Equity and Technology

I believe using technology to guide dialogue has helped many of my students engage in collaborative conversations. In response to my Padlet digital tech tool, Briana Ronan asked, “have you noticed any changes in the kinds of notes your students take with padlet versus when they took notes on sticky pads?”. My answer is yes, many changes! Not only does it increase the volume of writing but the content is more rich and the spelling and grammar has improved.

I can see how equity can be challenged using Padlet. As stated by Tawfik, Reeves, and Stich (2016), “minority students perceived less social presence in online learning compared with their non-minority peers”.  Although students have increasing opportunities with technology, minorities can be fearful or lack confidence while posting in an online community. I believe the ability to add images, videos and links to a Padlet helps to combat this fear because their writing is supported in multiple modes.

One of the largest impacts that I experience in my class regarding equity, technology, and “opportunities to learn” is the amount of exposure my students come in with and their ability to use technology. I aim to treat technology as though my students have never seen it but, when given a task, my students that have had more opportunities with it are producing more, inputted unique designs, and can transform their work more than what it expected. I see my students that have not had the opportunity or practice with technology wanting to do the same and it takes them much longer. I do not believe that any of my students feel that there is a gap but rather they are excited to learn from their peers.

My equity vision for my students is that all “students are heard” (Pollock, 2016, p. 41). I often notice that my low-income and minority students lack the confidence to share their thinking in the classroom. I do not visualize a computer app creating this equity where everyone is working independently, looking at a screen. I picture technology being the building blocks for collaborating, creating and sharing designs and ideas. It is my hope that students are learning technology early enough in the classroom that there would not be as much of an opportunity gap in the future.

Technology that I foresee supporting my equity vision include some apps that I use today. The Google Apps for education allow for students to easily collaborate on projects through sharing, commenting and suggesting. Also, Tawfik, Reeves, and Stich (2016) described online professional development for teachers that, “removes geographic barriers”. I want to remove this barrier for my students. I believe collaborating with classes across the country and sharing work universally would allow all of my students to feel important and valued.

References

Pollock, M. (2016). Smart Tech Use for Equity. The Education Digest, 81(8), 39-41.

Tawfik, A. A., Reeves, T. D., & Stich, A. (2016). Intended and Unintended

Consequences of Educational Technology on Social Inequality. TechTrends,

60(6), 598-605.

Awesome Digital Tech Tool: Padlet

Imagine...no more sticky notes! Countless times I have gotten home with a sticky note stuck to my shoe with a student’s hard work written on it. If only there was an easy way to discuss an idea on a common topic where students and teachers can quickly scan the thinking of the entire class. Wait...there is! It’s called Padlet!

Padlet is an online application that allows users with a specific link to post virtual sticky notes on a “wall” to discuss a specific topic. Not only can students post their thinking but they can also attach images, websites, documents, video, etc. I have used this application with adults at professional development trainings and with students in my classroom. There are premium packages for schools and businesses but the free version works great. This application is compatible with laptops, chromebooks, mobile devices and iPads.

This digital tool allows for many opportunities to enhance student learning. The second ISTE Student Standard (2017) is, “students use digital media to communicate and work collaboratively”. This learning tool allows students to share their thinking and comment on their peers’ ideas. When conducting research projects in my classroom, Padlet has been a great tool to share resources and findings. Doug Belshaw (2012) believes, when structuring lessons to  integrate digital technology into a class, it is important to equally focus on individual interests and important issues. Padlet provides an outlet where students can interact and be social while communicating about important topics.

Dalton (2012) discusses how multimodality has changed how we communicate. We now have an interactive experience when we communicate using text, images, videos, and more. Padlet allows students to not only share their thinking using words but to also include other modalities. Multimodality not only increases engagement but also student understanding when reading their peers’ posts. Ryan, Scott, and Walsh (2010) described that when students used technology in a multimodal context it was, “intrinsically motivating and they felt very much at home with it” (p. 481). Some of my students that are more hesitant to take notes in their journal are quick to write a response in a Padlet.

Padlet is a strong resource to use in the classroom. Students work hard on their posts because they want their peers to see their best work. Students can cite their work by adding links or add to their work by including images, documents, videos and sound. The collaboration is key to students learning more and practicing constructive conversations that the Common Core State Standards expect. There are a couple of recommendations I would give to Padlet if they were hoping to improve their program. One thing that would be very helpful is to allow students to search for images directly though Padlet, similar to Google Apps. Instead students must paste a link to the image which can get confusing. Also, the submit button is very easy to select. Often times, my students submit early and need to go back to edit. This is a problem because their peers see the unfinished post and believe they are done. This leads to them responding to work that is not complete. The last function I would add is the ability to alter the font. When writing the instructions at the top and any post, it is nice to have access to bold, italics, and different sizes.

Do not allow these recommendations to deter you from trying this digital learning tool. The video below will give you a tour of Padlet’s easy to use interface.

Padlet Tutorial by Haley Kennedy

References

Belshaw, Doug [Tedx Talks]. (2012 March 22). The Essential Elements of Digital Literacies.

[Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8yQPoTcZ78.

Dalton, B. (2012). Multimodal Composition and The Common Core State Standards. The Reading

Teacher, 66(4), 333-339.

ISTE Standards for Students. (2017). Retrieved February 3, 2017, from http://www.iste.org/

standards/standards/standards-for-students

Ryan, J., Scott, A., Walsh, M. (2010). Pedagogy in the multimodal classroom: an analysis of the challenges and opportunities for teachers. Teachers and Teaching: Theory & Practice, 16(4), 477-489.