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In this video series, I'm going to be answering the question of how

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teachers can be using technology in their classrooms.

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I believe really strongly that it’s no longer enough

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to just be teaching technology in a single computer science class.

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Long gone are the days of my childhood where I would go into a computer lab

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for a single hour to practice some typing,

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look for Carmen Sandiego somewhere around the world,

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hunt for different animals while I was exploring the Oregon Trail.

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Today’s world demands an entirely different approach to technology

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integration. My name is Sam Kary and this is my YouTube channel

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for The New EdTech Classroom.

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In this video I’ll be taking a look at 14 different strategies

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for how to take a holistic approach to technology integration.

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To be clear, it’s not that I believe that technology

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can fix all of the issues that we have in our education

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system today, but I do believe it can help us with engagement,

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connecting with families, helping students find their voice,

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preparing students better for the future, helping to

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inspire students to discover new talents and interests

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and potentially careers that they would want.

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And if you're interested in learning a little bit more about all the different reasons

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why I think that technology

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is important in education, make sure to check out my other

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video series that covers that topic.

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If you find my video helpful, I’d appreciate it

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if you would hit the like button, subscribe to my channel and hit the notification

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bell if you don’t want to miss any of my weekly videos, and if you have

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any questions or comments about the strategies that I suggest

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in this video, I’d love to hear about them in the comments.

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The first strategy for how to take a holistic approach to education technology

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is to use digital classrooms. Digital classroom platforms

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like Google Classroom and Schoology help teachers

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organize materials, resources

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and assignments. They serve as a central hub

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where students can go to access all the other

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EdTech software that you are using in class.

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But more importantly, digital classrooms help make material in the class more accessible.

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Gone forever are the days that a student says that they can’t do work because they lost an assignment.

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If you post it to Google Classroom it’s there for everybody to see.

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You can post more than just assignments, you can also post your Google Slides lesson plans,

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so students can go back and re-look at the lessons that

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you taught. You can also have students discuss topics

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in your digital classroom. And with the digital classroom,

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parents also have access to everything that you are doing in class.

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The second way is to use technology to create student

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centered, differentiated

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learning experiences. Meeting the learning needs of all students

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in a single classroom is one of the greatest challenges

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an educator today faces.

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Technology helps teachers personalize instruction and

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deliver materials right at their instructional level.

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Personalized math instruction programs like ST Math

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and MobyMax

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help remediate math skills for students if they need

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those skills to access the curriculum. Reading programs

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like Newsela allow all students to access the same

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content at their just right reading level.

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And personalized instruction platforms like

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Khan Academy and Freckel offer a

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range of differentiation and personalized learning across

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subjects and grade levels. In addition to

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providing materials at different skill levels,

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technology also helps teachers teach to different modalities

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whether visual, auditory or experiential.

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The third strategy for how to use education technology

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is to use it to increase engagement. Engaging students

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is really hard and unfortunately in today’s

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public schools we are facing a crisis of engagement. All the

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data shows that if students are not engaged, they aren’t

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learning. Although using technology doesn’t guarantee that

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students are going to be more engaged, it does still take a highly

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skilled teacher to do that, still rather than

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lecturing, introducing new material with a

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Flocabulary rap video, an

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interactive Google Slides that you are making with Pear Deck, and then

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having students prepare for a test by playing a Kahoot game or a

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Jeopardy board that you make on Google Slides is almost

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inherently going to be more engaging for students.

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The fourth strategy is to use technology to ditch

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textbooks and flip classrooms. The idea

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of ditching textbooks comes from Matt Miller’s book, Ditch That Textbook.

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One of the key ideas that he talks about is the fact that in

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our digitized world, educators are no longer

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the holders of information. Instead of being the gatekeepers

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of information, we should be guiding students through the digital

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world to help them develop strategies to find what is most

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interesting, relevant and useful. Teachers who

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embrace their role as guide through the digital world can start

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flipping their classes, where their job is actually

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to curate sources, create video

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tutorials that students are then learning about

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on their own outside of class, the way

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that they would in the real world, so that when they come into class

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they can be engaged in more rigorous, collaborative project-based

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learning activities instead of just sitting

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and listening to a lecture and taking notes.

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The fifth strategy for how to use education technology is to give

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students the opportunity to share their knowledge in differentiated

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ways. Rather than limiting students to showing what they

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know through traditional means like tests, essays,

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and presentations, with technology and creativity

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apps, students can now show their knowledge through a

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ton of different, interesting ways that make sense to them.

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They can create podcasts,

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digital comics,

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digital books,

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videos,

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graphics.

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There are all kinds of different possibilities. Once students learn how to use these different programs, a teacher can offer them choice

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for how they would show their learning on a future assignment.

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We know that offering students choice is a clear way

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to have students more connected to the learning that they are doing in class.

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Technology provides a clear path for how we can achieve that.

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The sixth strategy is to use technology to teach students 21st century skills.

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Imagine attending college today without skills on how to

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navigate the web, touch type, compose an

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email, collaborate on a Google Doc,

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or create a Google Slides or PowerPoint presentation.

