Technology vs. Tests

I recently saw an Edutopia poll come up on my Facebook newsfeed (Yes!  I use Facebook to stay connected with current educational and tech trends!) that asks teachers to weigh in on the following question: Should students be allowed to use technology to access information during tests?  The short answer is 'No!  Absolutely not!  Tests assess whether or not students can remember what we teach them!' This, too, was my initial reaction.  But then I really got to thinking about it, and really got to thinking about what we are trying to teach our kids - or rather, what we should be trying to teach them - and my opinion changed. 

I can speak primarily to my field, language arts, where instant recall of information is not really the key focus, especially in the middle and high school classroom.  Do I really care if my students can recite a passage from Romeo and Juliet?  Not really.  But what I do want them to be able to do is read a passage from Romeo and Juliet and tell me what it means, or research how social and cultural norms affected the way Romeo and Juliet acted in the play.  Would I rather them recite a definition of a metaphor? or use one properly in their own writing?  I prefer the latter. In my classroom, we build critical thinking, problem solving, and research skills through language and literature.  I rarely give actual 'tests' for this exact reason - what I want my kids to know isn't tangible, it isn't a nugget of information floating out in space for them to remember.  I want them to learn skills.  I want them to be able to take information, analyze it, synthesize it, recreate it, and communicate it in a new way.    And most of the time, this type of skill can't be assessed on a traditional test. 

Now, I will agree that some knowledge recall is important.  In math, for example, every time I need to calculate a percentage it would not be reasonable for me to pull out my iPhone and look up the formula.  So, my new answer to Edutopia's question is yes, sometimes it should be acceptable for students to access information on assessments.  I changed their wording a little bit, because I also think that 'tests' is a loaded word: reminds me of multiple choice, fill in the blank, color in the little circle all the way type of tests.  When we assess student knowledge, we are looking for what they know and what they are able to do - and sometimes, this means finding the right information (a skill all students need!) and being able to use that information to come to new conclusions.  These are the skills we must be teaching our 21st Century learners.

By the way, the Edutopia poll yielded the following results:

How do you think I voted?  How would you vote?  Click here to weigh in. 

Top 10 Ways I've Used Edmodo in the Classroom:

1.  Use for professional development:  Edmodo has hundreds of professional learning communities that teachers can join to share experienes, share resources, and ask questions from like-minded colleagues across the country.  It is a great way to connect with other educators and talk about lessons, technology plans, and anything else related to classroom experiences.  Everyone on there wants to share and learn – so it creates a very welcoming and non-threatening environment.

 

2.  Changing profile pictures monthly and doing short posts: A fun thing I do with my students every month is ask them to go online and change their profile picture to fit some sort of theme I have decided.  The theme might have to do with what we are working on in class, a holiday, a season, or anything else.  After students change their profile pictures, they write a short (1-2 sentence) post about what their picture is and why they chose it.  At the beginning of the year, this also afforded me the opportunity to teach students (reinforce for some students, teach new skills to other) how to conduct an image search online, how to save an image, and how to upload it to Edmodo. 

3.  Jigsaw project groups:  There are two ways you can create groups on Edmodo.  1.) a teacher can create ‘small groups’ within a larger group.  This requires all students to already be a member of the large group, and the teacher assigns students to different subgroups.  2.) a teacher can create and share codes for as many large groups as he/she wants, and ask students to join the groups that apply to them.  I have done both, and find that it is really a matter of preference (and time) for whichever you choose.  One is more instructor-centered, the other is a more student-centered approach.  The end result is the same.

[In the photo, the large group is Gamma Language, the small subgroups are listed underneath]


4.  Post student work in draft form to help the revise and edit process: Students can attach documents to their posts, which is a great way to conduct revise and edit sessions in class or at home.  Using the ‘reply’ feature on each post, students can provide feedback to their classmates about their writing.  When I do this, I will scaffold the activity so that students are looking for particular writing traits and/or they have sentence starters to guide their responses.

5.  Turn in digital assignments:  One of my favorite features of Edmodo is the ability to create and turn in assignments.  Especially useful for digital projects, this feature allows students to submit a paperless assignment through Edmodo.  The teacher can even annotate and grade the assignment right on the computer!  I have used this feature for digital projects that require presentation to the rest of the class – I was able to load the presentations onto the computer that is hooked up to our LCD projector before class started, which helped minimize down-time between student presentations and streamlined the whole process.  Another plus: teachers can quickly see who has turned in an assignment and who hasn’t.

