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Even when students are working with apps and devices, their learning should be social and connected to the world around them.

When using digital devices, children often struggle to transfer the skills learned via the devices into their everyday lives. In a recent study, for example, children who used software that showed them how to complete puzzles were unable to complete the puzzles using physical pieces-yet when a human demonstrated the task, the children were able to successfully complete it.

How does this research inform my classroom practice with technology? Instead of relying on the tutorials that come with the educational software we use, I demonstrate myself how to use it, and I create my own video tutorials because my students are more likely to take up the skill when they hear my familiar voice and see me demonstrating the features.

Over the past decade, research on technology in learning has emerged that informs educators on best implementation strategies when using technology. Below are three practices that teachers can employ so they are using research-informed strategies when selecting tools and integrating those tools into learning.

Keep Learning Social

Many schools have moved to a one-to-one device experience, but social learning should not go away just because students have a personal device. It's important to find digital tools and instructional strategies that allow students to have two-way conversations about what they're doing and learning.

There are several ways teachers can bring social learning into technology integration. Look for applications that allow synchronous collaboration and feedback, such as Collabrify Suite and Scratchwork. Both of these tools support students and teachers in working together on documents, editing, and providing feedback in real time.

Teachers can also integrate social learning instructional strategies-such as turn and talks, share alouds, think/pair/share, purposefully partnering students, and questioning techniques-into situations when students are working on devices.

Lesson example of social learning with technology: Students use Google Docs to write an argument. Have them take full advantage of the synchronicity of Google Docs by editing each other's work and giving real-time feedback with the comment feature. This allows the students to share in each other's learning by engaging together in the writing process via technology.

Ensure That the Technology Adds Value

Technology is effective when it adds value to the lesson by enhancing the learning in ways that could not easily be done without technology. For example, some tools support differentiation or break down concepts to make them easier to understand. Additionally, software that helps students elicit higher-level thinking tends to be more beneficial to cognitive growth than drill and practice software.

Teachers can ensure that technology integration adds value by looking for applications that support students in engaging with higher-level cognitive skills and differentiated learning.

For example, in the activity lab of Seesaw, teachers can select or create activities at different learning levels and assign them to individuals or groups of students. Math software such as CueThink helps students to work together on math problems, and focuses on the process of doing math, rather than drill and practice.

Teachers can also integrate instructional strategies when using technology that evokes higher-level thinking, such as asking probing questions, using visible thinking routines and graphic organizers, or asking students to do reflective notebooks. This is particularly important if students are using drill and practice software.

Lesson example of adding value with technology: Students record themselves reciting poetry with Audacity to work on their fluency skills. The Audacity software adds value to the lesson in multiple ways: It allows the students' word enunciations to become visible in audio waveforms, it allows students to hear themselves so they can make modifications, and it enables students use their higher-level cognitive skills such as analyzing and comparing.

Make the Learning Authentic

Teachers can bring real-world learning with technology into the classroom by using applications that allow students to learn with others outside the classroom. iNaturalist, for example, encourages students to explore biological species in their hometown and share their scientific analysis with people across the globe. And mobile scavenger hunt tools such as GooseChase -which allows students to do field-based activities to gather knowledge about their communities-make connections between classroom learning and the world around students.

Teachers can also integrate instructional strategies that connect authentic examples with the classroom activity, such as partnering with expert organizations for project-based learning activities, asking students to come up with what they want to learn based on their life experiences, making text-to-self connections, setting up a pen-pal program, or bringing in experts on topics.

Lesson example of authentic integration with technology: Students studying environmental impacts on animals participate in a virtual field trip to an aquarium, where they learn about sea turtles and how the environment plays a role in the animals' lives. The students ask questions of the experts at the aquarium and can see how the turtles react to different elements in their sea environment.

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Even when students are working with apps and devices, their learning should be social and connected to the world around them.

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Many teachers believe that you should start each school year with a disciplined, teacher-centric environment and relax it over time. However, research shows that to really get a handle on classroom management and encourage student achievement, a teacher should immediately allow kids to talk and build community through collaboration. In fact, the ASCD publication The New Circles of Learning: Cooperation in the Classroom and School by David W. Johnson, Roger T. Johnson, and Edythe Johnson Holubec, suggests that to be truly effective, a teacher needs to use collaboration and cooperative strategies at least 60 percent of the time. That being the case, we can't avoid introducing them early on.

Why Collaborative Groups?

