In the school media center, it is easy to dream of big ticket items like 3D printers and VR headsets as must-haves for our students to be able to be future-ready. And these examples of technology hardware would certainly add quite an impact to the lessons with which the students could engage. But perhaps we find ourselves at the helm of a less well-funded district library. We can still foster technology integration and prepare students for a digital age with a modest budget. Technology integration in the school should not be focused on the particular tech toy, but rather on how the tech can foster the curriculum. "...becoming effective technology leaders involves shifting the focus of our efforts from promoting technology tools and usage to supporting teachers in designing technology-enabled learning experiences." (Green, 42)
The Technology Integration Matrix, or TIM, is a research-based teaching framework wherein the levels of technology integration are crossed with the characteristics of the learning environment. The matrix can help teachers and observers be aware of their environments and could help them move themselves and their students into and through different technology modalities. The goal of using the matrix is not to get to a specific level or square. As Dr. James Welsh states in this very helpful introduction video, "...within the matrix, there is not a bad area to be or a good area to be; the matrix is a system of describing what you're seeing in the classroom." (FETC, 2021) The TIM can also help educators know where they might want to go in terms of professional development.
That five characteristics of the learning environment are active, collaborative, constructive, authentic and goal-directed. The five levels of technology integration are entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion and transformation. All 25 squares are appropriate places to be in a classroom, as long as they are intentional and meeting the needs of the student, teacher and district.
So putting all of these ideas together and knowing that we as teacher-librarians want to foster 21st century learning skills of critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity, I wanted to find an easily accessible piece of technology hardware that could act as a gateway to further technology integration. Enter the humble microphone and headset. When paired with the ubiquitous digital learning device such as a Chromebook, laptop or smartphone, the media center can become a place where students can move from passive learning to digital content creators. My recommendation would be a two-way microphone for multiple users, and headphones.
Teacher's use of microphones in the classroom has been studied many times over for its benefits for harnessing the attention of the students and promoting learning. (Millett, 2008) Microphone amplification of teacher's voice also helps English Language Learners, students with ADHD, and benefits students with hearing loss that is not documented. Use of a microphone in the classroom is a great example of entry level technology use for active (passive) learning.
Another great use of microphones and headsets would be for teachers to have emerging readers record themselves reading. The readers can practice their skills and teachers can check in on progress without the students risking embarrassment in front of their peers. On the same level of technology integration would be high school public speakers or debate team members recording themselves and playing their work back for practice. These are good examples of active adoption of technology tool for active learning.
Moving into collaborative learning, the students can use microphones and a recording app to become information digesters. I can envision a social studies or English language arts class reading or watching some news, current event or other story. Then the students can take on different roles of the story to create a new product. This could be a news report or a live report of events, or a new story altogether. This sort of activity would display an adaptation level of technology use with collaborative learning.
At the middle school or high school level, librarian teachers can use microphones and headsets to incorporate podcast creation into their curriculum. If you need some inspiration for how to create podcasts with students, you can read this story (NPR, 2021) about how four teachers co-taught and fostered a culture of creation. Those middle school teachers were inspired by the annual NPR Podcast Challenge that on its own page includes detailed directions for teachers and students on the nuts and bolts of podcast creation (NPR, 2023).
Going one step further on podcasts in the classroom, The New York Times also holds the Student Podcast Contest. (NPR, 2023) They have outlined an entire lesson plan that includes storytelling, researching, interviewing, editing, and producing. "While technology integration implies increased and indiscriminate technology use by teachers and students, technology enabled learning 'places the primary emphasis where it needs to be: on the content-based pedagogy of teachers’ lessons followed by a consideration of all the tools teachers might use to implement it, in order to effect student learning' (Brantley-Dias and Ertmer 2013, 120)." (Green, 42)
One teacher's thoughts on how collaborative podcast creation shows off the authentic transformation level of technology integration are, "...for the most part, you should give teens control. In our podcast, the students created the name (Booklings Chat), the intro music using their own instruments, and recorded the intro and outro. They also made their own artwork to use as promotion for the podcast." (Maxwell, 2022)
The teacher/librarian in another school who wrote up her experiences with having microphones and headsets available is quoted as saying, "The hope is that this (audio) studio will be a resource for both students and faculty to showcase their work." (Little, 2019) This level of technology integration would be in the transformative level and goal-directed transformation of learning.
Future of Education Technology Conference [Florida Center for Instructional Technology conference presentation]. (2021, February 8). Introduction to the Technology Integration Matrix - Dr. James Welsh [Video]. YouTube https://youtu.be/REByCgv1eyE
Gay, A. (2020, March 5). 8 creative uses for classroom headphones. Learning Headphones. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://learningheadphones.com/blogs/school-headphone-blog/8-creative-uses-for-classroom-headphones
Green, L. (2014). Through the looking glass. Knowledge Quest, 43(1), 36-43.
NPR. (2021, October 24). The superstar teachers of our student podcast challenge. https://www.npr.org/2021/10/24/1047336743/the-superstar-teachers-of-our-student-podcast-challenge
NPR. (2023, January 6). Starting your podcast: A guide for students. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2018/11/15/662070097/starting-your-podcast-a-guide-for-students
NPR. (2023, January 6). The fifth annual NPR Student Podcast Challenge is open for entries! https://www.npr.org/2022/12/14/1141665744/student-podcast-challenge- contest-npr-2023
After reading about all the technology hardware we could use to strengthen our lessons, I could not agree more with this statement. "Technology integration in the school should not be focused on the particular tech toy, but rather on how the tech can foster the curriculum" Many times we are focused on the newest gadget and how we can use it, not why we need it and can we afford it.
ReplyDeleteI like how you explored something some of us may use all the time, but may take advantage of. I would have never thought of a student recording themselves on a headset and microphone to have the teacher listen to it. That would help with things like accuracy and fluency of reading. Having the students recording themselves reading is kind of like the app I researched for our last blog post.
Great explanation of how to effectively use a microphone and headset to enhance both teaching and student learning.