by Kristin Ziemke (@KristinZiemke)
In this post Kristin Ziemke, who is leading an Advanced Level Teacher Think Tank called, “Bringing Digital Literacy to our Learners, Grades K-5” and an Advanced Level Coaching Think Tank called, “Moving Our Staff (And Ourselves) Forward with Digital Literacy: Apps, Mindsets, and Today’s New World, Grades K-5,” shares a video introduction as well as some tips for 1-device classrooms.
The Educator Collaborative network member, Kristin Ziemke (@KristinZiemke), thought that it might be best for you to learn about our video-centered virtual think tanks through a video-centered introduction!
One area Katherine Hale (@KatharineHHale) and I will explore in our Virtual Think Tanks this year is how to navigate 1-device or multi-device classrooms. There are benefits to both and with even just one device you can, with careful planning, seamlessly integrate meaningful technology.
Here are some thoughts on those of you in (or moving to) 1-Device Classrooms:
Making the Most of a 1-Device Classroom
In some classrooms I have worked with, teachers have brought their own device from home because while their school budget was small yet, they still wanted to ensure students have some hands-on time with content creation using technology (Things like this is what makes educators so amazing!).
Here are some tips:
- Even in multi-device classrooms it’s important to help students have and use both tech and text. Make technology not a “special time,” but instead one option of many throughout the day. Demonstrate, through your actions, valuing both.
- You can set and practice a routine during particular parts of your day. For example, when you read aloud, model for students how to use TodaysMeet, Edmodo, or another conversation tool. Then pass the device around the circle. With young students we explicitly practice reading other comments (the best we can), then writing our own, then passing the device on.
- Develop some norms with your students and then teach them how to navigate the device in the room (instead of you always handing it out and collecting it again). Things like, how to ask for the device from other students, how long to spend on it, and help them brainstorm ways to negotiate this.
Katharine and I can’t wait to dig into more digital literacy work with teachers and coaches this year. We hope you can join one of our Virtual Think Tanks! Learn more about them here.
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