Technology in Education: The Research!
Technology in Education: The Research!
When you talk to a teacher and ask them why they got into the education field, you are going to get varying answers but most will have some main commonalities: they love working with children, they have a passion for changing the world, and they want to make a difference in their students' lives. Working in this field for the past 3 years, I can genuinely tell you that all of my coworkers share these characteristics. And beyond that, we truly do get to play such a vital role in children's lives. It sounds super cheesy, but it is absolutely true. Are there bad days? Of course. There are days the kids make you want to pull your hair out! But at the end of the day, you look back and it is all worth it. I have never doubted that this is the job for me. However, there is a side of education that no one prepares you for or really even talks about: the numbers.
State test scores, district assessments, data collection...teaching has moved towards such a numbers focused system. Administration cares so much about test performance, test growth, what the data shows, etc. It can be so overwhelming! You are told not to teach to the test, yet so much weight is put on your students' performance on the tests. Since I am in the special ed world, I am lucky because my world is less based on standardized tests. Instructional students have unique goals, which have unique benchmarks and assessments that follow- which places less emphasis on 'norm' comparisons, and more emphasis on overall individual growth. However, for general ed teachers- the pressure is on!
When reading over research on technology in education, there was one statistic that absolutely shocked me: 74% of parents of school aged children stated creativity as a key skill for their child to develop in order to be successful (tomorrow.org). This was shocking in an amazing way! If parents think creativity is such an important skill, why is there such a large stress on testing performance!? When really these tests are an assessment of rote skill performance.
This stat comes from an article based on a study about coding in the classroom, and opinions on it. The majority of parents and children were in favor of having coding taught in schools. Parents and school administrators who were surveyed both saw coding as an ideal way to teach creativity skills to children. Students also agreed with this- 58% of students in grades 6-8 say it is the most important reason to incorporate coding into their education (tomorrow.org). Coding requires students to problem solve in unique ways. They do not simply need to add numbers, recite known facts, or perform other mundane tasks: they must think outside of the box to produce desired results!
My district has coding week in which our technology coaches come into each classroom and host an hour long coding session. The kids absolutely love it! The students are able to code throughout the year as well, during STEM centers, technology club during lunch hour, and many teachers have it has an option during math centers. It is honestly amazing to see what the students can do. I tried coding at the easiest level- I couldn't even pass the first round. There are 3rd graders coding at very high levels! I think it is such a great way for students to learn necessary tools in finding solutions to road blocks.
Do your schools have coding?? The article I read also talks a lot about how many schools do not provide any opportunities to learn coding. I would also love to know if you all feel the test performance pressure I talked about!
Lastly, I know personally I am not a numbers and research person...(I was a biology/pre-med major for a couple of years and I think I have PTSD) BUT it is so vital for us to look at educational research! If we want to integrate something into our teaching, cut something out, or even gain more knowledge...research gives us cold hard numbers! You can present these numbers to help your case on something, or just keep them in your back pocket for your own knowledge. Power does, sometimes at least, lie in numbers!
This stat comes from an article based on a study about coding in the classroom, and opinions on it. The majority of parents and children were in favor of having coding taught in schools. Parents and school administrators who were surveyed both saw coding as an ideal way to teach creativity skills to children. Students also agreed with this- 58% of students in grades 6-8 say it is the most important reason to incorporate coding into their education (tomorrow.org). Coding requires students to problem solve in unique ways. They do not simply need to add numbers, recite known facts, or perform other mundane tasks: they must think outside of the box to produce desired results!
My district has coding week in which our technology coaches come into each classroom and host an hour long coding session. The kids absolutely love it! The students are able to code throughout the year as well, during STEM centers, technology club during lunch hour, and many teachers have it has an option during math centers. It is honestly amazing to see what the students can do. I tried coding at the easiest level- I couldn't even pass the first round. There are 3rd graders coding at very high levels! I think it is such a great way for students to learn necessary tools in finding solutions to road blocks.
Do your schools have coding?? The article I read also talks a lot about how many schools do not provide any opportunities to learn coding. I would also love to know if you all feel the test performance pressure I talked about!
Lastly, I know personally I am not a numbers and research person...(I was a biology/pre-med major for a couple of years and I think I have PTSD) BUT it is so vital for us to look at educational research! If we want to integrate something into our teaching, cut something out, or even gain more knowledge...research gives us cold hard numbers! You can present these numbers to help your case on something, or just keep them in your back pocket for your own knowledge. Power does, sometimes at least, lie in numbers!
That is so awesome that your school teaches coding! I've never worked for a program that does that, but it is very relevant for students to learn today. You made the point that it teaches problem-solving skills too. That's crazy to me that 3rd graders are able to code...and that their parents recognize the creativity aspect to it all.
ReplyDeleteI agree that teachers should perform educational research before integrating something into a lesson.The facts are great to have in our back pocket when we're designing lesson plans!
Thanks for sharing.
This is a great post, Nellie. I loved the opening narrative about how we don't go into education for the "numbers" yet they are continuously the elephant in the room. Coding is definitely a creative skill! As a coach I also co-taught coding with teachers and I'd say almost every student looked forward to it!
ReplyDeleteChristina,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree! There is an increasing pressure for numbers in sped, which is very unfortunate because all of our kids are so unique and have very unique skills/goals.
Michael,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment.
I definitely see your point- students undoubtedly need foundational skills in order to foster creativity. However, I do feel that today's education atmosphere leans more towards performance, test scores, growth, etc. Administration looks for this and it is even a part of many teacher evaluations. The point I was trying to highlight was that parents seem to think that creativity is a vital skill, yet a majority of the school day is dedicated to teaching skills that would not be considered 'creative'. For example, rather than simply teaching a math skill such as double digit addition (that would be on a standardized test); students should be taught this skill in the context of a word problem that is a real life example. This primes students to not only know the foundational skill, but also forces them to problem solve at the same time. Just as rather than students memorizing the life cycle of a butterfly in a textbook- students should have caterpillars in their rooms, experience the life cycle in real time, and document the stages.
Students should not be taught to the test, lectured at, or be asked to regurgitate information. They should learn skills in meaningful settings, with meaningful examples, along with meaningful related experiences.