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Connect Canyons
Learning is about making connections, and we invite you to learn and connect with us. Connect Canyons is a show about what we teach in Canyons District, how we teach, and why. We get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great: students, teachers, principals, parents, and more. We meet national experts, too. And we spotlight the “connection makers” — personalities, programs and prospects — we find compelling and inspiring.
Connect Canyons
Episode 109: From Pencils to Chromebooks: The Technology Evolution in the Classroom
The pencil was invented in 1795. The first documented use of the chalkboard in the United States was in 1801, and the ballpoint pen came into popular use in the 1940s.
We’ve been using these tools in education for decades, and now we're sprinting into a new era with new tools.
How are Canyons District schools using such modern tools as Chromebooks and artificial intelligence? In what ways do these tools enhance learning, and what are schools doing to help students use them responsibly? Connect Canyons posed these questions to the District’s Digital Teaching and Learning Specialists Katie Gebhardt and Dr. Camille Cole.
After the pandemic, some may assume Chromebooks and other devices are the center of learning. Others have suggested AI will one day replace teachers altogether. But the truth, says Cole, is that technology is being put to use carefully and strategically.
“An easy misconception is that kids are on their Chromebooks from start to finish of the school day, and it’s really not like that,” says Cole. “Any time a student is using the technology, it should be high quality learning opportunities — whether it’s active where they’re physically working, or passive learning, where they’re reading or just consuming information.”
Technology can give teachers immediate feedback on which concepts individual students are struggling to master. AI can make learning more accessible to students with disabilities.
The litmus test in determining when and how to use a given technology is whether it advances learning, Cole says.
Conversely, teachers are teaching students to use technology, not as consumers, but as creators. “Digital citizenship is really just using technology and our resources that we have today for good,” Gebhardt says.
Canyons District breaks up digital citizenship into five competency areas — Inclusive, informed, engaged, balanced, and alert. Students learn to check sources, use their technology to solve problems, balance their time on and offline, and make sure they are keeping safety in mind.
1:06 Understanding Digital Citizenship
Our experts explain what digital citizenship means and how teachers work practicing good digital citizenship into their lessons.
5:52 Technology Integration in the Classroom
We learn how teachers and students alike are using technology as a tool to enhance the learning experience.
9:53 Screen Time Quality vs. Quantity
Our experts share just how much time students are using devices and how those technological tools are being used.
17:21 Advice for Families at Home
We discuss how families can practice good digital citizenship at home and set examples for their children.
Welcome to Connect Canyons, a podcast sponsored by Canyons School District. This is a show about what we teach, how we teach and why we get up close and personal with some of the people who make our schools great Students, teachers, principals, parents and more. We meet national experts too. Learning is about making connections, so connect with us.
Speaker 2:The pencil was invented in 1795, the chalkboard in 1801, and the ballpoint pen in 1888, which means we've been using these tools in education for hundreds of years. Now we're sprinting into a new era, introducing new tools such as Chromebooks, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Welcome to Connect Canyons. I'm your host, frances Cook. Today we're going to chat about digital citizenship. We're going to explain what that means, and technology in the classroom. I'm joined by Katie Gephardt and Camille Cole, canyons Digital Teaching and Learning Specialists. Thank you both for being here today.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2:I'd like to start with digital citizenship. Katie, can you tell us? What does that mean?
Speaker 4:Digital citizenship is really just using technology and our resources that we have today for good. So in Canyons we organize it around five different competency areas. We want students to be inclusive. We want students to be engaged. We want students to be engaged and use technology for good, so that could be using technology to solve problems or be creative. And we want students to be balanced. We find that many times today that is one that they struggle with, where they are struggling with balancing their time online and offline and prioritizing activities. So it's not always about how many minutes they are spending on a device, it's also how are they choosing to use that time. Is it using their device to serve their goals and improve their learning or be creative, or is it just consuming information? One last one no, keep going To be alert, and that is to make sure that they are keeping safety in mind and not sharing personal information, things like that.
Speaker 3:Well, and to add to what she's talking about, when I think about digital citizenship, I think about that word citizen citizenship.
Speaker 3:So think about how you are as a human in this physical world, like, how do you conduct yourself when you're out in public, when you interact with people in person, when I shake someone's hand, when I'm talking to them. We have this digital space where so much is happening online via social media. Think about how much you do in this digital world. It's how do you conduct yourself in that space. And right now we're in a world where we're seeing the physical and the digital world start to kind of collide and overlap, and so, with these skills and these competencies that Katie was just talking about, those are really good things to keep in mind, not just for the physical world, but when you're dealing with people in this digital space. How do you conduct yourself? How do you relay information? How do you relay information? How do you share information? How do you consume it? So it's how to be a good person in the physical world, but also now in this digital space.
