This week my school community is participating in a weeklong Hour of Code event as part of Computer Science Education Week. Each senior class will be receiving instruction and support through our classroom staff and Learning Commons teacher. In turn we will have these senior students act as coaches for the primary classes as they are introduced to coding as a culmination to the week of digital learning activities. After meeting with staff to review the learning outcomes for the Hour of Code sessions, I began to reflect on how quickly our students have acclimated to the daily use of technology in their classrooms. Within the scope of four months we have witnessed students as young as seven who can navigate their Google Classroom, submit assignments, review feedback and contribute to their class community.
Considering the vast amount of new information that students are utilizing and creating, we must refocus our efforts on supporting staff in the effective use of technology within the classroom. A 2010 Walden University study outlined the pivotal role classroom teachers have in utilizing technology to support student acquisition of 21st century skills. At the top of the list is the need for educators to model their confidence in using technology and to guide students towards its constructive use through the development of new skills. Where we were once content to emulate a level of comfort now we are to demonstrate confidence. This is a shift and quite frankly I think we are past the I need to know everything stance and we are hopefully well on our way to a co-learning model. With procedural literacy and coding in our midst, our intent should be to welcome new knowledge and skills as a community of learners with open minds.
We have come very far in a relatively short amount of time. We have quickly moved past the use of technology as a tool to improve student engagement to the use of technology to support learning, everyone’s learning. Considering this we can surmise that we will soon be at the stage where if we are not intentionally using technology for learning, then we are effectively hampering student success. It is not a matter of comfort level, adoption rate or professional development opportunities. It is simply about our true intent in using technology as an effective tool for improving learning outcomes for all.
Quillen, I. (2010). Education technology: Educators, technology, and 21st century skills: Dispelling five myths. Education Week, 29(36), 5.