Integrating Technology in Education

It seems like everyone in the world, carries a phone in hand either at home, school, or in a work environment as technology advances each day. The question is though, how much is it being used and is it benefiting one’s mental health? According to Common Sense Media, in the 2023 Constant Companion Report , students use about 126 minutes (about 2 hours) of their school day on social media.   Image Source : Commonsensemedia.org I found the graph above interesting, and it made me wonder what kind of policies schools have in place with the use of cell phones during the school day. I know in the school district I work at, the current policy for students is phones are not used during school hours and put away in a backpack. At the high school where my children attend, they are a little more flexible with use depending on the class . Some teachers let students quietly listen to music while working on assignments or use their phone to participate in an activity. These uses of the phone a

 As one who actively works in education, it is always interesting to observe the way teachers at different grade levels teach. With recovering from teaching in Pandemic, many teachers are trying different teaching strategies to help engage students and take a step above passive learning . What is passive learning? Passive learning is when students are responsible for taking in information. This can be completed through lectures or assigned readings. For many students, this concept of passive learning may not work for them because they have a challenging time sitting still or just cannot absorb information in this way.  What is Active Learning? Let us welcome active learning into the classroom. What is active learning ? Active learning involves the student in learning by engaging them through different activities and discussions. The focus is on students leading the learning and not the teacher just lecturing facts through a lecture. The teacher can stand by to facilitate, but the stude

How much does one spend online, whether it is on a phone or on a computer? As I work full time during the day, student at night, and mom 24/7 , this really made me ponder. At work, I spend a limited amount of time on a computer, but when I am not teaching, I am creating documents for organizing information for students in the classroom for the Special Education Resource Teacher and getting things together for lessons that are planned. At home, I am organizing my remarkably busy Google calendar of our family activities and events. In addition, I am working on my master's program, which involves quite a bit of technology since it is all online.        Everyone uses technology in some way, and you cannot really get away from it unless you unplug from it all.        Image Source: Giphy.com My Digital Space Map As I created my digital map, I really had to focus on where certain things fit. I added most of my educational (master's Program studies) in my professional quadrants becaus

 Trends in Educational Technology - Learning Ally When thinking about technology in education, I think back to COVID Pandemic when schools were shutdown and teachers and students were doing remote learning. Schools had to adjust quickly to doing everything online, which was a learning process that was difficult. Teachers and students adjusted to being on an iPad or Chromebook each day and survived the chaotic times of managing lessons online through Zoom and Google Meets. As I examine students that I work with in education and those that I observe when I push in for support in classrooms, I see students who are struggling with certain skills that they did not quite learn. What is being done to assist these students? In most cases, these students remain in general education struggling until additional testing is completed. After testing and intervention is done, students end up in Special Education Resources for support and direct instruction. These are the students I assist in learning

 This week I am taking a closer look into the world of technology that I use in the Special Education Resource room under the  SAMR Model  developed by Ruben Puentedura in 2010, an education researcher.  Image Source: edutopia.org                                                                                      What is the SAMR Model? There are four different layers of SAMR - Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition. This framework assists educators in seeing how they are using technology in the classroom and how they are helping to examine the level in which students are learning with the the technology.  Substitution  focuses on something that can be done digitally instead of on paper. For example, a student uses an online dictionary versus going to a shelf in the classroom to use a traditional dictionary. This is honestly something that I resort to today in the classroom. How many teachers still have paper dictionaries in their classroom? Augmentation  focuses o