6.  Pre-tests and quizzes to assess prior knowledge: Another great feature of Edmodo is the quiz tool.  You can create a quiz for a particular set of students and have them take it online.  Edmodo automatically mines the data from student answers and provides you with question-by-question statistics.  I have used this feature for vocabulary study so I know which vocabulary words to focus on (the ones that students struggled with!) and which ones we can simply review.

7.  RSS feeds of weekly poetry and word-a-day:  RSS (really simple syndication) feeds are an excellent way to keep your students in the know.  An RSS feed is when content from another website – lets say, for example, the Time Magazine for Kids – is delivered to your Edmodo page for all users to see.  The RSS feed comes up as a ‘post’ – much like a Facebook post.  Students can view and comment on the post as well.  You can add and change subscriptions to suit the current needs of your class or curriculum.

8.  Connect and share with other teachers in the school: Edmodo allows you to connect with other teachers (essentially, you are ‘friending’ them!) but you can’t see their class pages or anything they post.  The teachers at my school created a group where we can share resources and ideas with each other – our very own PLC!

9.  Students use the ‘backpack’ feature to store and save documents, projects, resources, etc.:  How many times has a kid asked if they could email themselves a document, or complained because they can’t find their flash drive?  The backpack feature on Edmodo solves those problems.  Basically it is a cloud feature – students can store documents, links, and other resources in their backpack and access them from anywhere.  I had to teach students how to do this, but it’s a very simple few step process that they were very excited about!

10.  Keep parents in the loop: With Edmodo parent connections, teachers can send private messages to parents about student progress or concerns.  Parents are able to see and monitor the work and posts of their child (and their child only!).  A great way to scaffold proper online etiquette and social networking skills, as well as foster a rich home-school partnership!


The Edmodo website is a great way to learn more about the program and get started.  View their tutorial here:  Edmodo Help

The Art of Teaching... with Technology?

Last week in one of my seminar classes, I found myself defending educational technology.  In this course- The Art of Teaching – our goal is to dissect the language of teachers and teaching and try to reevaluate what it means to ‘teach’ in today’s world.  Many in the class felt that technology was taking away the personal connection between teacher and student that is so important for making a classroom a community.  While I can understand some of the skepticism, I had to intervene.  Educational technology today is not what it was a few years ago.  The plethora of tools and multimedia that can be used in the classroom are no replacement for an actual person, but they do allow for a level of interactivity that far exceeds just text-based communication.  

My conversation with my classmates made me think more about what it means to teach through technology, and the importance of maintaining a ‘personal touch’ whether you are blogging, podcasting, Voice-Threading, or facilitating an online course.  There are different types of communication in face to face classes, and the same should be true of classes that use technology.  It is ok to have a ‘go to’ technology that you know works in your classroom (I, for example, use my LCD projector every day.  It is part of the routine, my students know when they walk in to look at the projector screen for the day’s task) but also try to mix it up and try different media formats to keep it interesting and to make sure the students are exposed to a variety of tools while they are in your classroom.  Using a classroom website/wiki, digital portfolios, or a blog is also a great way to incorporate a technology into the classroom routine without making it mundane. 

Part of the skepticism that exists among veteran or technology-inexperienced teachers stems from a lack of knowledge and comfort with the technology.  We are all here because we want to learn, but there are far too many educators out there who are comfortable with the status-quo.  The fact of the matter is that their students are the ones who lose.  How can this be combated?  We can mandate technology use until we’re blue in the face, but it is not going to make a difference if the teachers don’t buy into it.  Professional learning communities that allow for mentorship are a step in the right direction, but the most important piece is time.  I am reminded of Jesse Spano's meltdown on Saved By the Bell - there's no time, there's never any time!  Resistant educators look at technology as ‘one more thing they have to do.’ Schools should provide teachers with the time (professional development afternoons, for example) to experiment with the technology and develop a comfort with it so it can be used in the classroom.  These afternoons can be most beneficial when teachers are allowed to work in their own classrooms or in small learning groups with an experienced technology steward to offer guidance and support. Teachers are just like the students they teach when it comes to technology: they need to be given the time, the resources, the flexibility, and the freedom of direction (lets call it teacher differentiation) to flourish.

Education doesn’t have to change as much skeptics think it does in order to embrace technology.  I’ve included Taylor Mali’s ‘What Teachers Make’ to stress the fact that the teacher is still an important force in the classroom and ‘what teachers make’ doesn’t necessarily change when technology is introduced. Maintain the personal touch.  Technology does not have to mean a sterilization of the classroom - it is just another way for kids to express themselves and to learn.