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And students with more advanced computing skills in coding,

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web design, app creation, robotics

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will almost certainly have a leg up in the future

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job market. Although lots of students from more affluent backgrounds

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will probably learn these skills outside of school,

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for many of our students, school will be the only

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opportunity they have to teach these skills.

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It’s our responsibility to do so.

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The seventh strategy for using education technology is to bring abstract experiences

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to life through augmented reality and

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and virtual reality. The fact is that

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many times, despite a teacher’s efforts, students lack the

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schema to understand new concepts. I am personally

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an experiential learner. I totally

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empathize with the fact that sometimes it’s hard to learn something

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unless you experience it for yourself. Augmented reality

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and virtual reality has the potential to fill that gap.

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Immersive virtual reality experiences

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offered in Google Expeditions can literally drop

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students inside of a geographic location or inside

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of a cell in a human body. Preliminary studies

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have also shown that virtual reality can have an impact on

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increasing a person’s empathy for another person’s experience

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because you have literally just walked in that person’s shoes.

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Similarly, augmented reality platforms

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like Merge allow students to literally hold a

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dynamic globe or human organ in the

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palm of their hand. And programs like CoSpaces

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and Adobe Arrow allow students to actually create

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virtual reality and augmented reality

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themselves. Virtual reality and augmented reality

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is definitely an emerging technology, but it has a lot of

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exciting potential for what it can do to change education.

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The eighth strategy is to use technology to expand classroom walls.

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In an ideal world all students across the nation would be able to take field trips

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anywhere they wanted, connect with educators all around the world,

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and build relationships with other international students.

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Technology affords students some of these opportunities. Students

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can use tools like Skype and Google Hangouts to go on

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virtual field trips, to meet classes around the world,

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or to have a scientist from National Geographic

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do a lecture from the field. Even with unlimited

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budgets, students wouldn’t be able to experience all the different things

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that they could through technology. Technology can help

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redefine the classroom from a brick and mortar structure and help

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connect students with others all around the world.

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The ninth strategy is to use technology to teach our

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students digital citizenship skills. We are currently

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living in a world that has been dramatically

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impacted from rapid technological change. We need

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to be equipping students with the right skills that they will need in order

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to navigate the digital world and to make respectful and responsible

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choices in digital spaces. PBS Learning Media

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and Common Sense offer educators free resources

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for how to teach students about important

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life skills, such as digital footprints,

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cyberbullying, determining whether or not information on the

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Internet is reliable, as well as the implications of oversharing.

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The tenth strategy is to use technology to

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promote social sharing. Whether or not you agree

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or disagree with the concept of being a digital native, the

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reality is that students today are used to sharing with other people and

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really like doing it. Rather than fight

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against it, educators today should embrace the fact that students

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want to share what they have created with their friends. Educators can

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leverage this impulse to try to motivate students to do

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their absolute best. When students know that they are going to be sharing

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what they have created with others and not just the teacher,

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they tend to be more motivated to do their best work. Sharing work

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with peers as well as others outside the classroom

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also imbues their work with more meaning. Students understand

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that they are making something that other people are actually

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going to read or watch or participate in in some way.

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They are not just doing school in the way that I did school, where I

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wrote a paper and gave it to my teacher and beyond that

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my work wasn’t really shared or read

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by anybody else. It’s kind of sad

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that all my hard work sort of went to waste. Many technology apps

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are set up to help promote social sharing. Padlet is a

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free bulletin board where students can post

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different pieces of work that they have created

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and then comment on them. I use Padlet all the time in my

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class for students to share what they have created with each other and they

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absolutely love it. Apps like BookCreator facilitate social

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sharing of digital books by creating a digital library

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that can be shared with other students in the class, the school,

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or even the world outside of them.

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And then programs like Flipgrid

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allows students to record short videos to explain

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their thinking or showcase their knowledge and then share

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those videos within your classroom, where students can then create video responses to each other.

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The eleventh strategy is that technology helps students develop

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collaboration skills. Students have to learn collaboration skills in order to be

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successful in higher education and in their careers. Learning to work in diverse teams

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to solve complex problems is one of the most important skills

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that a teacher can teach. Unfortunately teaching

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collaboration isn’t that easy. It’s not like you can just create an activity,

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throw a group of students together and say hey,

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do that. Technology helps teachers develop collaboration

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in two important ways. The first is that it provides

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the tools necessary for collaboration. Students can

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edit the same document together from different locations

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or hop on video or text chats to talk

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about the work that they’re doing. And secondly, technology

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helps teachers create tasks that are complex

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enough to merit collaboration. One of the biggest problems

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with collaborative activities in schools is that a lot of

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the tasks that students are asked to do are simply not all

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that complex and don’t actually merit having four people

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working on that activity. One of the complex collaborative tasks

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I like doing with my students is having them

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create a green screen video. In order to do that,

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they have to plan together, record a video together,

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and edit that video together. It’s the kind of task that would be very difficult to do

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if there were only one or two students working on the project.

