Tools!

Men have become the tools of their tools.

Henry David Thoreau

When I was a kid my dad had an impressive woodworking shop: He had a cabinet-grade table saw, a radial arm saw, a router table, a band saw, a thickness planer, jointer planer, a lathe, and a enough other contraptions to build just about anything small enough to fit into our basement. From an early age it was made clear that I was not to touch my father’s tools, and when I finally was old enough to play, I was no longer interested.

My ignorance became my frustration shortly after I moved out on my own and needed to fix things around my house. I needed tools. I began scouring garage sales and swap meets and filling my basement. For a time I had lots of tools, but no idea how to use them properly. I accumulated a library of do-it-yourself books and woodworking magazines, I asked experienced friends for advice and help, I practiced—and eventually—I crossed the threshold into marginal proficiency.

Cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham recognized that “Technology is only as good as the way it gets used” (Hanford, E., & Smith, S., 2013). This is as true for the woodshop as it is for the classroom, because even the best tools require knowledge and experience to be useful. When it comes to computer technologies, students are often “digital natives,” while teachers are more frequently “digital immigrants” (Prensky, M., 2005). To effectively integrate new technologies into the classroom, teachers need to tap into the native knowledge already possessed by students; who seem to emerge from the womb navigating multiple social media platforms. Teachers can do this by becoming literate in the emerging social media, and by making good use of these in teaching students to become literate in the academic disciplines.

The one-to-one device concern of edtech advocates has largely been addressed by the increasing affordability of mobile devices (Prensky, 2005; Hanford, 2013), and high speed internet access is virtually universal. Additionally, the devices have become so easy to use and reliable that teachers and students can use them as seamlessly as schoolbooks, pencils, whiteboards, and other pieces of more traditional classroom tech.

Of concern to edtech advocates is that digital immigrant teachers are getting the most out of their tools so that they can better serve their students. The SAMR model delineates technology’s potential applications in classrooms across disciplines, and points toward redefining what can be done with lessons by crafting new learning experiences in ways that could not have been done before (Romrell, Kidder, & Wood, 2014). Rather than merely doing the same old things in new ways, technology should enhance the old things and create the potential for entirely new and better learning experiences.

Etutoring is another exciting area of rapid improvement in edtech, and—where implemented—it can greatly improve classroom differentiation. Struggling students can get personalized help in targeted areas, while accelerated students can get step-by-step guidance through course material potentially beyond the intellectual means of even their teachers. About half the coursework completed by students at Carpe Diem charter schools is done this way, and their vigorous employment of these new technologies has led to a cost-efficient ratio of students to teachers (Hanford, 2013). I am not adept at learning mathematics in a traditional classroom, but my undergrad coursework required some mathematics. I found YouTube and Kahn Academy tutorials to be immensely beneficial and effective for learning, and I managed to pull A’s in my math classes by supplementing coursework with these free online resources. When it came time to take my West-B educator’s test in Mathematics, I again relied heavily on Kahn Academy to remind me of all the stuff I forgot from college. By utilizing these kinds of resources in their classrooms, teachers can provide broadly differentiated instruction and save classroom time to provide direct, personal assistance where needed.

I love good tools because, with practice, they allow me to accomplish old tasks better and more efficiently, and because they allow me to accomplish useful tasks which were previously inconceivable. Old ways of doing things still have a place, and for certain operations the old ways may be better: In my shop, for example, I use some hand tools all the time, while I have stopped using others altogether. I refuse to entirely abandon all lecturing, for instance, both because I love to hear myself talk, and because it’s still the best tool for many things when properly delivered. Practicing using new tools in new ways, keeping an open mind to their possibilities, and developing a rich personal learning network to stay updated on edtech developments are all becoming increasingly necessary to give students the tools for today to prepare them for the tools of tomorrow.

Hanford, E., & Smith, S. (2013, Aug.). One Child at a Time: Custom Learning in

the Digital Age. American RadioWorks. Retrieved from

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/personalized-learning/

Prensky, M. (Dec. 2005). Shaping Tech for the Classroom: 21st-century schools

need 21st-century technology. Edutopia. Retrieved from

https://www.edutopia.org/adopt-and-adapt-shaping-tech-for-classroom

Romrell, Kidder, & Wood (2014) The SAMR Model as a Framework for Evaluating mLearning.pdf