The role of the teacher in the classroom can seem pretty straight forward -- make sure the kids know what they need to know, right? However, when viewing that role through the ISTE Standard 6, "Facilitator," we notice a few distinct differences from the more old school teacher expectation. Rather than simply delivering necessary information, today's teachers actually have a greater and more meaningful responsibility. According to this standard, the deeper responsibility of a teacher is actually to encourage students to take ownership over their own learning and create challenging learning opportunities that require and encourage creativity. According to the Office of Educational Technology, teachers "should be expected to model how to leverage available tools to engage content with curiosity," not just tell students what they need to know.
Veritasium echoes and expands upon this thought in the video "This Will Revolutionize Education." Teacher as facilitator means so much more than teacher as distributer of knowledge. Facilitators set the foundation for true learning to flourish, by encouraging students to be the drivers of their own learning. As stated in the video, "We are not limited by the experiences we can give to students. What limits learning is what can happen inside the student's head." So, how can technology help teachers become better facilitators? It's important to remember that technology is only as powerful as the curriculum it is being used in. In their article "Technology alone won’t transform teacher to facilitator," Monica Martinez and Dennis McGrath explain that teachers must first reflect on the effectiveness of their curriculum before considering how to incorporate more technology into it. Teachers must ensure that they are providing their students with engaging learning experiences and asking them to complete challenging assessments that require higher-order skills and problem-solving. Incorporating more technology into the classroom won't be able to fill the gaps left by poorly designed classroom activities. What it can do, however, is augment the content that a teacher can provide. "No longer the single source of information," explain Martinez and McGrath, "teachers are freed to guide students’ learning, leveraging technology to help students access knowledge, manage their work, collaborate, communicate, and create and produce various products." One such creative product teachers could challenge their students to make is a Spark Video. Spark Videos are an Adobe product that allow students to create high quality educational videos or slide shows with original narration. Students can use their own videos and photos or browse stock photos. They can also add text and icons. The technology is available for free online, and requires only an internet browser to use. I found Spark Video in the Edutopia article, "Putting Learning First With New Tech Tools," by Monica Burns. Spark Video was listed as a great tool to bring more creativity into a teacher's classroom. Something I love about this tech tool is that the interface is actually extremely intuitive and easy to use, so it wouldn't take a lot of front-loading to teach students to use it. Since it's so easy to use, you can focus on more on the content being delivered in the video and less on the process of making it. After just ten minutes of experimenting, I was able to create this video. (Please click the link for full screen if your browser is not displaying video correctly).
I'm super impressed with how professional the product is, and I'm sure it could be even better with more time. I think this tool would be a great piece of technology to bring into my classroom, because when you view it through the lens of TPACK, the content knowledge students will apply in this product is not overshadowed by the technological knowledge students will need in order to operate the tool. I'm really excited to bring this tool into my classroom as I see so many different potential uses for it as a piece of technology that will support my role as facilitator in the classroom, and I think the students will have a lot of fun with it as well.
References Burns, M. (2018). "Putting learning first with new tech tools." Edutopia. Martinez, M. & McGrath, D. (2014). "Technology alone won’t transform teacher to facilitator." The Phi Delta Kappan, (1), 41. Office of Educational Technology. National Education Technology Plan. Section 2: Teaching with technology. US Department of Education. Veritasium. (2014, December 1). This will revolutionize education. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=GEmuEWjHr5c
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Emma BooneFirst year 8th grade PBL math/science teacher and graduate student, wondering a bunch and figuring a few things out here and there. Archives
December 2018
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