Digital Competence - How can teachers use technology effectively in the primary classroom?


As technology is rising so much in this modern generation, technology could be very beneficial when it is used in the classroom. Kurt (2012) stated in Loke’s (2013) article ‘framed by technology’, that technology in education can improve student learning and it is ‘’essential that teachers adopt the technology available to them’’. Stokes (2012) believes that technology on its own might not be that beneficial in the classroom, he states that ‘’technology has no impact on its own, it all depends on how we use it. Technology is part of the story but in order for ICT to have a positive impact on learning, we need teachers to be informed users of it in the classroom’’. Both of these quotes agree that technology on its own can be useless, and that teachers need to learn the ways in which technology can be beneficial for the students in order for them to learn. Teachers will have to find the best resources that will promote learning and get to know how to use it effectively before passing their knowledge on.

The model above is the SAMR model produced by Dr. Puentedura,the SAMR model is used to help inspire teaching through technology, it is split into four sections, the bottom boxes which are substitution and augmentation, which focus on enhancement, and the top boxes which are modification and redefinition, which focus on transformation. There are many examples that can be used with linking the SAMRS model with education, the example that I am going to talk about now is the overall transformation of writing an essay on paper, to writing it on a laptop. The substitution is technology swapping a piece of paper for a laptop, therefore a student will write an essay on a laptop instead of paper. The augmentation stage is the essay being done on a higher document, e.g. google docs where class mates can look at each other’s essay’s and leave comments on them. The modification is the major redesign, that same essay can now be turned into a blog post, where the students can post it online and to an audience. Redefinition is when the students are connecting online, looking at each other’s work and connecting with professionals and go on further to create better things such as videos (R. Puentedura 2017). Therefore, the SAMRS model shows how much something can be transformed through technology as not only are the students expanding their work and using different resources, they are communicating with others online, improving their life skills as well as technology skills. 


There are many views on technology in education, some people believe in it, some people don’t, however with technology being one of the biggest factors in the world right now, technology will need to be embedded somewhere in education, and the Welsh curriculum is even changing so that technology can be embedded in more subjects and used a lot more, as technology is our future. Some schools have a lot of technology, and some schools have minimal, and there are some schools in the world that is all technology, and some with none. ‘’Just because a teacher is using an iPad, does this automatically enhance learning?’’ (Selwyn, 2016) this quote links back to Kurt’s (2012) and Stoke’s (2012) it makes you think that are teachers getting the most out of technology? In order for them to use it effectively, they need to do the research on what programmes to use for children to benefit. Selwyn also states that the new digital technologies is sweeping away old habits, and old regimes, it is remaking education provision in forms fit for the twenty-first century, meaning that this new way of teaching is very modernised and helpful for the students when they grow up. 

So, how can teachers use technology effectively? Teachers themselves can benefit from technology, as it makes certain things a lot easier. For example, planning. Planning can be made easier due to the planning template already being saved on the laptop and google on being a click away if something needs researching. There are many resources that can be used, such as google docs, where the teacher can share and post comments on the students work. There is an app called seesaw, that when I am in placement, all classes upload the children’s work to it, it has folders like ‘numeracy’, or ‘literacy’ and anything that is related to the folders will go in there, the children themselves know how to use it, so when they make or do something they are proud of, they go to the iPad corner and upload it on. The app seesaw also has a QR code, when a child does an activity for their books, a picture of the QR code is stuck on that page, and when you scan it, it will take you straight to see saw and you can see them making/doing that activity. 

The screenshots that I have posted below are from a video we made in our seminar groups, we made this video in about an hour, after being shown how to do it by nick, this shows if the teacher knows what they are doing and have looked at the app/resource before teaching it to the class, that is when it is successful. Children catch onto things easily so will pick up everything you tell them and therefore the teacher needs to be confident in what they are saying. This is one example of the amount of resources that are out there for children to use in order to help them learn, making videos can make children learn in many ways, it can help them with ICT skills and media skills. For example, if the topic you had just covered was ‘space’ then you could ask the children to film a 5 minute video about the things they have learnt over the topic, this is a fun and engaging way for children to learn.




References


Kurt, S. (2012). How do teachers prioritize the adoption of technology in the classroom? Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice. 

R. Puentedura (2017) Ruben R. Pentedura’s Web blog, ongoing thoughts on education and technology. Online at: http://www.hippasus.com/rrpweblog/Last accessed 27thApril 2019. 
S. Loke (2013) Framed by technology. University of Otago. New Zealand.

Selwyn, N. (2016). Is technology good for education?. Polity Press.

Stokes, K. (2012) Decoding learning: the proof, promise and potential of digital education. Education Journal, 1549, 8-12.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Literacy - What are the benefits of storytelling?

Image
Storytelling is one of the main activities that allows a child to think freely and use their imagination beyond their limits. ‘’Children’s imaginations are the most powerful and energetic learning tools’’ (Egan, 1990, p.2) This is one of the major benefits of storytelling is that children get to use their imaginations and learn at the same time as it may help children with creative skills in the future. Scientist Albert Einstein (1992, 65) said that ‘’imagination is more important that knowledge.’’ and that this side of education is often ignored at home. Imagination helps us ‘’solve problems’’ and ‘’think outside the box.’’  This shows how important storytelling in is primary education, it has the massive benefit of allowing children to use their imagination outside their comfort zone allowing them to benefit from all the creativity that goes on in their minds, it also allows them to learn efficiently as sometimes when children are so young, storytelling is one ...
Read more

Numeracy - Cross curricular numeracy. How and why should numeracy be cross-curricular?

Image
Numeracy is a topic that is that has always been taught and a subject that has come under ‘basic skill’s’ as we tend to use numeracy in everyday life. ‘’A wide range of research has highlighted the fact that humans are born with a wide range of mathematical competences’’ (Butterworth 1999, 2005; Dehaene 1997; Devlin 2000).  Numeracy is seen as important throughout education, with it being taught from a very young age until high school where Mathematics at GCSE is compulsory. An idea presented by Donaldson is that all schools should follow the Numeracy, Literacy Framework (LNF), where numeracy and literacy is going to embedded into all subjects across the curriculum, encouraging schools to use numeracy in every subject portrays how important it is to use in the classroom.  How should numeracy be cross-curricular? In order to make numeracy and maths work, it needs to be fun and engaging, as including it in every subject could get competitive and boring for the ch...
Read more

Introduction

Image
There are number of skills that are needed in order to cope and succeed in the modern world. The Welsh Curriculum subject priorities currently lies in literacy and numeracy. However, over the years we have developed as a society and technology has developed massively and therefore the Welsh Government have come to conclusion that digital competence should be a priority along with literacy and numeracy due to the technology developing and increasing in the modern world. I think that all three areas of learning should definitely be the main focus in schools, each subject includes life skills that are used every single day but the majority of people. Donaldson says that ‘’the curriculum structure needs to ensure that children and young people develop high levels of competence in these aspects and have frequent opportunities to develop, extend and apply them across the curriculum.’’ (2015, P.40) In this blog I will be talking about six different titles, 2 on literacy, 1 on numeracy and ...
Read more