Two Roles of Technology Within Literacy Instruction
When I asked teachers this spring what they learned after this school year, the common response was “technology”.
Easy to see why. At any minute, a classroom could go virtual due to a positive case in our school (we are now five days in person, for better or worse).
Teachers have become especially adept at using Zoom and other virtual conference tools. It is nothing now for a teacher to plan for an online author visit, or to facilitate book buddies via the smartboard. What once needed an appointment with our library media technology specialist now only requires cooperative equipment and a good Internet connection.
As we think about next year, how can we carry over our improved capacity for technology integration? To help with the planning process, we might think about our digital devices and connections as serving within one of two roles: as a context or as a tool.
Technology as a Context
“Is this technology?” The first grade teacher held up a pencil for her students. Several kids initially shook their heads. A few seconds later, one student said yes.
“Can you say more about that?” the teacher asked. The student explained that pencils are created by people to help us write.
The teacher affirmed his response. She went on to explain that the older and the more part-of-our-lives these technologies become, the less they feel like a technology compared to newer items. “Let’s learn about more innovations we have created.” Students then engaged in reading and discussing informational texts about the history of some of these tools.1
Technology as a context means constructing knowledge and learning skills around this concept or within digital environments. There are many technology-centric topics that can capture students’ interests.
Smartphones
Social Media
Artificial Intelligence
Online Misinformation/Disinformation
These areas of study offer opportunities for deep questions and inquiry. For example, “Is social media a benefit or a hindrance?” Students could research an event and a tool to make their case either way. Greta Thunberg leverages Twitter to create awareness and empower others to act on behalf of the environment. However, shaming and disinformation is creating obstacles for well-meaning individuals to make positive contributions to society.
In fact, to not have a technology-as-a-context unit as part of your curriculum is probably doing your kids a disservice. Consider this: People get the majority of their news online via social media2, and yet too many of us do not even finish what we are reading before we share it online3. To stay engaged and informed, students need strategies and skills for our relatively new platforms for communication.
Technology as a Tool
This is the more traditional role of our connections and devices. Yet the technologies we are being asked to use are becoming more complex. Just look at today’s gaming controllers compared to what we had 20 or 30 years ago. More buttons and more features to allow us more ways to engage online and digitally.
However, how we leverage these tools for our learning experiences do not have to be overly complicated. Simple is often better. If you have a toolbox at home, which tools do you use most? My screwdriver, drill, and hammer help me with many tasks.
Likewise in the literacy classroom, while the tasks should be appropriately challenging, how we use the tools for authentic purposes can be straightforward.
For instance, a teacher wants each of their students to maintain a digital literacy portfolio.4 They believe it is important that kids have an audience for their work which enhances the purpose for the tasks. The teacher spends one to two sessions modeling how to set up a Google Site to showcase their favorite pieces and to show growth over time. They recommend the following pages on each site:
Standards that describe quality artifacts and even links to past student exemplars could be embedded on each page.
Every 4-6 weeks, students would be provided time and guidance to post their pieces, write a brief reflection for each artifact, and then share their updated portfolios with family and friends as a celebration of their learning.
Does this feel doable? I hope so. If technology as a tool or a context becomes an obstacle, it might be time to rethink its role in the classroom or school.
Let us know your questions and thinking regarding this week’s post in the comments.
I will be talking books and critical thinking5 on Sunday, 4/25 with Choice Literacy. Join us!
A version of this example was published in my first book with ASCD, Five Myths About Classroom Technology.
“Americans Are Wary of the Role Social Media Sites Play in Delivering the News” (Pew Research Center)
Farhad Manjoo wrote a funny explanation on why people don’t stay focused when reading online (Slate).
You can read more about this topic in my second book with ASCD, Digital Portfolios in the Classroom.