Speaker 2:That's a really great way of looking at it. You're still you and you're still representative of yourself, your community, your school, your family. So how are we implementing these ideas in the classroom? How are we teaching our students to be good digital citizens?
Speaker 4:Great question. So in our elementary, middle and high schools, students receive digital citizenship lessons every year. We have a commitment that they will receive at least three. However, most schools have more than that almost monthly lessons around digital citizenship that cover those five competencies that I was talking about. In elementary and middle school, that's through our Thrive Time curriculum, where every unit has a digital citizenship component. And then in our high schools, they are usually taught in some type of an advisory or an app period, depending, or during our digital citizenship week, depending on the school.
Speaker 3:And I know as digital teaching and learning specialists, something that we continue to advocate for and push when we're doing these lessons is like how can you teach digital citizenship within context?
Speaker 3:So it's not like let's learn about math right now and then we'll then talk about digital citizenship and practice those skills. It's anytime our students are using technology. If you're writing a paper, let's talk about plagiarism and how you appropriately cite people's other work. You don't want to take credit for someone else's work. So I think the power of digital citizenship and I'm hoping we can move to more of that is one teaching it within context and even asking our teachers, our adults in the building, who are using technology, to model that behavior, because a lot of students will emulate and copy. I mean, that's what emulate means right, but they'll copy what they're seeing, and so if they're seeing a parent online or a teacher online and maybe not practicing some of these competencies, they're going to think it's not a big deal. So I really do think it's teaching, being explicit with your teaching. But then what can we do to model and then really teach these things within context when they apply?
Speaker 2:I know as a learner myself, I am very hands-on. I want to see how it works, not just hear. Here's what a good digital citizen is. So that's very cool to hear that we're implementing it into their daily learning. Let's take that a step farther. So, like you said, camille, technology in the classroom is becoming integral. I mean it's as we're using technology as much as we're using pencils, right, that can sometimes make maybe some of us older generation worry a little bit, where we're not as used to that idea of technology being an everyday device and an everyday tool. We don't want our kids rotting their brains, so how are we using technology in the classroom? For example, what are our students doing on their Chromebooks?
Speaker 3:So very good question because I even think about to my experience growing up.
Speaker 1:I don't want to age myself, but I know I'm not that old Right, but I just know when I was, and I'm a product of Canyon School District.
Speaker 3:I went to the, I went to Altaview, went to Jordan, I went to Eastmont and so when I was going through school, technology was kind of just getting started. We were starting to do reports on the computer, we were starting to investigate things online. But where we are now, so much of education it's digital, like a lot of the textbooks our teachers get. The curriculums are very they have digital components. And even though there's digital components, it doesn't mean the expectation now is everything is done digitally, because that's not the best way to learn. And so when we're working with teachers and even thinking about, okay, we have all these programs, whether it's like in our elementary school, wonder, savas, that's our ELA and our math programs Something we refer to and we kind of use as our anchor is the TPAC framework. It's a framework in thinking about effective technology integration and it starts with content. So when we work with teachers or even are teaching about technology integration, we first tell teachers the first expectation is knowing what you're teaching. They should always go back to the core standards that are expected for each grade level, those specific skills. We tell them to reference the CSD instructional guides, because our instructional supports department has done a great job of helping out, identify the scope and sequence for what should be taught and when. And so, once they know what they're going to teach, the next step is know how your students learn and how you're going to teach it. What are the effective teaching strategies that are going to support whatever it is you've identified that needs to be learned, and then you can think about the technology. So, when you know what you're going to teach, how your students learn and how you're going to teach it, does technology bring value to that specific activity, that specific goal, outcome? Does it engage students in the learning? Does it extend their thinking? Does it enhance the learning experience? Because we are very strong proponents of you shouldn't just be using technology to use it. It really should be used to support the students' learning and their outcome. And so I always led that.
Speaker 3:With COVID, we went from this everything had to be online, and so once we were coming back from COVID and trying to get back into the swing of what regular classrooms were going to look like, I remember people asking me OK, camille, what is the expectation for tech use? And I answered it just like I told you like know what you're teaching, how? Okay, camille, what is the expectation for tech use? And I answered it just like I told you, like, know what you're teaching, how are you going to teach it? And then, if there's technology you want to use, I need you to think about how is that going to support the student learning? Because, number one, and even in any training I ever do with teachers when I'm talking about new technologies or programs that are out there, I always tell them your end goal should be those students and is that technology going to support the learning and, ultimately, those outcomes? Like, we should always think about how it's going to support student learning. And if you can't answer that, it's okay not to use technology. And I love that you started this podcast with the pencil, the chalkboard, because if you want to get super philosophical, those are technologies, right, and sometimes there is a power, especially when you're trying to reinforce specific skills. There's a power to having students use a pencil and paper. There's a power rather than having students get online and converse with one another, having them actually sit in front of each other and talk.
