With so many technology tools available today, it may sometimes be difficult or confusing to determine which ones might be the best fit for your classroom. Some applications may be general use (meaning they were not designed specifically for education), while some others may have been developed with a specific classroom function in mind. Either way there are some resources available that can help you make your selection a little bit easier!
EdSurge Product Index - https://www.edsurge.com/product-reviews
A community driven database covering education technology product reviews and recommendations for teachers. When trying to decide on a technology tool to use for their classroom, teachers can utilize the EdSurge site and search for tools based on category, grade level, and learning needs. Teachers themselves can leave reviews based on strengths and weaknesses they have experienced, as well as give direct feedback to the developers of the products (to request enhancements, etc). (Johnson, 2016)
Graphite - http://graphite.org
Developed by Common Sense Media, Graphite is a website designed to give educators a central, informational resource about applications available to them. The site offers reviews from leading educational experts and leaders, many of which have several years of experience in pedagogy. The evaluators use a 15-point, researched based rubric in order to rate the different products. Teacher reviews on the site often include examples and testimonies of how they have used the app within their own classrooms. (Johnson, 2016)
Learning Assembly - https://learningassembly.org/
This site can be a very valuable resource for educators and school districts. As a collaborative network of educators and innovators, this organization focuses on piloting technology applications at schools across the country. In the process, they have not only supplied valuable resources to these schools, but have also built a invaluable database of evidence on how these apps and platforms can successfully impact students' education.
(Johnson, 2016)
In addition to using the above resources to locate and obtain technology to use in your classroom, as a teacher you must insure that the tools you are introducing are not just added "fluff" to your lessons, but rather intentionally add to and facilitate student learning. With that being said, the following are two strategies to use when selecting - and then applying - these different technology options.
Keep Learning Social. Although grant monies that come through and allow for purchasing enough laptops or tablets to be a "1:1" school is wonderful, teachers and administrators must be cautious in making learning to isolated for students. It is important to make a conscious efforts to implement technologies that allow students to collaborate and interact with each other. For example, applications that allow for collaborative editing on documents, or have a chat/messaging feature would both be examples of how to keep the students learning in a social environment. Even when students are using individual devices, teachers can mix in traditional methods like think/pair/share to keep the social interaction alive. Ensure that the Technology Adds Value. Showing off all of your Chromebooks and SMARTboards and WiFi technology to parents at the open house looks awesome and super impressive. But, does it add to the learning experience for the students? Technology is known to be effective when it adds value to the lesson in such a way that would be otherwise impossible without that piece of technology. (Kolb, 2018) Teachers should aim to first determine their learning objectives, then choose the technologies that would help to enhance it. Obtaining high tech gadgets just for the sake of having them is rarely going to add any educational value; in fact, it may serve only to distract from the original goals. One way that teachers can help to ensure that a technology application will add value is to look for those applications that require the students to engage in higher-level cognitive thinking.
Resources
Johnson, K. (2016, March 15). Resources to help you choose the digital tools your classroom needs. Retrieved from https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-03-15-resources-to-help-you-choose-the-digital-tools-your-classroom-needs
Kolb, L. (2018, September 28). Research-based tech integration strategies. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/research-based-tech-integration-strategies