Technology in the Classroom

For the most part, the students I have had chance to observe have been using technology in a surprisingly responsible way. Usually, when asked about tech usage I instantly assume that the students know the ins and outs of the technology and what it is capable of far more than the teachers ever could. That was how it was when I was going through High School and Junior High and I just always assumed that the dynamic would remain the same. I’m happy to report that Santa Barbara Junior High seems to have largely gotten around this problem!

From what I have seen, students are mostly using tech that has been very successfully integrated into the classroom. Every teacher has an Apple TV and a large screen set up somewhere in the room that allows them to mirror their presentations off of an IPad, stream Netflix movies and documentaries and show Youtube clips if they want. One math teacher I observed put this to good use by solving out class problems on his IPad, and streaming the work to the TV. This allowed him to walk around the room instead of having to stand at the white board all class. As an added bonus, he could save the work he was doing and send it out to his students via email to use as an example for homework.

In my own placement, the students are very familiar with using Chromebooks. About once every couple of weeks, my CT, Mr. Battle, will bring in the Chromebook cart and have students log into their EDU accounts in order to answer a question, take a survey, or even take a unit test. This process is helpful in that it allows for every student to able to express themselves and their ideas in a way that they sometimes cannot in front of the entire class. It also makes grading easier by helping to account for poor handwriting/bad spelling. However, the process of handing out the Chromebooks and getting students set up for whatever activity can be a little clunky sometimes. It is slow and noisy and leaves a lot of room for students to goof off once they have their own Chromebook and are waiting for the rest of the class to catch up. The more streamlined a teacher can make this process, the better the results.

Other than Chromebooks, my CT uses his StarBoard alongside PowerPoint for nearly every lesson. These two pieces of tech together allow him to make clean and easy to read presentations and then interact with them in front of the entire class. Mr. Battle uses the StarBoard to highlight, underline and emphasize key text and to quickly set up a timer that the students can easily see. Lastly, Mr. Battle likes to use the remind app to give the students hints about what they should be studying for tomorrow's quiz etc. When asked about tech usage, Mr. Battle was very enthusiastic saying that he “has been trying to go entirely paperless. It just makes everything more simple.”

Ms. Sanchez, an English teacher, and the tech integrator for SBJH, mostly relies on a doc cam and mirroring from her IPad in order to present her lessons to her students. The Apple TV also allows her to play music for her students as they are working or to play a countdown if they are having a discussion. For days when the students need to use the Internet, she prefers to take the class to the library or computer lab rather than use the Chromebook carts. When asked about technology usage by teachers in general and their comfort level with it, she said, “Most teachers at this point know what technology is good for and what it isn’t. They have experience with it and it isn’t so much of a mystery anymore.”

As far as personal tech use, SBJH has been pretty much what you might expect from teenagers. Students are officially not allowed to use cell phones once the bell has rung but there are obviously exceptions and gaps. For the most part though, cell phone usage in class is not a huge problem. Teachers seem to know the tell tale signs and are quick to correct a student if they are texting. I haven’t seen any student overreact if they get called out for using a phone; they seem to know they are in the wrong and don’t mind putting the phone away. Most of the personal tech usage revolves around using social apps like Instagram, Facebook and, Snapchat. At lunchtime and passing periods, the phones are everywhere and are a large aspect of how the students are socializing with one another. Teachers understand this and tend to allow the students usage outside of class as long as the students respect the teachers’ wishes in class.

#Vacation