Speaker 3:And so there are times when technology can be great and then there's also times when technology should not be used at all.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then there's also times when technology should not be used at all. Yeah, I would imagine a lot of parents after COVID where everything was on the computer. I can imagine where they might see a classroom nowadays and assume that that's what's happening. But it's really not. You step into our classrooms and you see our teachers engaging with students, even when they are using a Chromebook or a device or something. But it's really great to hear that they're using it as a tool. We're using these devices as tools. How often would you say they are being implemented in the classroom? We know it's not the entirety of the class time right.
Speaker 3:I know we've done classroom observations and when we calculated the data, I would say in our elementary schools on average, and keep in mind, average about 39 minutes of the school day, Because I think what we don't, or an easy misconception, could be the kids on the Chromebook or an iPad from start to finish of the school day and it's really not the things that students, especially in elementary school. They go from ELA to math to science. Their day is constantly changing and they may be going in and out of technologies, so it's not an eight-hour span of the day. Technically, on average, I think it's been reported and we've calculated about 39 minutes.
Speaker 4:On average On average.
Speaker 4:So with that that 39 minutes also includes any time that they're logged into the Chromebook.
Speaker 4:So, for instance, I've seen a lesson where a teacher is doing a Nearpod lesson and it allows to do quick checks. So maybe the teacher is talking about a few slides with the students and then they'll ask them to look at a question that's on the Nearpod. They'll prompt students to have a conversation with the person that's sitting next to them and talk about it together, reflect together and then use that shared understanding to answer a question on the Nearpod. So, even though their computer was probably open that whole time and it's counting minutes, just because they're completing a Nearpod doesn't mean that they're not interacting with their classmates. Yeah, so one thing I liked is when I was in the classroom and teaching with lessons is that I could look at that data and see an understanding for that quick check for understanding really quickly for my entire class, really quickly for my entire class. And then I could be like, oh, I need to pause and go back because we're not understanding this quite as well as I thought, or I'm okay to move forward.
Speaker 3:Well, and something Katie did a bulk of the work, but our team, I know we put together screen time recommendations, not just for families, but that coincides with the screen time we recommend in our classrooms as well. And this is going to date me because when I was going through school it was the food pyramid.
Speaker 1:You know, that's what I remember Apparently. It's my plate now. So if you guys don't know what that is, go check it out.
Speaker 3:But we've attributed a screen time to like my plate, so it should be healthy portions, because I know you hear research about. It should be this many minutes of screen time, which is technically outdated research, because it's going more towards like passive consumption versus active, high quality. And so, and if you want, it's on our family connection site with Canyon School District and you can see this where our recommendation is if you're going to have screen time, it should. You should. It should be active and passive learning, and the passive means it's just like you might be reading and I'm not actively seeing you read, but you're learning.
Speaker 3:But bottom line is that screen time should be high quality learning, meaning anytime a teacher is using the technology in the classroom, it's for high quality learning opportunities. They should not be getting on there just to play games and do free time. Anytime a student's using the technology, it really should be. Once again, we talk about those student outcomes, but it should be high quality learning opportunities, whether it's active, like they're physically speaking talking or passive learning, like they're reading and maybe just consuming the information.
Speaker 3:So what we can say? Yeah, this many average minutes each day. I just always hate going to specific minutes because that's so relative right. Depending on the context and even the lesson, the time might be longer or shorter. We always want teachers and parents to look at those screen time recommendations. Think about what are students learning. Is it high quality learning opportunities? Is it active, passive learning? That's how you can start determining. Is it a good quantity of time versus not? Yeah, so check out those.
Speaker 3:There's our plug. Check out Family Connections screen time document. You know that's there's our plug Check out Family. Connections Screen time document.
Speaker 2:You know, that's a really good point. I mean, we're probably all on our phones double that a day, right? Not to mention if you go home and you're relaxing and so you're watching something or you're scrolling through Instagram or what have you. So it's very cool to hear how interactive technology is in our classrooms. Katie, you brought up a good point about being able to go back and check how much your students are understanding a topic. Technology has really become a great tool for teachers as well. When it comes to those grades or getting to. Okay, how many steps did this student take to solve this math problem? Okay, it looks like we need to go back and revisit that. How else are our teachers utilizing technology?
Speaker 4:to maybe streamline their behind-the-scenes work so that they can spend more time developing other materials that can be used in the classroom or working with students. So that would be one way that it's helped to streamline teaching for teachers streamline teaching for our teachers.
