With the use of technology on the rise, schools are looking for tech coaches to help teacher integrate technology into their classrooms. After reading ISTE Standard 3c “Coach teachers in and model use of online and blended learning, digital content, and collaborative learning networks to support and extend student learning as well as expand opportunities and choices for online professional development for teachers and administrators” I wanted to know how these coaches could help Kindergarten teachers create technology rich environments for students.
To implement technology successfully, teachers need to understand why technology tools are important to young children, how to use teaching strategies, and apply the tools in the classroom. In my own experience teachers in my district have been given technology tools, but then were left to figure out how to implement it on their own. This tends to leave most teachers frustrated and technology goes unused. If coaches implement more teacher voice into the design of curriculum, I feel that technology rich environments can truly be successful. According to Teacher roles in designing technology-rich learning activities for early literacy by Cviko, Mckenney, and Voogt, “Active involvement in the design of technology integrated activities can help teachers implement them effectively in their classrooms.”
Teacher Involvement in Design
According to Hutinger, Bell, Daytner, and Johanson (2006) teachers need help in developing an understanding of how implementation of technology integration will impact children, and time to make the change. Coaches can help teachers with this implementation by giving teachers more involvement in the technology design. Cviko, Mckenney, and Voogt researched three different levels of teacher roles when designing technology rich learning activities. The three levels of roles were executor, re-designer, and co-designer. As the executor, teachers receive a ready-made curriculum, and can be assumed to have had minimal involvement in the curriculum design. For primary school teachers, executing a new curriculum typically involves anticipating changes/implications for one’s teaching role, and coping with concerns about materials and resources required to support implementation. The next role teachers can take on is the re-designer where teachers actively take part in the development process by contributing to changes not only during use (e.g. reshaping activities), but also in re-designing the actual resources. This is often done together with other teachers. Not only is this a practical process through which teachers fine-tune things for their own purposes, but it can also be beneficial for teachers to engage in analyzing curriculum together with colleagues, e.g. to deepen their own understanding of the subject matter. The final role for teachers is co-designer, which teachers take part in the development process by participating actively in creating new resources, often together with other teachers. Extending existing resources with self-made learning materials can be motivational to teachers and create a sense of co-ownership towards the materials. Co-design stimulates actual use, since teachers engage in developing resources that fit into their classroom contexts.
Why Teacher Involvement is Key
The role of the teacher in a technology-rich learning environment is simply to make the most efficient use of what they have and what is readily available. According to Cviko, Mckenney, and Voogt, “When teachers were initially involved in the co-design and use of technology in the classroom, they reported feeling that technology was at least partly theirs; while by the end, the teachers became strong advocates of technology use.” Everyone would benefit if technology coaches work as a partnership with teachers to help create these technology rich environments.
What Co-Designing Looks Like
When teachers are co-designing technology rich environments there are a couple of key questions they can ask 1. How are the students acting as consumers of content? and 2. How can we empower students as creators of content? With these questions in mind and with the support of a coach, teachers can create successful and diverse learning for their students. Teachers’ sense of ownership towards a new curriculum is suggested to positively influence curriculum implementation. The study also found that primary school teachers’ sense of ownership evolved over the course of a school year. When teachers were initially involved in the co-design and use of technology in the classroom, they reported feeling that technology was at least partly theirs; while by the end, the teachers became strong advocates of technology use. Teacher ownership towards a new curriculum seems to depend on how teachers are involved . To create sustainable technological interventions, teachers require time to develop ownership.
Conclusion
When coaches and teachers work together to create technology rich environments and teachers have more ownership in the process it is more beneficial for all. With co-designing teacher perspectives about technology’s impact on teaching/learning are found to influence technology integration.
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