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Are you using Technology/ Infographics in a Purposeful Way?

Some teachers that use technology in the classroom encounter resistance from their colleagues who are not so keen to adopt new technologies. It is assumed that this is because of money, but it is not always the case. According to my school librarian, if more teachers were more open to new tools or a particular app, then the school administration would probably get it for them. Troy Hicks states “ ‘The question is no longer whether we should use technology; Instead we must focus on the many ways that we must use technology to teach writing’ ” (Hicks, 2013 p.13). However, some teachers would love to have a specific device or app for a particular class that they are teaching, but because other educators don’t know or don’t want to understand the benefits or the possibilities of that particular type of tool, they down-vote it or simply reject investing in them. Educators must understand that writing digitally is something that every teacher will be producing in their lifetime (Hicks, 2013). It is assumed that the overall attitude of teachers will change as digital natives (those who grew up using technology) enter the classroom (Worch,Zhou & Aguiton, 2015). 

Although students are born digitally, they should still be purposeful and creative with technology (Hicks,2013). “ ‘A wealth of studies investigating ways of harnessing technology to transform teaching and learning suggest that technology, when used appropriately, offers great promises to facilitate teaching, engage students and increase students' learning achievement (e.g. Mann, Shakeshaft, Becker, & Kottkamp, 1999; Funkhouser, 2002-2003; Salpeter, 1999)”’(Worch,Zhou & Aguiton, 2015, p.3) I have worked in education for over 6 years and the one thing I notice is that teacher feel that as long as they are using technology, it is meaningful. One thing teachers have to understand is that every lesson that involves technology isn’t purposeful. One article I ran across, “Technology with a Purpose” (Rivero, 2017) shared three simple guidelines:

1, It should be optional, not obligatory. If the goal is to motivate students intrinsically, they must choose to use available technologies because they see their benefits.

2. It should be inherently social, not isolating. Technology can play a role in facilitating relationships among students, instructors, and support resources that increases learning quality and student success.

3. It should be more than just a replacement communication channel. Instead, it should enrich the interaction, helping to generate better feedback between teacher and student and among peers

As I read chapter four in “ Argument in the Real World”, I found it quite intriguing to see how teaching citations is so meaningful. One common complaint the book mentions is that there is no perfect tool for citation (Turner & Hicks, 2016). I was always told by my professors to always double check cites such as citationmachine, this taught me that although the internet can be reliable, you should always be digitally responsible. “‘Using a bibliographic management tool requires attention to detail, and this skill is very important to develop’” (Turner & Hicks, 2016). English teachers could create a meaningful lesson on citations through the usage of technology.

Infographics are a tool that allow for creativity with students, but teachers should be sure they are purposeful as well. Hicks (2017) suggest that we do not want students to simply read and write infographics; rather we want them to read and write arguments that infographics represent the world (p.75 ). One idea Arguments in the Real World gave is for students to give a survey on social media and then create an infographic based on the responses. One concept I found to be interesting is that infographics affect learning and retention more than commercials, PowerPoints, articles with visuals, articles with text and blog post (Conner, 2017).  With this knowledge, I am going to bring this back to the math department at my school and share ways we can enhance learning using infographics.

References

Conner, C. (2017, October 19). The Data Is In: Infographics Are Growing And Thriving In 2017 (And Beyond). Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/cherylsnappconner/2017/10/19/the-data-is-in-infographics-are-growing-and-thriving-in-2017-and-beyond/#358e3544137c.

Li, Hou, & Aguiton. (2015). How and Why Digital Generation Teachers Use  Technology in the Classroom: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Study. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 9(2). doi: https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2015.090209

Rivero, V. (2017, May 25). Technology with a Purpose. Retrieved from https://edtechdigest.com/2017/05/25/technology-with-a-purpose/.

Troy, H. (2013). Crafting digital writing: composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Turner, K. H., & Hicks, T. (2017). Argument in the real world: teaching adolescents to read and write digital texts. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.