springer-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/article/10.1007/s10639-017-9604-3

Selwyn, N. (2016). What Do We Mean by ‘Education’ and ‘Technology’? In Education and technology: Key issues and debates. Bloomsbury Publishing. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=661054&ppg=12

Smith, B. L., MacGregor, J. T. (1992). What is collaborative learning? In A. Goodsell, M. Maher, V. Tinto, B. L. Smith & J. MacGregor. Collaborative Learning: A Sourcebook for Higher Education. National Center on Postsecondary Teaching, Learning, and Assessment at Pennsylvania State University. https://www.evergreen.edu/sites/default/files/facultydevelopment/docs/WhatisCollaborativeLearning.pdf

Timmis, S., Broadfoot, P., Sutherland, R., & Oldfield, A. (2016). Rethinking assessment in a digital age: Opportunities, challenges and risks. British Educational Research Journal, 42(3), 454–476. https://primo.csu.edu.au/permalink/61CSU_INST/cbhpm/wj10.1002%252Fberj.3215

Victorian State Government, Department of Education and Training. (2021, September). ICT Planning: Planning for digital technologies and ICT across the curriculum. https://fuse.education.vic.gov.au/pages/ictplanning

Warnick, B. R., Bitters, T. A., Falk, T. M., & Kim, S. H. (2016). Social media use and teacher ethics. Educational Policy, 30(5), 771-795. https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.csu.edu.au/doi/full/10.1177/0895904814552895

Wilson, D., Alaniz, K., & Sikora, J., (2016). Digital media in today’s classrooms: The potential for meaningful teaching, learning, and assessment. Chapter 8. Rowman & Littlefield. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csuau/reader.action?docID=4747221&ppg=114