Learning is a social activity, and interaction with course material is not meant to be defined as simply between a textbook and an individual student. In fact, Johns Hopkins University researchers found in a two-year study of schools that used cooperative learning that "high, average, and low achievers all achieved better than controls at similar achievement levels."

Education research supports more collaborative grouping in the classroom-and so do students. In Just Ask Us: Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement, I explore the results of a nationwide survey of students in sixth through 12th grade that asked the simple question: "What engages you as learners?" What began as a poll of my own classroom has now become a survey that encompasses classrooms from all over the country, from every school model, from rural to urban schools, from coast to coast.

The survey results could be deconstructed into 10 categories, each backed by research. Yet no response appeared in the student engagement survey with more frequency than getting to collaborate, talk, and work with their peers. Period.

Moving Toward a More Collaborative Classroom

It can be scary that first time you dive into the collaborative learning pool, in particular at the beginning of the school year when you don't know your students yet. I remember being the teacher with the rows of desks, and I remember the questions running through my head that first time I shoved those desks around to create a table group.

My initial questions reflected a panicked, lizard-brain focus on the control I thought I'd lose. But here's what really happened once I embraced collaborative learning:

When I look back now, my questions seem ridiculous, because so much has become better and more effective. But how do you form groups at the beginning of the school year when you have yet to learn the students?

Tips for Successful Collaborative Grouping

There are strategies you need to put in place when you are asking students to participate in group work, especially in the beginning of the year. Without them, you're setting the students and the strategy up for failure.

Constantly Shuffle Kids Around: Send the signal thatchanges can happen at any moment. Set up the classroom for easy, fluid grouping. Label the positions at each table group to quickly create new, random groups at will. The first week of school, I might declare, "All Oberons meet me at my desk!" or "All Hemingways group together to give peer feedback on your journals!" This makes grouping kids more equitable and less threatening. Base the names of the seat positions on names/vocabulary from your subject area. Break down cliques and self-imposed groupings so that the clique is the classroom community itself.

Create Agreements Right From the Start: Create a whole-class shared document, such as a Classroom Constitution or Classroom Contract. Start by making norms as a class. Small groups can then mimic the process whenever they begin a group project together.

Give Students Choice Immediately: Many of these students have worked together before coming to your class, so feel free to ask their advice. I generally ask students to list four kids they'd like to work with, and I promise they'll have one from that list. This method honors student choice, but also gives you some modicum of control based on what you might already be learning about your new students-individually and as a group.

Using collaboration from the start is about creating a classroom that functions as a cohesive group, one that helps students lift each other up through individual challenges and models what a collective mentality can accomplish.

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Start the Year With Collaboration | Edutopia

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Many teachers believe that you should start each school year with a disciplined, teacher-centric environment and relax it over time. However, research shows that to really get a handle on classroom management and encourage student achievement, a teacher should immediately allow kids to talk and build community through collaboration.

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When school leaders decide to start a new technology project-whether it's a small one like adopting a new technology tool or a large one like going 1:1-they often dread one or two teachers they suspect will be reluctant and could keep the project from succeeding. They may avoid these teachers or not address their reluctance.

But understanding the position of reluctant teachers may help the leaders preserve collegial relationships and encourage the teachers to accept and work hard for the new project-such teachers, far from being stubborn, may have valid points that those who are eager for change may have overlooked.

Change is difficult, and individuals accept it at different rates. In the fundamental work on how change occurs, Everett Rogers argued that people can be divided into five main groups in terms of how they accept change.

The innovators, the first group, jump onboard easily-these are the people who wait in line for the newest phone or laptop. The next group, early adopters, wait for a little more information but are relatively quick to embrace change and are often seen as leaders by others who are deciding whether to join in or not. The next two groups, the early majority and late majority, wait to see how things will work out-people in the late majority are generally skeptical of change-but they do join once they're sure an initiative is moving forward. Rogers classified his final group as laggards, and these are the people leaders dread-very skeptical of change and willing to fight to stop it.

Working With Reluctant Adopters

The thing is, leaders should expect to find members of this group on staff, and they should be part of any implementation plan. What that requires is first exploring what it is that's stopping them from implementing the proposed change. While it might be frustrating to spend time convincing people to move forward on a technology project, the time spent working to reduce barriers can help ensure positive relationships.

