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Especially when Students WANT to learn using Technology

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Especially when Students WANT to learn using Technology

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This (to the right) is a word cloud answering the question "Do you think using Technology makes school more interesting and Why?" The overwhelming answer was...

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What Do Students physically Need in Order to have an authentic digital learning experience...

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What Do Students physically Need in Order to have an authentic digital learning experience...

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ALL 140 of the students who answered this survey question responded that they need more or better access to technology when at school. One responded that "the wifi network wasn't very strong and it was frustrating to work with" while another answered that they "don't even know how to have regular access to a computer at school". Most students said that they feel like the school does not have enough technology to go around which is why it isn't used all the time. This is true of my high school. We have one laptop cart per core content. For Example, this means you have 12 teachers who all teach social studies classes at the same time with one laptop cart. That means that 32/360 kids who are in Social Studies classes can use the computer at one time. BUT- this just means we need to be MORE CREATIVE as teachers and think outside the box. We need to do things like create digital partner activities or ASK the community for help! I love the example in the "Dont Ditch That Tech" book about getting old cell phones donated to the classroom in order for more students to have access to the web! Teachers cannot just accept their position - they need to TRY to improve it- for the sake of their students!

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...with our use of technology within the classroom then we can create those true and authentic learning experiences. But we have to provide them with the necessary framework when using digital tools. We cannot allow the tool to be the teacher. The tool should just help to facilitate the students learning experience. It cannot stand on its own. So what do students NEED in order have that authentic digital experience?

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"Describe a time that you were excited about learning?"

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"Describe a time that you were excited about learning?"

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The students had a wide variety of answers to this question but what stuck out to me was the word "doing". Over and over again they answered with things like "doing science labs", "doing group work", "doing activities", "doing research", "doing projects", "doing web quests". All of these students are talking about education as a verb. The ACT of education has had a more powerful impact on them and created an excitement for learning. THIS IS WHAT ALL TEACHERS NEED TO KNOW! We have to be conscience about our intentions behind our pedagogy when we are planning and implementing instruction. We need to plan with the "Doing" in mind because that is what the kids get excited about and when they are excited about learning they will have a more lifelong and authentic learning experience!

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This World Cloud is the result of combining all the survey answers to the question "How do you learn best"?

It is very evident that "Hands on learning", "visual learning", and "activities" are the top three ways that students believe they learn best in this modern world. It is interesting that these three are the top answers because none of these are applicable to the more traditional ideas of education which tends to fall in the "sit and get" category. There were some students who did answer that they felt they learned best through note taking but it was usually followed up with activities that reinforce the information from the notes. This correlates directly to the question "Describe a time that you were excited about learning" (follow the arrow to the right)

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Survey Results of Interviewing 140 Students

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Survey Results of Interviewing 140 Students

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I used a google form to survey 140 students. The students are mostly from the high school that I teach at (Eugene Ashley High School in Wilmington NC) but some are my followers on twitter who completed the survey after I posted the link to my page. Here is my analysis of the results...