True Benefits of Classroom Technology: An Interview with Mrs. H

On December 18 and January 6, respectively, I had the good fortune of observing and interviewing the Computer Literacy teacher, Mrs. H, at Bow Memorial School, my local middle school where I also substitute teach. Before delving into the treasure trove of technology insights I learned from this meeting, first I need to paint you a picture of just how cool Mrs. H is. 

Mrs. H

Mrs. H began as a math teacher about 17 years ago but was also drawn to tech-based workshops. In fact, Mrs. H's school had a program in which teachers could go to computer camp for a week and get paid to do it. If anyone paid me to go to school, that's pretty much what I'd do forever. Anyway, Mrs. H had such an insatiable appetite for these workshops and computer camps that by the time she enrolled for her Master's in Computer Technology at Plymouth, she was already close to graduating. 

Okay, now comes the really cool part about Mrs. H. Are you ready? Several framed photographs hang on Mrs. H's classroom wall--President Obama, Vice President Biden, former Secretary Clinton, etc. Oh, and Mrs. H is in all of these photos too. And they're autographed with personal messages from these people who happen to run the world. Through her work with the National Education Association, Mrs. H has met with and received autographed candid photos from every President of the United States since the Carter administration! 

Computer Literacy

Now, Mrs. H only has her Computer Literacy students for 22 day rotations--that's 88 days over four years--but you'd never guess that level of time crunch by the students' near-reverant engagement in their work. Have you ever seen consecutive classes of fifth through eighth graders collectively and silently enthralled in their schoolwork? I stood in the center of the classroom--computer stations hugged the perimeter of the room so all screens faced my vantage point as I pivoted in place--and watched in awe as tiny hands flew across keyboards for Type To Learn or pointed out coding errors on a friend's screen for Hour of Code. Twelve-year-olds are learning how to program, hooked onto the craft by Frozen-inspired coding activities. Students could choose from many other themes as well--zombies, those pig-like things from Angry Birds, heroes-vanquishing-monster vignettes, and many more. My husband is a software developer who creates iPhone apps and medical web sites and I gotta tell you--programming is basically a foreign language. Mrs. H's computer room is a habitat for mini geniuses. Some students wore ear buds and listened to Pandora while they worked--Mrs. H tries to be flexible with the students, which results in greater responsibility for the kids and respect for Mrs. H--while others gleefully compare and contrast the code they've written. 

Clearly, the rigor is in Mrs. H's classroom. This Common Core virtue of challenging students with higher-level thinking not only pushes students to raise their own standards of themselves, but instills pride and confidence when they discover the depth of their capabilities. This--circle the paragraph, star it, pull out your highlighter--is why I want to be a teacher. Every student should have the opportunity to explore their abilities and scale their intellectual mountain, then stand at the summit to review all that they've accomplished. 

"Dillon!" a couple boys stage-whisper to their friend. "Can you show me how to screenshot again?" 

Dillon dutifully slides his chair over and starts going through the steps. 

"Oh yeah yeah, I remember, okay cool," one boy interrupts halfway through Dillon's explanation. "Watch, I'm going to crop this photo of Dillon's face and put it over Matt's body!" The boys erupt in laughter, content in their goofing off and maybe unaware that they're also doing what they're supposed to be doing--learning how to manipulate and integrate different types of technology into useful results. They stumbled upon the secret that nerdy students like me have been trying to share forever: school is fun. No, really. 

Mrs. H gave me a long list of the types of technology that her students use--Google classroom, Moodle, Adobe Creative Suite, Office suite (Microsoft and Apple), the aforementioned coding and typing modules, etc.--but this laundry list of sites and applications matter less than the rest of our conversation. I know that sounds strange, but bear with me. "Those are just tools," Mrs. H said, waving her hand. 

Graphic adapted from easel.ly

Musings...

I follow this seemingly incongruous thought process. We're talking about using technology in the classroom, so why the dismissiveness surrounding...the technology? This idea is important, and it's what I didn't understand when I began learning about becoming a Connected Educator. I got too hung up on the actual technology. Effective classroom technology isn't about holding up an iPad in the center of the room and paying homage: "Behold! All hail the iPad!" It's not about a single app on that iPad. It's also not about using PowerPoint for a lesson just because you can. What's the difference from just writing your presentation on the board or using an overhead projector? No--technology is for making the lesson better. It's for integrating ideas and modalities in ways that aren't possible or practical through traditional teaching methods. 

Mrs H is all over these effective uses of technology. Her students use all of these tools to complete projects--everything is project-based learning and therefore meaningful to students--and create digital portfolios that follow the students throughout middle and high school and maybe even show up in college applications. For instance, students combined their tech knowledge with Spanish or French class to create a brochure about a country. They used photoshop to alter images, scanning technology, Publisher and Illustrator to design and lay out the brochure, all while learning about another culture, language, and region of the world. Those tech tools made the students' results better and more meaningful while checking all of the relevant ISTE standards.

I talked with Mrs. H for nearly an hour after witnessing her classroom magic. By that time, I was charged up, itching for my teaching certification, and frantically filing Mrs. H's lessons and projects in my mind-vault for future reference. I finally asked Mrs. H what she saw as the future of technology and her response surprised and intrigued me.

Mrs. H thinks we'll transition in a big way to all online learning. Tools like Google classroom make it easy for teachers to manage a course and forums allow students immediate and constant interaction. Students will move toward choosing what to learn--along the lines of myriad games and themes within Hour of Code--and therefore follow a more personalized and interest-driven educational path within the parameters of traditional curricula. Keyboarding will no longer be a "Special"--the district's term for an elective--and a Computer Lit teacher like Mrs. H will be more of a floater, visiting certain classrooms for an allotted time while students work on an integrated technology/core subject project. 

...And Revelations

I must admit, Mrs. H's vision of the future is a far cry from the Fahrenheit 451 of my nightmares. I hope that, when I'm teaching, I can channel Mrs. H's ingenuity to engender the same type of rich, tech-friendly environment for rigorous projects and meaningful outcomes. I understand now--and I'm a little relieved--that I don't need to know about every tech gadget and popular site. Using technology just because it exists ignores the greater benefits of integration, collaboration, and personal challenges. I may never understand what Twitter is for in the same kind of way that I'll never understand what New Englanders mean by a frappe--seriously, it's not a milkshake? But it's ice-cream related?--but it's not about the singular piece of technology. We're looking at the big picture. And it keeps getting bigger.