Peggy Ertmer of Purdue University has studied the barriers that keep people from adopting new technology projects. First-order barriers are external and technical, such as difficulty using a new piece of software. Second-order barriers are internal-for example, a teacher may think that a technology project doesn't match what they believe about teaching and learning.

First-order barriers are the easiest to deal with; making sure that teachers have support to learn these technologies and to deal directly with technical problems will resolve these problems. Second-order barriers are more difficult. If teachers don't believe that a specific technology will make a difference to students, or if they fear they will lose what they like about teaching, it can be difficult to change their minds.

As with all change, a new technology project is about relationships, so dealing with second-order barriers begins with getting to know the reluctant teachers and their concerns. Ask them to talk about their teaching-what was their favorite lesson in the last month? Why did they like it? Build on that lesson. Help them identify how technology could enhance that lesson.

Consider pairing the teacher with an early adopter or an early or late majority teacher. Innovators can be overwhelming because they may be too gung ho to empathize with a reluctant teacher's concerns, but teachers who are a little reluctant themselves can show reluctant teachers classroom examples of how the project could benefit them. These teachers could help their reluctant colleagues identify a single app or feature based on individual classroom concerns-teachers are more willing to invest the time to learn a new technology when it directly addresses a classroom need.

If the teacher is fearful that they will lose control in their classroom, consider introducing tools where they have more control. Tools like Google Classroom and Squirrels software allow teachers to see what students are doing on devices. Programs like Nearpod allow teachers to control classroom presentation pace on student devices.

If teachers are worried that the devices will make them feel less connected to students, emphasize tools that promote connection and give student voice. Tools like Remind, Seesaw, and Bloomz allow an educator to communicate with students in new ways and also showcase student work and share positive stories with parents.

Encourage teachers to allow students to create content in open-ended assignments. Showing reluctant teachers these kinds of projects (videos, e-books, presentations, etc.) allows them to see how creating such work can empower students with learning differences or language challenges to participate in new ways beyond traditional classroom activities.

Many schools adopt the SAMR model (an acronym for "substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition") when looking at technology integration. For example, filling out a worksheet online instead of on paper is substitution; adding voice annotation augments the student work; modification changes an assignment, as when a teacher assigns a multimedia product instead of an essay; and redefinition may involve completely restructuring a whole activity, like shifting to group problem-based learning. A mistake some leaders make is to expect users of new technology to redefine their practice with every lesson-for many teachers, just substituting technology can make a big difference in the student experience.

For example, going from paper formative assessments to using something like Pear Deck on Google would create positive change. Leaders should look for growth. An innovator may make major changes to their classroom and not show as much growth as someone who makes a smaller change from paper to digital tools. Celebrate the changes that reluctant teachers make and encourage them to push further outside their comfort zone.

For each new school initiative, the educators in the school will have different values that drive them. If leaders and other teachers acknowledge that every project will have some people reluctant to join based on valid barriers and then listen to their concerns and celebrate their movement toward integration, a reluctant technology user can be a valuable member of the team and their changes can positively impact student lives.

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Reluctant Adopters and Technology Initiatives

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When school leaders decide to start a new technology project-whether it's a small one like adopting a new technology tool or a large one like going 1:1-they often dread one or two teachers they suspect will be reluctant and could keep the project from succeeding. They may avoid these teachers or not address their reluctance.

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Teachers can deepen student learning by making the most of classroom technology.

Blended learning continues to grow as an approach to meeting learner needs, especially as schools put more computers and other devices into student hands. The growth of blended learning is generally paced at the comfort of teachers as they expand their use of digital tools for teaching and learning-at present learning to teach with digital tools seems to be the greater focus than exploring how to deepen students' learning.

Learning how to teach through blended learning makes perfect sense when the teacher is the learner, seeking to expand their toolbox of instructional practices. But opportunities exist to further transform practices by placing learning into students' hands.

Having visited many schools that incorporate blended learning, I've come up with four categories for the application of instructional technology. Viewing blended learning practices through the lens of these categories can show us how to deepen student learning.

4 Categories of Tech Use in Blended Learning

1. Managed learning: Management of instruction and assessment is just as important online as it is in the physical classroom. Online platforms such as Schoology, Google Classroom, and Blackboard CourseSites enable teachers to communicate about and collect assignments, give feedback, and offer learning resources to meet diverse learners' needs. Teachers and administrators can communicate with students, parents, and other stakeholders in a rich dialog that places the learner at the center of the conversation.

