In this video series, I'm gonna be arguing why it's as important to be
teaching students with technology as it is to be teaching them reading, writing,
and math. The society we live in now is infused with technology and the society
our students will live in in the future will be even more infused with
technology, in ways we cannot even predict. We can't put the toothpaste back
in the tube - technology is here to stay. Proactively teaching students how to
navigate the digital world, as well as how to use numerous technologies to
solve complex problems, must be a part of how we educate the next generation. My
name is Sam Kary, I've been an educator for the last ten years, and this is my
YouTube channel for The New EdTech Classroom. In this video, I'm gonna
present ten arguments for why technology is a vital part of education. In future
videos, I will explore each of these ten arguments in greater depth. The first
argument is that it is our job ,as educators, to prepare students to become
citizens of the societies we live in. One of our primary roles as educators is to
provide students with the tools they need to navigate our complex world and
to make informed decisions as members of our democracy. There is no question that
new technology has brought a wave of new challenges to our society that we now
have to deal with. If we as educators are deeply concerned about the spread of
misinformation, as well as bullying and trolling on social media sites, we should
take it upon ourselves to make sure to educate our students how to positively
interact with others online, as well as how to think critically about the
information that they find there. We should be teaching students how to
determine if material online is reliable, how to recognize digitally altered
videos and images, as well as how to be a better digital citizen when interacting
with other people online. If we want to help create a better society and a
stronger democracy, we need to be teaching our students how to navigate
the digital world. My second argument is that it is also our roles as educators
to provide students with the skills they will need to
be able to get a job. There is no question that work in the future is
going to look significantly different than the way it does now. In fact, we're
already seeing major changes play out in front of us.
Machine automation has already had massive political and economic impacts
in our society. Automation will inevitably speed up and is going to
change the way that work looks in the future. Right now the highest paying jobs
are given to those who can think critically, creatively, and collaborate
with other people. In the future, the reality that those with higher order
thinking skills adept in using technology have greater access to jobs
will only grow. Of course using technology to teach higher order
thinking isn't the only way to do it, but by not teaching students technology
skills in the classroom, we are doing them a disservice to their ability to
get a job. My third argument is that we have a widening digital divide and it is
our responsibility as educators to help close it. When educators talk about the
achievement gap, they're often talking about fundamental skills in math and
reading. What we don't hear about nearly as often, however, is the gap in both
access to technology, as well as technological skills across racial and
socio-economic groups. I've heard of some schools in affluent
districts going tech-free, but I absolutely guarantee that students that
attend those schools go home and have access to the newest technologies. For
many students, public schools might be the only place where they have regular
access to a device, to Wi-Fi, as well as to the opportunity to develop skills
using technology that they'll need for a job. By not providing students with the
same access to technology, in the way we at least try to do with reading and math,
we are inadvertently perpetuating a growing digital divide in our society. My
fourth argument for why we all need to be using technology in education is
that our students are digital natives. All educators currently teach students
who grew up with the internet and many learned how to navigate a supercomputer
that fits into the palm of their hand from a very young age.
Whether we like it or not, our students have a natural inclination toward
technology and towards social sharing. Students want to work together to solve
problems, they want to use technology to do that, and they want to share what
they've made with their friends. We should embrace that. My fifth argument is
that using technology in education helps us differentiate instruction for
our students. In today's classroom, teachers are likely to have students
whose academic skills are all over the map. A middle school math teacher, for
example, might have students who lack foundational skills in arithmetic but
have others that are ready for more advanced algebra. Differentiated
instruction has long been a buzzword in education, as a means to address this
problem. But in reality, it's extremely difficult to implement because it takes
a lot of time and effort. Providing students with access to the same content
at different reading levels, as another example, is extremely labor intensive and
my guess is that a lot of educators just don't do it. Technology tools that exist
right now can make differentiated and personalized instruction a reality. My
sixth argument is that technology can help students find their voice. Not all
students thrive in a traditional classroom environment. Creative apps that
allow students to create digital books, photo journals, videos, audio recordings,
and so much more, provide students with different opportunities to share their
ideas in a way that makes sense to them. I have countless examples of students
that are very reluctant to participate in whole group activities, but that
thrive when given the opportunity to share their ideas using a technology
tool. My seventh argument is that education technology is engaging. If
teachers ask students to do worksheets all year, they're likely going to end up
with a serious classroom management problem on their hands. At the least,
they're gonna have students that are bored and likely disengaged from school.
Ask students, however, to work in a group to plan, execute, and edit a video skit
using green screen technology, however, and I pretty much guarantee that
students will be excited and engaged. My eighth argument for why we need to have
technology in education is about teacher workload and organization. It's
no question that teachers are asked to do more than there is time in the day.
Teachers have to plan lessons, grade papers, respond to emails, go to meetings,
make sure that they stay connected with families, oh, and also teach the entire
day. Technology tools can help significantly reduce a teacher's
workload by automating certain elements of their job and once teachers create
lessons using technology, that material can be used again and again in later
years. My ninth argument is that technology can help deepen the
school-to-home connection. It's hard for teachers to stay in regular contact with
families and it's even harder to provide them with a really accurate picture of
what's going on, on an ongoing basis throughout the year. Technology tools,
like digital portfolios and digital classrooms, help provide a window into a
teacher's classroom that can help families understand what their students
are doing on a day to day basis and can help deepen that school-home connection.
My tenth argument is that through technology, students can develop
interests and talents they might have never known they have. If you ask
students, for example, to make a podcast, they might develop an interest in
broadcasting. We never know who's in our class and by providing students with
different tools to foster interests and talents, we might be creating the future
scientists, app creators, filmmakers, actors, broadcast journalists, you name it,
of our future. Stay tuned for future videos in my 'Why
Technology is Important in Education' series, to explore each of these
arguments in greater depth. Thank you so much for watching my video. If you found
it helpful, please hit the like button and if you'd like to see more of my
education technology tutorials, check out those other videos and subscribe to my
channel. Thanks and have a great week!