Speaker 3:Well, and I've seen teachers utilize like a program like Nearpod, where students can have more self-directed learning. Like our elementary schools, they'll do small group instruction. So what that means is the teacher might be working with maybe three or four students on specific skills or concepts, and then what do you do with the rest of the class? Right, and I don't want the rest of the class just to be on a computer or an iPad doing whatever. So I can do something like a Nearpod presentation where they're going through specific topics. Maybe they're reviewing something I'm about to meet them with or talk to them about, maybe I'm front-loading them with information that I want them to be prepared with. Or there's other programs that we utilize that can be more personalized in nature for students, where they can go through, maybe answer some questions, answer some prompts and, based on how they do, it's adaptive, right, so it kind of goes towards what they need. So what I'm getting at is, while those kids are independently working, doing some more self-directed, personalized learning, the teacher's then working one-on-one or in small groups with students on specific skills, and the other kids aren't just doing nothing, they're actually still learning and still practicing and still revisiting learning and then when the groups switch, I'm now working with a group that was working more independently.
Speaker 3:So there's a power to technology and I'm a huge believer in if you're going to use a program that kids are going on to learn something, and there's data and data you can look at. The teacher better be looking at that, because I don't want it to be a babysitter. But if a student is going through a program, like maybe it's working on reading skills, if I can go look at that data, that can help me know as a teacher wow, this student's getting A, b and C, but D is where they really need some extra help. So when I meet with that kid one-on-one, that's what I'm going to do. So, once again, that's the power with this technology that's out there that we can bring into the classroom. So, as a teacher, when you have 30 kids with different learning levels, different needs, it can help me differentiate. It can help me try to personalize some learning and then allow me to work one-on-one with the students who need that that's very cool.
Speaker 2:So what advice would you have for parents or guardians when their kids are coming home outside of the classroom? We want them to still continue to practice good digital citizenship, but also continue to learn and grow with technology. What's a final word of advice that you would have for our Canyons communities?
Speaker 4:I would say the first step that I recommend to all families is just setting clear expectations for tech use in your family. Talk about how you want it to use. Where should you be using technology? When is it appropriate to use it, when is it not appropriate to use it, such as the dinner table or in the evenings? We know sleep is really important for kids and their development.
Speaker 4:So, as parents, I'm going to set those expectations and include kids in the process, so you can have a conversation about how you want technology to be used in your family and then don't make it a one and done. This tech is always changing and it needs revisited. So come back to that Talk as a family model when you can just like what Camille was talking about for teachers modeling in the classroom. I think it's so powerful when kids can see how we are using technology as adults as well.
Speaker 2:Absolutely.
Speaker 3:And to add to Katie's saying, number one be aware. Be aware when your students are using devices. You can set up expectations, but I mean, when I was a teacher, I remember I had a mom ask me like what would you recommend? I bought my student a computer, what should I know? And I'm like, well, have it in a public place, be aware of what she's visiting, know where your student's going and I do know there are programs out there that if you have personal devices you can add so you have more control over the filters, you can have control over where they're visiting.
Speaker 3:But it's one just being aware and not just ignoring the fact that your kid's on a device. It's asking questions. Like Katie said, I think it's a huge thing to model what you want students to do, because students will and kids will emulate what their parents and teachers are doing. But then also ask questions to your schools, because I know we're in a situation sometimes where devices or homework comes home and kids have to go online.
Speaker 3:Don't be afraid to ask your teachers what's the expectation for technology use, what do you expect? If there are any concerns that come up on your end, don't be afraid to ask the teacher, your school administrator because we're partners in this. One thing I love about educators almost to a fault, where the educators just love students so much. They want kids to be safe, they don't want to put them in any situations that would not be okay, and so we're a partner in this. So don't be afraid to ask questions, don't be afraid to bring up concerns. If you see them, it's almost like be vocal. Don't ignore being aware, modeling and just being a part of the conversation.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, and that's a great point too about just reaching out to the teacher. I've heard so many of all the podcasts that we've done. I think that's one of the biggest messages is feel free to reach out to the school, reach out to your child's teacher and open that dialogue if you haven't already, and teachers are more than happy to chat with you and make sure your kiddo's on the right path, exactly Well, thank you both for joining us. I have learned a lot. I feel like the key point here is you know, technology is a tool and as long as you're using it correctly, then it can enhance the learning of our students. So thank you for sharing with us today.
Speaker 3:Thanks for having us.
Speaker 2:And thank you for listening. If there's a topic you'd like to hear discussed on the podcast, send us an email to communications at canyonsdistrictorg.
Speaker 1:Thanks for listening to this episode of Connect Canyons. Connect with us on Twitter. Connect with us on Twitter, facebook or Instagram at Canyons District or on our website, canyonsdistrictorg.
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