A Pedagogical Shift Needed for Digital Success
I get the fact that technology can increase engagement, but if that engagement does not lead to evidence of learning then what’s the point? Like it or not, all educators are being held accountable in some form or another for improvement in learning outcomes that result in an increase in achievement. This is why evidence of a return on instruction (ROI) when integrating technology is critical. Just using it to access information is also not a sound use. As teachers and administrators we must be more intentional when it comes to digital learning. If the norm is surface-level integration that asks students to demonstrate knowledge and comprehension the most beneficial aspects of digital are missed. A recent article by Beth Holland for Edutopia reinforced many of my thoughts as of late on this topic. Below some words of caution from her:
Student agency is one of the most powerful improvements that technology can provide. This is the ultimate goal in my opinion, but to begin to set the stage for consistent, effective use a uniform pedagogical shift has to be our focus when it comes to digital learning. The Rigor Relevance Framework provides a solid lens to look at the learning tasks that students are engaged in and redesign them in ways that move away from telling us what they know and instead showing whether or not they actually understand.
This simple, yet powerful shift can be applied to all digital activities. Now I full understand there is a time and place for basic knowledge acquisition and recall, especially at elementary level. However, the goal should be an evolution in pedagogy, especially assessment, where students can demonstrate conceptual mastery in a variety of ways. Instead of using technology to ask students what the capitol is of a state or country ask them to create a brochure using a tool of their choice and explain why the capitol is located where it is. When designing digital learning tasks think about how students can demonstrate understanding aligned to standards by:
- Arguing
- Creating
- Designing
- Inventing
- Concluding
- Predicting
- Exploring
- Planning
- Rating
- Justifying
- Defending
- Comparing
It is important to understand that the verbs above should apply to a range of innovative learning activities, not just those involving digital tools. By moving away from the use of technology to support low-level learning tasks we can really begin to unleash it’s potential while providing students with greater relevance through authentic work. This shift will take some time, but the ultimate learning payoff is well worth it. Below are some examples of how my teachers made this shift when I was the principal at New Milford High School:
Lend a critical lens to your digital learning activities to being to develop more activities where students demonstrate what they understand as opposed to what they just know. As pedagogy evolves in step with technology, a key to success will be to ensure that meaningful, high-level, and valuable learning results.
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February 27, 2017 at 12:51PM
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