Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom
Before this week's assignment I hadn't given much thought to evaluating the student use of technology in my classroom. Although to be honest, student use is fairly low at the Early Childhood level. While I appreciate and acknowledge the importance, and usefulness of technological tools, we are focusing more on a student's communication and interpersonal skills with this age group. That is not to say we use no technology. We do use some technology with the students, we have a Benq board that we use for writing practice and we can project videos and music to. I like the idea of being more intentional when I think about using technology in my teaching.
The Triple E Framework is an appealing tool for me to evaluate my classroom technology use. Their motto, "Learning First, Technology Second" aligns with how I think about technology in the classroom. The three 'E's' in this framework questions whether technology Engages Learning, Enhances Learning and Extends Learning. Within each of these categories there are 3 questions to consider when deciding if the technology you want to use is appropriate for the lesson and your students. I appreciate that this framework pairs the technology use with more traditional teaching methods. Technology should not be a replacement for learning, but a tool to help us achieve our goals.
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| Image Source: Triple E Framework |
The rubric that accompanies this framework asks the questions posed in the graphic above and then assigns points to the answers. 2 points for 'yes', 1 point for 'somewhat and 0 points for no. When you add up your points you can quickly evaluate your results, 13-18 points are Green Light meaning they meet all components of the framework, 7-12 points is Yellow Light meaning it might meet 2 components of the framework and they suggests you take a closer look at the use or further enhance with instructional strategies and 6 points or less is Red Light meaning is likely only meets one component of the framework and teachers should reconsider the use of technology. I looked at a lesson I did a few months back where I shared a video of a field trip to the Post Office with my class, to kick off our Valentine's Unit, where we turned our Dramatic Play Center into a Post Office.
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| Image source: Triple E Framework |
I was pleased to discover that this activity was a green light, as it was a great way to help my students understand what happens at a post office, in a way that a story couldn't and was easier than taking an actual field trip. This is definitely a clear, concise and easy to use tool that I will continue to revisit when thinking about technology usage in my class.
Thanks so much for including the screenshot of your rubric results! It's so nice to be able to reference these when reading about them. I appreciated your comment about how the focus at early childhood is NOT technology but that it can be used to enhance your teaching and that you walked away from this with the idea of being more intentional of your use of tech.
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ReplyDeleteI also found that a tool that views technology as secondary to the learning goals is probably the most effective in any classroom setting. When reading through this framework, which I also reviewed, the effectiveness of any lesson plan in the classroom is dependent on how successful an instructor is in developing appropriate learning goals and how the technology adds value to those lessons. A lesson like yours for example, incorporated a simple video that allowed your students to see a post office and understand how and why it exists. Given that your students are much younger, this helps them visualize and familiarize themselves with concepts and people that work there and you essentially have made the connection to their real world setting where at some point they will interact with someone who works at the post office, they may mail or receive a letter, recognize a building, etc.
Does your classroom use other forms of technology to assist in the development of communication and interpersonal skills currently? I am sure your classroom has a lot of fun ways for children to work together and learn together - most importantly, must be so much fun watching these interactions occur.
The layout in which you presented the information made it easy to follow and helped me better understand this particular framework. Although I did glance through the framework, your explanation definitely makes me want to revisit it. The use of the rubric does make it easier to assess individual lessons in regards to the use of technology. As you mentioned the use of technology should be intentional, and this framework aligns with that belief.
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