Move Beyond Novelty: Integrate Technology With Purpose
Emerging technologies are often employed in classrooms in ways that do not reflect how they are used mainstream. This creates a discrepancy between how students think they should use a tool and how it is actually used beyond the classroom.
We need to be more intentional about using technologies in ways that nurture appropriate use and skill acquisition that matter in professional environments, not the just the simulated environment of a classroom.
Technology Integration Needs to Be More than Just Engagement
We all know that emerging technologies cause trends to occur in education. However, the fruitfulness of these trends depend on how authentically they are used in the classroom.
We are seeing the AR/VR trend begin to permeate classrooms, but with such a young industry, teachers are trying to find any way to integrate these ideas, regardless of how they build capacity within their students to contribute, not just consume.
While I can’t argue with the engagement that comes with the novelty of using new technologies in the classroom, the outcomes are not as robust as we should expect. With the goal of preparing students for life beyond the classroom, we need to be more critical of how we introduce and use technologies that will be apart of students’ future professional careers.
What Should Teachers Consider When Looking to Integrate Tech?
Technology integration in classrooms has to have the dual benefit of enhancing the learning experience and allowing students to develop skills that will translate beyond the classroom.
For example, Learning Management Systems, such as Google Classroom, focus on creating an environment to nurture productive workflow, organization, and feedback for students. This system does not really change the information taught, but does change the process by which information is consumed, produced, and shared. All of these elements are core components of productive team participants in the production of a product in a professional world. Through the integration of an LMS, students will hone their skills of producing and refining work through the collaboration of a “team leader,” in this case, the teacher.
When looking at the integration of AR/VR (as well as other technologies), we need to consider what additional skills, beyond the content, will be learned through adding the technology.
For this we need to look at how industries are using the technology, in this case AR/VR.
For many industries, the use of AR/VR as a training tool is something more akin to how teachers initial use new technology. However, we must consider the robustness of the experience so that it accurately mirrors the depth to which students will need to engage in the professional learning environment. For example, having an image show up in 3D (currently used in classrooms) is an incredibly novel way to view an item; however, there is not much more to the experience. What we are seeing in industry training are simulations where trainees engage in a process and interact with their surroundings, not just view them.
This is the disparity between classroom application and industry application. For teachers to support the acquisition of skills that will be needed beyond the classroom, we need to move beyond the “that’s neat” phase of technology and turn it into “that’s productive.”
Teachers need to be looking at HOW the technology will add value to an experience, both in terms of learning content and in gaining skills.
Example #1 of Learning with VR: Experience and Empathy
Let’s take the concept of VR and a difficult subject such as the “causes” of a historical event. This subject is difficult as it requires students to have empathy for others in a difficult situation. What better way than to put them in the experience. We all know hearing about it engages a few interested students, but immersion brings even more into the experience.
Through a constructed experience, students would be the participants in the events (you could even have separate experiences for the two sides of a conflict). They would be exposed to different events and forced to make decisions about how to handle the situation.
The unique aspect of this is that even though you could simulate this experience without VR, the robust nature of the platform engages more of the student’s senses. Thus, the “realness” pulls them into the scenario.
From the perspective of transferable skills, interacting in a digital world is something business are using to train professionals. Whether this is in assessment of safety protocols or decision making experiences, the greater authenticity provided by the technology is advantageous as it more closely simulates the real life environment.
Example #2 of Learning with VR: Show What You Know
When we consider the use of technology beyond the classroom, we notice that technology has the underlying purpose of making a process easier through the creation of a new product.
Creating new things is where teachers can harness the novelty of the technology and add in the opportunity to learn new skills. The idea of creating products that showcase learning by creating products allows students to see the value in the technology as a means for creating unique and customized products.
If we consider the example presented in the previous section, it is completely possible for a teacher to create the experience. However, think about how much a student would need to understand to create the experience themselves! More than just the skills to put the experience together, students would need to understand the complex relationships between the causes and effects of different scenarios.
Building the experience helps students make connections between the sequence of events that need to occur for an experience to be accurate and authentic.
This could be replicated in other subjects, specifically those that require sequences of events to happen in order; whether it is the production of a protein in biology or the order of events in a theatrical production.
With VR having a strong use in the gaming industry, it is not a stretch to think about how learning experiences have a link to the narrative elements of many games. Not only is the thought process similar, but allows students to develop skills that would be transferable to other fields.
The Challenge: Move Beyond Novelty
All this being said, that is not going to stop some teachers from just using AR/VR to elicit engagement from students, with not value beyond keeping attention. That is a reality and frankly, at least students will be exposed to new technology.
HOWEVER!
I challenge teachers and trainers to think about the most productive use of emerging technologies in teaching and learning.
In order to do this you will need to take a risk, to explore a world to which you may not have familiarity, to learn skills that are not a part of your normal skill set.
But we must consider that this is what we expect of our students. What better way to model being a lifetime learner than to tackle a new challenge where we feel that it is a step beyond our comfort zone.
My name is Andrew Julian and I am a teacher of science and technology. I have a passion for considering how technology can positively impact my classroom and the education of all students.
For more about my teaching, checkout my website at morethanjustteaching.weebly.com
For more about my foray into AR/VR and classroom instruction, you can read my Medium articles, a few of which are found below. Thanks!