2. Orchestrated learning: Teachers frame learning by directing students toward controlled experiences. Following the teacher's lead, students participate in directed instruction and practice. Examples include completing digital worksheets, posting reading responses on discussion boards, taking notes from video tutorials or teacher-recorded lectures and demonstrations, or participating in whole class reviews using Kahoot or Edpuzzle.

These first two categories of using technology for learning are a good foundation to build on. When adding the next two categories to the mix, teachers empower students to lead, which can bring deeper challenges-and deeper learning.

3. Collaborative learning: Student-led learning experiences-both individual and group activities-can promote collaboration and critical thinking. Teachers and students can work together to personalize learning based on students' needs through an immense treasure trove of online resources. Use networking portals like LinkedIn and Twitter to connect with experts who can provide guidance and/or share their expertise with students. Using video conferencing, students can follow up with these experts, further linking curriculum to real-world interests.

Sometimes students need personalized support. Teachers can keep this personalized support manageable in a couple of ways. After building a resource library based on common need areas, a teacher can expand it to address needs that come up less frequently, and advise individual students or groups about these helpful resources.

In addition, try giving students voice as to how they demonstrate learning-for example, give them access to a list like my " 100+ Tools for Differentiating Instruction Through Social Media," and let them choose from that list or propose something else as a basis for creating a learning product.

Students need coaching and practice to deepen collaboration skills as part of digital citizenship. Share useful examples of comments on articles and well-crafted product reviews. And share feedback prompts students can use in online discussions about their ideas and learning products-for example, stems like "I like _____," "I wonder _____," and "What if _____?"

4. Authentic learning: Learning should be made public. Students raise their game when they have to share their results with an interested outside audience-whether in live events or publications. Engage learning based on an authentic audience beyond the classroom to give a context for how curriculum applies to real-world situations.

Use private sites like wikis, Schoology, and Google Hangouts so students can practice sharing work internally. Present student work on public sites, like blogs and social media platforms, when they're ready to share their voice with the general community or a targeted audience.

After networking via LinkedIn and/or Twitter, as described above, take those relationships to the next level. Provide students with "game day" moments, such as shark tanks, live-streamed presentations, or product presentations for a client. Students demonstrate what they know and can do for an audience that has an interest in the topic.

Conduct feedback protocols and collaborative learning sessions with professional partners or clients. Video conference tools create access between any location or time. Real-time examples include WhatsApp, Google Hangouts, Skype, and Zoom. Asynchronous examples include discussion boards, tweets with hashtags, and the commenting feature on blogs, YouTube, and other social media platforms.

Learning Is Complex

Success requires a highly qualified teacher who uses their expertise and assessment tools to diagnose learner needs, and then crafts targeted instruction with the available resources. Only then can blended learning be transformational, when instruction is not a reflection of traditional practices and is instead a set of dynamic experiences in students' hands.

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Teachers can deepen student learning by making the most of classroom technology. Blended learning continues to grow as an approach to meeting learner needs, especially as schools put more computers and other devices into student hands.

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Technology has always been at the forefront of human education. From the days of carving figures on rock walls to today, when most students are equipped with several portable technological devices at any given time, technology continues to push educational capabilities to new levels. In looking at where educational methods and tools have come from to where they are going in the future, technology's importance in the classroom is evident now more than ever.
A History of Classroom Technology

The Primitive Classroom

In the Colonial years, wooden paddles with printed lessons, called Horn-Books, were used to assist students in learning verses. Over 200 years later, in 1870, technology advanced to include the Magic Lantern, a primitive version of a slide projector that projected images printed on glass plates. By the time World War I ended, around 8,000 lantern slides were circulating through the Chicago public school system. By the time the Chalkboard came around in 1890, followed by the pencil in 1900, it was clear that students were hungry for more advanced educational tools.

Radio in the 1920s sparked an entirely new wave of learning; on-air classes began popping up for any student within listening range.

Next came the overhead projector in 1930, followed by the ballpoint pen in 1940 and headphones in 1950.

Videotapes arrived on the scene in 1951, creating a new and exciting method of instruction.

The Skinner Teaching Machine produced a combined system of teaching and testing, providing reinforcement for correct answers so that the student can move on to the next lesson.

The photocopier (1959) and handheld calculator (1972) entered the classrooms next, allowing for mass production of material on the fly and quick mathematical calculations.

The Scantron system of testing, introduced by Michael Sokolski n 1972, allowed educators to grade tests more quickly and efficiently.

