If You're Asking 'How Can I Use More Technology My Class' You're Asking the Wrong Question!

Image Provided by Matt Fuller

I often find myself discussing instructional technology with teachers and leaders. Almost every time, in various forms, the question gets asked, "How can I use more technology in the classroom?" No matter their current level of technological acumen, teachers find themselves feeling pressure, real or imagined, to use digital devices more than they currently are.

After all, the District has allocated valuable resources for our One to World program. Visitors come to Barrington from all over the country to study our innovative programing. In 2016 our district was named an Apple Distinguished Program and selected to host an Apple Research Project. It's no wonder that many teachers feel that they are not doing enough with digital devices. This may leave teachers feeling inadequate if they feel that their tech skills don't measure up. I have observed many teachers taking their focus off student learning and directing their attention to technology.

But, what if "How do I use technology more?" isn't the right question to ask? John Hattie's Visible Learning research sheds some light on why we should be wary of this focus when it comes to digital devices in the classroom. According to the Visible Learning Institute, Hattie's research "synthesized the findings from 1400 meta-analyses of 80,000 studies involving 300 million students into what works best for education."

Basically, this research organized over 250 factors that influence education and determined what impact each factor has on student achievement. Some factors, like troubled home life, lack of sleep, and boredom, have a negative impact on student achievement. Other factors, like effort, teacher clarity, and feedback, have a strong positive impact. So what does Hattie say about technology? Here are his findings on digital devices in the classroom, when the focus is on how and when to use them:

Anything with an effect size of 0.4 or higher is the desired number to confidently say that a factor has a positive influence on student achievement. Technology, when viewed only as an implementation method, fares slightly better than typical teacher impact.

But now, let's look at the effect size of student learning strategies:

Just looking at the color differences in the two charts, it is clear to see that focusing on learning strategies, particularly strategies that emphasize student agency, will influence student achievement in more powerful ways than focusing on the implementation method alone.    

So, instead of asking how to use more technology as a question of implementation, we need to be asking how we can use technology effectively in high-impact teaching and learning strategies. For example:

• How do I increase student agency and self-regulation?  
• How do my students want to reflect their learning?
• How do my students consume and process information?

In other words, we need to recognize that technology is part of the natural learning environment in which our students thrive and create. A digital device is not a tool to be awkwardly thrust into static teaching methods; nor is it an add-on to be layered into everything we do. Technology for our students is a ubiquitous aspect of our learning environment that affords comfortable and efficient choices for creativity, expression, organization, and collaboration.

When considering Hattie's Influences on Student Achievement, figuring out how and when to use digital devices becomes clear. After all, 40 years ago we weren't asking "How can I use more paper and pens in my class?" Paper and pens continue to be an assumed and obvious aspect of our learning environment; digital devices play a similar role for our students today.

Check out Hattie's most recent 250+ Influences on Student Achievement, now referred as Visible Learning plus: bit.ly/hattieeffectsize2017