STSD Curriculum & Technology Update

Regular updates and musings on curriculum and technology in the Salisbury Township School District in Allentown, PA.

Shifts in Learning - Collaborative Professional Development

Teachers keep hearing about the effects of technology in the classroom in relation to the students.  What about all of us in the classroom, not just the students?  As two teachers with different technological backgrounds, we were given a unique opportunity to spend the day collaborating to initiate a SMART classroom.  Reflecting on our day together, we feel energized to continue exploring and integrating technology.

We also experienced an unexpected turn of events where we learned that collaboration is not exclusive to the professionals in the setting, but also and more importantly our students.  We can now say with confidence that our classrooms encompass 21st Century skills and thinking. That opportunity to collaborate had a synergistic result between the students and us that led to an entire and ongoing shift in instruction and learning.

Simply put, technology in classrooms leads to engagement. Without engagement learning and/or 21st Century skills cannot occur. During our day together, there was a give and take in the process where all of us learned. Yes, even those of us who teach. We were amazed to experience the different levels of technology proficiency between students and teachers alike. It didn’t matter what level of knowledge each individual possessed, we all brought something to and took something from the experience.  Everyone benefits and learns from experience with technology.

The learning became student directed. Questions were asked and answers were found. These instances could never be planned because of the different schema everyone brings to the classroom. It also helps to make our thinking visible to students and theirs visible to us. Technology resolves the struggles to meet all the different schemas and learning styles. We can better address many modalities of learning to provide an individualized and rich learning environment.

Classrooms such as ours with state-of-the-art equipment lead to engagement, motivation, learning, communication, creativity, innovation, opportunity, and thought provoking environments.  The reality is that our students are accustomed to having information and communication instantaneously. Technology allows us to compete with that aspect of their lives.  It also prepares our children and us for life in the 21st century.

Terry Bruns and Diane Kasaczun