The pre-computer years were formative in the choices made for computers in the years following. Immediate response-type systems (video, calculator, Scantron) had become necessary, and quick production of teaching materials, using the photocopier, had become a standard. The U.S. Department of Education reports that high school enrollment was only 10% in 1900, but by 1992 had expanded to 95%. The number of students in college in 1930 was around 1 million, but by 2012 had grown to a record 21.6 million. Teachers needed new methods of instruction and testing, and students were looking for new ways to communicate, study, and learn.

The Entrance and Significance of Personal Computers

Although the first computers were developed in the '30s, everyday-use computers were introduced in the '80s. The first portable computer, in 1981, weighed 24 pounds and cost $1,795. When IBM introduced its first personal computer in 1981, the educational world knew that it was on the verge of greatness. Time magazine named The Computer its "Man of the Year" in 1982, and aptly so: the foundation of immediate learning capabilities had been laid. Time declared, "it is the end result of a technological revolution that has been in the making for four decades and is now, quite literally, hitting home."

Toshiba released its first mass-market consumer laptop in 1985 (the T1100), and Apple's infamous Mac (which later evolved into the Powerbook) was available starting in 1984.

In 1990, The World Wide Web was given life when a British researcher developed Hyper Text Markup Language, or HTML, and when the National Science Foundation (NSF) removed restrictions on the commercial use of the Internet in 1993, the world exploded into a frenzy of newfound research and communication methods.

The first Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) were released by Apple Computer Inc. in 1993, and with that, computers were a part of every day, if not every moment. By 2009, 97% of classrooms had one or more computers, and 93% of classroom computers had Internet access. For every 5 students, there was one computer. Instructors stated that 40% of students used computers often in their educational methods, in addition to interactive whiteboards and digital cameras. College students nowadays are rarely without some form of computer technology: 83% own a laptop, and over 50% have a Smartphone.

The Future of Technology in the Classroom

It seems like years since MySpace, first introduced in 2003, Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2007) have changed both the communication and business worlds. Instant connectivity has branched out from merely a tool of personal communication, to a platform for educational instruction and outreach. Social media is now being recognized as an accepted form of instruction in some instances, and groups such as Scholastic Teachers provide excellent support and tips for instructors. Many instructors use social media to communicate directly with their students, or to form forum-style groups for students to communicate with each other, and the method seems to be proving valuable in providing one-on-one attention to student's questions and concerns.

With the classroom having already evolved into a hotbed of technological advances, what can the future possibly hold that could further educational proficiencies even more?

Biometrics, a technology that recognizes people based on certain physical or behavioral traits, is on the technological horizon. The science will be used to recognize the physical and emotional disposition of students in the classroom, altering course material to tailor to each individual's needs based on biometric signals.

A second up-and-coming technology is Augmented Reality (AR) glasses, rumored to be on Google's release list, and this technology could be a whole new world for education. AR Glasses (or even contact lenses) will layer data on top of what we naturally see, to allow for a real-world learning experience. For example, a student wearing AR Glasses could potentially sit at his desk and have a conversation with Thomas Edison about invention. It was Edison, after all, who said that "Books will soon be obsolete in schools. Scholars will soon be instructed through the eye."

Multi-touch surfaces are commonly used through equipment such as the iPhone, but the technology could become more relevant to education through entirely multi-touch surfaces, such as desks or workstations. This could allow students to collaborate with other students, even those around the world, and videos and other virtual tools could be streamed directly to the surface.

Educators and the Evolution of Technology in the Classroom

With the evolution of technology, educational capabilities are growing and changing every day. The Internet is a vast electronic library of information, and both research and instruction can be achieved through a click of the mouse. With these advances come new responsibilities to the instructor and therefore increase the value of a Master's of Science in Education in Learning Design and Technology. As technology advances, an educator's abilities will grow by leaps and bounds, and without the knowledge of these changes and capabilities, an instructor has a good chance of being left behind.
A career in education requires hard work and dedication, but, for the diligent educator, can prove very rewarding. For those who are serious about success in the education field, staying well-informed of current and changing technologies is imperative. As the world of technology evolves, the learning environment, both on-campus and online, will equally progress, and the need for teachers who are educated in technology and design will continue to grow.

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The Evolution of Technology in the Classroom

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Technology has always been at the forefront of human education. From the days of carving figures on rock walls to today, when most students are equipped with several portable technological devices at any given time, technology continues to push educational...