The good and the bad of technology

   While at North Providence High School, the technology use was limited in the class room. They were not a one to one school which meant that if the students needed to do work on Chrome Books, they had to borrow one from the laptop cart in the room, or go to the writing center. There was a computer in each class room that was hooked up to a projector that allowed the teachers to display their materials for the class but for the most part, students did work with paper and pencil. However, Mr. Ramos and Mrs. Ryan, tried to find fun and creative ways for students to do their work that also incorporated technology. The freshman were working on a video project that showed their understanding of the graduation expectations. They had to create outlines for what they wanted to film, and then they were able to create TikToks with their group members. The students were really in to making the TikToks perfect, and they were super creative. I wish I could have seen the final outcome of their hard work!

   The juniors were working on critical theory. Which, let's be honest, can be kind of boring. Mr. Ramos, Mrs. Ryan, and Mr. Ryan wanted to find a way to make it more interesting for the students. They decided to show Disney and Pixar movies, and have the students look at the movies through different critical theory lenses like gender and marxists. The students seemed to grasp the lenses and examples of those lenses really well. It was a fun and interesting way to make something that can be rather boring, fun and something that the students are invested in. 

   Being at Delsesto has been a different experience in terms of technology. They are a one to one school which means the students are provided with a Chrome Book at the beginning of the year that they are responsible for all day, and all year. They do not bring the Chrome Books home however. The entire school uses an online curriculum platform called Summit. This rigorous curriculum is designed to help students self- direct their learning. Many of the teachers at Delsesto are really having a hard time with summit. While observing a summit lesson being taught, the students were very confused and were struggling to understand the concepts. Maddy and myself were equally confused as to what was expected of them. After a brief conference with our cooperating teacher, she decided to switch up how the lesson was going to be taught to try and see if the next class was able to understand the lesson better. They were, however, just as confused, so we ended up doing past of the lesson as a big class to demonstrate exactly what they were supposed to be doing. 

   While it is great that the students are using technology in the classroom, the problem comes when all of their work is online. Some students have lost their Chrome Books and some have broken Chrome books. A couple of days ago, the entire district did not have Wifi which meant that the students could not do their work on summit because they couldn't connect to the internet. They also lost power for a couple days, and over the weekend, which prompted the Chrome Books not to charge. This caused a lot of behavior problems as the students didn't work when they had too. 

   Thinking about using technology in my teaching practice is a little nerve wracking. I want to be able to incorporate it so that it is useful and has an impact on learning but I'm still unsure of who to do that. I want to help my students become critical consumers of the media and things they see and read on the internet since just because it's on the internet does not mean it is true. I also think technology can help students use their voice to help bring about change and talk about topics that would otherwise be hushed. Technology can be used as a way for students to express themselves. What makes me nervous is the reliance on technology and how technology not working can lead to a complete derailment of an activity.