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The twelfth strategy is to use technology to help students develop

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metacognition. I know when I got

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into education it was my mission to imbue

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a love of learning and self-awareness

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in my students. Getting students to take ownership over

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their own learning is perhaps the most powerful lesson

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a teacher can teach. I’m a huge believer that students should

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be setting smart goals and tracking their academic progress

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throughout the year to build a sense of autonomy and

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self-efficacy. Tools like Google Sheets,

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Google Docs, and Seesaw allow students to track their

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academic progress over the course of the year. They can also be shared with

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family so that they’re more kept in the loop.

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That brings me to my thirteenth strategy,

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which is to use technology to enhance family engagement.

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Research shows that when families are more connected to schools,

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students perform better. Technology facilitates greater

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family involvement in many ways. Once you set up

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your digital classroom, families can now see all of the different

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things that students are doing in school. Parents can easily

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sign up to get notifications from digital

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portfolio programs like Seesaw, so every time

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students upload a piece of work into their portfolio,

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the parent gets to see it and comment on it as well.

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Opening up this window into what is

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happening in school also helps students

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understand that the work that they are creating matters.

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My last strategy for how to take a holistic approach to

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technology integration in schools is to use

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technology to improve teacher practice. I’ve worked with

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numerous educators and every single one I know

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wants to improve their practice to improve outcomes

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for students. Unfortunately, teacher professional

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development violates nearly every standard we set

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for good teaching practice. It isn’t personalized,

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differentiated, experiential, or presented

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keeping different learning modalities in mind. Numerous technology tools

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exist to address this need. Teacher created YouTube channels

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like this one can help teachers develop new strategies for technology

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integration that they want to bring into their classrooms. Similarly,

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teacher blogs and Twitter provide lots of

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different ideas that teachers can use in their classroom. There is some interesting stuff

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going on in artificial intelligence as well. Teachers can use an

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A.I. program called TeachFX and it will analyze the percentage of

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student talk versus teacher talk in your

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classroom, so you can adjust your practice

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to improve student engagement. Private video sharing platforms

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like Edthena support teacher development by allowing

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teachers to virtually visit and analyze other

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classrooms in order to learn from other educators.

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Used in tandem with thoughtfully planned and skilled instruction,

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education technology has the power to improve academic

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outcomes and to transform the educational

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experience for students, families, and teachers.

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I’m sure I missed some ways that technology can be used in

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education and I’d love to hear

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your thoughts in the comments below.

Embracing Technology in Education: Strategies for Holistic Integration

In this insightful video series, educator Sam Kary delves into the pivotal role of education technology in modern classrooms. Gone are the days of passive learning; it's time for a dynamic shift towards a tech-integrated educational experience. From digital classrooms to augmented reality, the potential of technology is boundless. Let's explore some key strategies for a holistic approach to technology integration in education.

Leveraging Digital Classrooms for Seamless Organization

The cornerstone strategy is utilizing digital classroom platforms like Google Classroom and Schoology. These platforms act as a centralized hub, streamlining access to materials, resources, and assignments. By making learning materials more accessible, teachers ensure that no student is left behind due to misplaced assignments. Engaging features like posting Google Slides lesson plans promote interactive learning, ultimately fostering a collaborative and inclusive digital environment.

Personalizing Learning Through Technology

Technology enables educators to cater to diverse learning needs by providing personalized instruction. Programs such as ST Math and MobyMax target individual skill levels, facilitating comprehensive skill remediation. Reading platforms like Newsela offer content tailored to students' reading levels, ensuring inclusive learning experiences. By offering varied materials and teaching modalities, technology empowers teachers to deliver differentiated instruction effectively.

Enhancing Engagement through Interactive Tools

Engagement is key to effective learning, and technology offers a plethora of interactive tools to captivate students. Whether through engaging Flocabulary rap videos or interactive Google Slides presentations via Pear Deck, technology amplifies student participation. Platforms like Kahoot inject fun into learning through interactive games, fostering a more engaging and immersive learning environment.

Revolutionizing Learning with Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality

Immerse students in abstract concepts through augmented reality and virtual reality experiences. With tools like Google Expeditions and Merge, students can explore geographic locations and intricate biological structures firsthand. These technologies not only enhance understanding but also foster empathy and critical thinking skills. By harnessing virtual and augmented reality, educators can revolutionize traditional teaching methods.

Fostering Collaboration and Metacognition through Technology

Leverage technology to develop crucial collaboration skills among students. Tools like Google Docs enable real-time collaboration, preparing students for teamwork in higher education and future careers. Furthermore, technology empowers students to track their academic progress, set smart goals, and cultivate metacognitive skills. By promoting autonomy and self-awareness, technology lays the foundation for lifelong learning.

Strengthening Family Engagement and Professional Development

Enhance family engagement by providing a window into students’ learning journeys. Technologies such as Seesaw enable families to stay informed about students’ progress and accomplishments. Additionally, support teacher professional development by utilizing platforms like YouTube channels, blogs, and AI tools. By continuously improving teacher practice, schools can effectively enhance academic outcomes and elevate the educational experience for all stakeholders.

In conclusion, the integration of technology in education opens up a world of possibilities for engaging, personalized, and collaborative learning experiences. Embrace these strategies to embark on a transformative journey towards a tech-savvy and inclusive learning environment.

Unleash the power of technology in education, and watch students thrive in an interactive and engaging academic realm!