Google adds new Classroom features. Use them responsibly.

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

All the MCU fans out there know that this phrase was first used in the 1962 Amazing Fantasy #15 issue and then later by Uncle Ben in the 2002 Spiderman movie.

But history nerds know that different versions of the phrase have been around for much longer. Winston Churchill. Teddy Roosevelt. And this guy – Henry W. Haynes from the public library of Boston in 1879:

The possession of great powers and capacity for good implies equally great responsibilities in their employment. Where so much has been given much is required.

So.

Yes. Google has added some new features to Classroom. And yes. There may be a need for them. But . . . we need to use these new features responsibly. Yes. These features will make life easier for teachers. But here’s the problem.

Like any edtech tool or feature, these new Classroom additions can be abused, focusing not on historical thinking skills but low level learning. Focusing on teacher centered, standardized learning rather than student centered, authentic learning.

Especially the one feature that has most caught the attention of teachers.

Integrating technology. Yes. It’s different than simply using technology

I’m spending part of  today getting ready for my METC presentation next week.

(The not so subtle self-promotion? My session on using Flipboard and Pocket as content management tools is next Wednesday at 9:45 in Junior Ballroom A, Lower Level. I’m sure once it’s finished, the presentation is gonna be great. Fingers crossed.)

And as part of my presentation prep, I’m exploring what it really means to integrate technology. I started with the idea that just because teachers or their students use technology as part of teaching and learning, doesn’t necessarily mean that they are actually integrating technology into what they’re doing.

That idea morphed into the next:

Nerdfest 2015 Day Two: Teaching above the line – using technology

It’s Day Two of my Social Studies Nerdfest 2015. And I’m sitting in with Kori Green, Brian Bechard, Kim Gilman, Ed Finney, and Nick Lawrence. We started with a quick discussion of the SAMR model of technology integration.

If you’re not familiar with SAMR, the basic premise is that you begin using tech tools in a very intentional way so that your instruction focuses on the end result rather than just using some sort of “cool” tech tool. SAMR stands for Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition.

For example, I can use Google Docs to post a online handout or worksheet rather than using a paper and pencil version. It’s simply a substitution of a paper handout for a virtual one. Same result. Same info. Same basic workflow. The Educational Technology and Mobile Learning folks have a nice overview of the concept. 

10 tasks every iPad classroom should be able to do

The Educational and Mobile Learning site highlighted a great step by step iPad task tutorial by the folks over at iSupport. They outline five tasks that “every modern teacher” should be able to do and use in their classrooms.

It’s a great list:

• A PDF
• A presentation
• An interactive book
• A podcast
• A movie

I really like how they put together an easy way to see how using iPad tools can lead kids through low level to high levels of thinking and doing.

But the list isn’t comprehensive. And it might start past the point where some teachers are right now.

So I’ve added five extra iPad basic skills that I think every teacher using iPads needs to have:

The SAMR model of tech integration and mobile apps

Back in the early days of my informal tech integration training, I heard Alan November share his thoughts on how schools could begin the process of embedding technology into instruction.

At that time, he talked about three different levels of integration that seem to make sense to me:

• automate
• informate
• innovate

The goal was to move from using technology to complete tasks we’ve always done to using technology for tasks that have never before been done. From using a computer grading program to speed up the scoring of multiple choice tests to using a mobile app to create an interactive and collaborative e-book.

November suggested that we need to move beyond thinking about the tool and think more about the task. Decide first what we want to accomplish and then select the tool:

No one who ever bought a drill wanted a drill. They wanted a hole.
Perry Marshall

It’s the end result that matters, not the tool.