Learning Designer

The best frameworks for instructional technology integration include students as stakeholders. The first framework which I have listed is that of the flipped classroom. While this is not an inherently instructional technology model, the model provides for a lot of freedom for students (and teachers).

In this model, students can be given brief instruction on how to conduct an experiment or carry out a task in the classroom or via a recording. This adds to the independence of the activities and adds to the differentiation as students can rewatch recordings and utilize subtitles as needed. The differentiation goes further as the best exercises will include different modalities. With proper scaffolding and accessibility, which is made easier through instructional technology, the students can pave their own way. The decrease in time used instructing from the front of the classroom will also benefit students who may need help in small groups or one-to-one (as indicated in the “Professional Educator” section).

My second framework should come as no surprise. The ISTE standards are self-described as “a framework for students, educators, administrators, coaches and computer science educators to rethink education and create innovative learning environments.” Whereas most frameworks serve either only educators or administrators, this framework was developed for everyone within the school, including instructional technology coaches.

At the student level, ISTE stresses familiar concepts, such as digital citizenship and creative communication, but also aligns with the student-centered and computer science elements which I stress with standards on being an “empowered learner,” “computational thinker,” and “knowledge constructor.” While ISTE goes into specifics of how students should do this, this framework automatically sets itself apart by giving the onus of learning to the students and sets educators up as facilitators of that student-centered learning.

For the educators, the ISTE framework focuses on educators being part of the process themselves. By learning with students, it makes educators more vulnerable and trustworthy. The tenet of leadership urges educators to push past their position and be change makers outside of the classroom. While I will steer away from listing every standard and stressing its personal impact on me, these standards are what solidified the field of education for me. While I was well on my path to becoming a teacher when I discovered them, I knew immediately that this framework transcended any standards I could teach through. By abiding by the standards of a coach, helping teachers and standards understand their expectations, and urging administration to make use of the standards for them, the framework can change a school for the better. Many of what educators already seek to do is codified inside the standards, but the inclusion of instructional technology can be that push. Although there are many frameworks that are excellent for units or exercises, the idea of a school which is accessible, equitable, and entrusts students with the tools to empower them to learn is blissful beyond words.

For impactful design practices, the simplest choices are often also the most important. The first set of practices should be to always make content accessible. Whether it means taking the few extra seconds to make sure you have an accurate transcription of any videos you post, making sure all non-decorative images or diagrams have alternate text, or that your design has clear fonts and contrasting colors. The more practice someone has with designing in the interest of accessibility, the easier those practices will become. Color-coding may help someone, but it is also important to consider that students with color blindness may struggle as a result.

Once an educator has utilized the design principles of accessibility in order to ensure all students can participate, it is important to start to include some of the framework from earlier. Similarly to both of the chosen frameworks, it is integral to empower students to take an active role within the classroom. This means selecting activities which reward students for coming up with original ideas and gives them an avenue by which to expire them. If a student is curious about a specific person in a history lesson, include an extension activity for students to share that knowledge or develop a lesson for other students to experience. Students should be rewarded for their interest, but never punished for their struggles. By rewarding their efforts with opportunities to share with the class or digital rewards, they will be more likely to see the worth of what they are learning. For a student struggling with algebra, they may find an exercise using code blocks much more rewarding. For teachers who have never coded, this may be a scary proposition, but this also allows you to learn from your newly-minted expert of a student.

Creative thinking: Paired with a passion for any given subject material, allowing students to exercise creative thinking can be heavily rewarding beyond artwork for your classroom. Aside from getting a better perspective on how your students think, creativity can be an important vulnerability for students to develop in order to truly feel like a part of the classroom community.

• Book Creator - A fun way to allow for students to create their own content for everything from fiction, to reports for science or history, or maybe even to take on the role of an educator on a concept.

• Canva - An incredibly useful tool which I have personally used countless times to provide a visual aid or to creatively present information. This can be used for everything from worksheets to digital design.

Communication: Not only is this integral to student success within the Standards of Learning, but it serves as a life skill which students will need to learn to utilize more in the digital age. Unlike the days when PowerPoint was the only option, there are so many useful tools to allow students to communicate their ideas to a variety of audiences.

• ThingLink - Another resource that can be extremely helpful for teachers to communicate ideas with students and to model the use of the tool at the same time. This text allows for creators to combine text, visuals, audio, and accessibility all into one interactive package.

• Storyboard That - Highly useful tool that has countless lesson plans for educators to use within their classrooms and plenty of resources to help create original content for all content areas. Students can create interactive book reports, historical depictions, share scientific processes, explain problem solving, short stories, or just explore the tools for artistic expression.

Collaboration: While collaboration used to look more like a group of students scattered around a poster board or with one student typing away at the keyboard. With the introduction of collaboration into so many programs, students are much better prepared for their futures.

• Wakelet - This resource is a wonderful way to allow students to collaborate with teachers and their peers alike to organize resources. Once their Wakelet is completed, their collaboration is ready to be presented. Being as that collections can be of most file types and URLs, the possibilities are endless.

• Padlet - Offering a large variety of different formats, Padlet can be used for student collaboration in small groups or across the classroom. Whether ordering historical events on a timeline or map to provide a visual aid, using the wall or grid formats as a classroom scrapbook, or having students work together on a common problem as detectives, Padlet supplies plenty of ways to tackle project in a collaborative effort.

Critical thinking: Critical thinking calls upon students to be able to solve problems in their own unique way. With so many mediums for developing solutions, students are no longer limited to the physical space or the very basic digital medium of calculators.

• Kodable - Look no further for an application to introduce students to learn the process of coding while also covering core content. With computer science at the forefront of growth for jobs, students are not just gaining the skills from problem solving in their own ways, but a skill which can extend into their future. The program, designed to extend throughout elementary school, teaches students a real skill while having the same rewarding feeling of a video game and benefits of traditional learning.

• Read Ahead AI - An application to differentiate, empower, and improve on students' reading skills through critical thinking. By helping students to understand and present what is important within a text, they can move through larger texts with ease and develop independence as readers. Even though students will become to read more efficiently, the ability to think critically about the content will also help build interest in what they are reading and confidence in how they are doing it.

Citizenship: An immeasurable benefit of school is the ability for students to learn how to socialize and properly interact with one another. It can contribute to their participation and possibly has the most direct correlation to the outside world. In the increasingly digital environment, the tools which will help prepare them for this new form of citizenship only continue to gain value.

• Empatico - In an increasingly globalized world, this application takes the idea of pen pals to a new level. Whether participating with your whole classroom or partnering your students with those with similar interests, Empatico can help students develop the skills of global citizenship. As an added benefit to the empathy students will experience, as the namesake would suggest, world language instruction can become more interactive than ever.

• Fanschool (formerly Kidblog) - Whether giving students the freedom to write about whatever they like or assigning a more directed project, classrooms can immediately transform into a publication. Students can work to develop their own blog posts for publishing and student interaction within a safe environment. With opportunities for students to post blogs and compete in games against real people, Fanschool functions like a sandbox for practicing the principles of digital citizenship.