When teachers add technology into the classroom they should make sure that they consider how these technological tools can expand opportunities to all students no matter their individual learning styles by offering different ways for them to access content knowledge. "Having teachers learn about different learning styles of students and how they relate to technology implementation can help science teachers make better decisions about teaching strategies and which tools best can engage which students." (Yerrick, R., Johnson, J., pg. 283) Learning each student's learning style will maximize their comprehension of their STEM subject and allow teachers to adjust their teaching style in order to help each student reach their own individual potential. "A teacher's individual learning style or favored teaching style may also be different from many of the students' learning styles. When the teacher is not aware of students' learning styles, the cognitive and psychological impact can be negative toward learning." (Yerrick, R., Johnson, J., pg. 283) Each of our students are unique and they come with their own individual way of doing things. As STEM educators, we have to align our students with the methods and practices of actual STEM professionals working in the field today. Treating students like mini-scientists and mini-engineers helps them to realize their own potential and envision themselves as future working STEM professionals. Authors, Yerrick and Johnson, further stipulate that "accepting diversity in learning styles means also accepting that all students can learn, and effective teachers consider both the content to be learned and the learning context, including the background of the students." (Yerrick, R., Johnson, J., pg 284) Thus, in order for students to succeed in STEM classroom environments, educators have to align their teaching pedagogy and curriculum content; serving to address the individual needs, abilities, interests, experiences, understandings, and prior knowledge of every student. Lastly, in order to make sure that lessons are technology-enhanced both teachers and students need to be able to navigate the new technologies well and as they are intended to be used.
How will I enhance my STEM lessons with technology?
According to a Google search, Mae Jemison, famous for being the first Black female NASA astronaut to travel into space in 1992, was quoted as saying “The best way to get students involved in science and want to follow either science careers or incorporate it in their lives or to achieve science literacy is to expose them to the various jobs in STEM. It’s broad from biologists to electricians to nanotechnologists to building fusion engines. It’s a wide range of things.” I completely concur. In this 21st century technology driven society, I plan to enhance all of my STEM lessons with technology as research has proven it to be very effective with activating student interest and engagement. At the very basic level of technology integration, I can at least find a way to daily substitute traditional teaching tools such as the blackboard, whiteboard, or chart paper with a smartboard, which will allow me to convey the same written STEM concepts in a more technologically visually appealing format to students. I am also a firm believer in students learning to speak the language of scientists. I feel that it is very beneficial for students to be exposed to the key concepts and lesson objectives of each lesson prior to diving into exploring the STEM concepts for themselves. Normally, these lesson concepts and objectives are written somewhere for students to take notes at the start of any lesson. During my matriculation with Arcadia University, I have learned the concept of “flipping a classroon,” where basically teachers expose their students to lesson concepts prior to the start of the lesson. In the past without knowing, I flipped my classroom with my teaching practice of Weekend Reading. I would require my students to preview for themselves the week’s reading and fill in a guided reading study guide packet designed to have them focused on the upcoming key lesson concepts and vocabulary. Following the weekend, students would take a quick three question pre-class quiz to assess whether they understood the most significant points.
In my future STEM classes, I can augment my Weekend Reading assignment with the use of educational technology tools. Textbook chapters can now be found online, along with exposure to the key terms and objectives for the readings. Students can explore my class webpage where they can find the required readings for upcoming lessons, preview the lessons and STEM concepts, and even take the pre-class quiz over the weekend prior to the start of the new week, which actually saves class time. To keep students from sharing answers, I could also design the quiz to choose three random questions from a bank of twenty-five similar ones. I can redesign a multitude of former lessons, transforming them through the use of technology, by modifying the format that I present the knowledge and the mechanisms and tools the students use to present and convey their understanding of it. Redefining my lessons would include allowing students to upload their presentations to various social media and internet avenues that allow them to disseminate their new found knowledge to the world. This 21st century technologically advanced society allows us to communicate in real-time with virtually anyone around the world.
Teachers should use technology in the classroom to better equip their students with the necessary technological tools, skills, and practices needed for them to potentially pursue future STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) professional careers. Today’s 21st century students are living in an exponentially advancing technological society. New and vastly improving technology is constantly entering the technological market at a rate that outpaces the average teacher’s knowledge of the new savvy tech tool. How can today’s 21st century teacher keep up with all of the latest gadgets, devices, or apps that are all suddenly seemingly mandated to use in the classroom all at once? STEM teachers can become overwhelmed with the daunting task of providing “authentic intellectual quality” teaching to students while simultaneously providing the same level of “authentic intellectual quality” instruction on how to use any new technology mandated for classroom use that boasts to drastically improve student learning. However daunting the technological task ahead, 21st century teachers need to persevere forward and master the new technological systems in order to be strong examples of how our students should persevere forward in this new ever-changing and technologically advancing society.
In this new digitally-driven society, teachers need to be mindful that old ways of teaching have been proven through research to be ineffective in preparing students for the professional tasks that lie ahead of them in their chosen careers. Teachers are tasked to provide their students with “meaningful intellectual work.” An article titled, “The AIW (Authentic Intellectual Work) Framework,” illustrates how "meaningful intellectual work challenges" equip students in ways that better prepare them to successfully achieve their future endeavors in the workplace. Teachers should make sure that their students are not challenged to just simply comply with their instruction, regulations, or requirements but instead are utilizing their minds in ways that enhance their real-world problem-solving skills and sparks their interest in solving real-world issues and challenges. Research has shown that increasing student meaningful intellectual work challenges also decreases disengagement and student drop-out rates, thus improving the rate in which productive citizens are graduated into society. The authors of the AIW Framework further purport that as educators “we do not expect children to achieve the same level of mastery accomplished by skilled adults, but identifying the commonalities in the intellectual work they do suggests criteria for intellectual performance necessary for success in contemporary society.” Thus, the technology that teachers select for their classroom should allow students to perform the work of [science, technology, engineering, and mathematical (STEM)] professionals, preferably within the student’s preferred field of choice. By doing so, we are providing our students with authentic intellectual work activities that will ultimately provide them with some meaningful experiences that are personally connected to their future goals. These “meaningful authentic intellectual work” activities will provide our students with the “value beyond school” dynamic that so many of them seek. Over my many years in the classroom, I have heard countless students sigh and project a similar utterance of “why do I need to learn this stuff?” As educators, if we focus on providing students with intellectual rigor as guided by the AIW framework then we will “increase student engagement in learning, strengthen school professional community, boost student achievement as well as prepare [our] students for the intellectual demands of the workplace, citizenship, and personal affairs.” This will be the value beyond the school that students need in order to become successful in society and to place in the right context their educational experiences. The use of technology in the classroom should only serve to enhance their educational journeys.
Johnson, J., Yerrick, R., Kearney, E., Supporting Linguistically Diverse Students in an Era of Science Education Reform 2014 Science Scope vol. 1
This was well said. Educators need to understand the role Technology have on young minds. Very well explained.