“So, what are they doing here,” a visiting teacher recently asked me as she observed my kids scanning QR codes to reveal a math story. She watched as the kids, uninterrupted by the five new adults in the room, worked scanning the QR codes with their individual iPads. They wrote down the numbers from the math story they read and recorded the answer in another app. As I explained what my little ones were doing, shock darted across her face. How are 5- and 6-yr olds learning this way? More importantly, why are they learning this way and why dose it matter?
Guest Post by Kirstin McGinnis from Hip Hooray in K
Technology in schools can be used a number of ways, mainly to (a) substitute for traditional instruction, (b) change and transform instruction, or (c) redefine how kids learn and showcase that learning, i.e. the SAMR model. For our classroom, substitution is a path to redefinition. Once we learn about technology and how it works, we can utilize it in ways, which we have not previously, to access and understand concepts and make meaning of content. This is the purpose of technology in schools: to help bring meaning, importance, and life to content and to increase inquiry, productivity, and opportunities for our students. So, how are my 5- and 6-yr olds doing this? Seems like a lot to expect from them right? Not so much… We start the year as a traditional kindergarten, yet we have an added subject: technology literacy. We learn through and with our iPads, but not neglecting traditional fine motor and social growth. We are basically substituting instruction where appropriate until our class has the building blocks of technology literacy. And then it kind of just takes off from there. The kids build meaning from everything they do on the iPad because it is visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. They use QR codes to scan read alouds and discuss with their friends. Individual students record themselves reading – and although they think its their “five minutes of fame,” it provides each child with a running record of how they read so that we can conference and make improvements. Each child is genuinely excited about what they are learning – be it science, math, literacy, or social studies based. And when they aren’t excited, they walk away from the technology where they can find tangible books, science experiments, and crafts. In this manner, we are creating a classroom where our students can access content based on interest and inquiry, follow multiple step directions, and understand that the technology is a tool. By the end of the year, our class is “app-smashing” or using one app and producing content through a different app. We are using QR codes to find information, researching science topics, we are filling in graphic organizers, sending and receiving formative feedback, uploading, submitting, and collaborating. We may not be using the technology to “redefine” as middle school and high school students do, but man are my kiddos redefining kindergarten. Below are a number of ways in which we use technology (iPads) in our class. I think it is hard not to see it in action and can be difficult to envision, so please contact me if I can help clarify. I do want to put this disclaimer out there – I have a background teaching kindergarten in a traditional setting, with little to no tech. I understand, and highly value, the foundations of child development and in no way would ever try to substitute those fundamentals with technology. So here are my tips on building on those skills to open the world of innovation and education:
- Use a “workflow” app.
- QR Codes
- App Smashing
- Centers
- Bringing It Home
- Differentiation
Kirstin McGinnis is a kindergarten teacher in South Berwyn School District 100 – an Apple Distinguished District. She runs the kinder/tech blog Hip Hooray in K and loves learning alongside her students and co-teacher. Follow her on Teachers Pay Teachers or Facebook.
Be sure to pin the picture below to save this post so you can come back to it later! Or, you can have all your teacher friends visit your teaching board so they can find all these great tips as well!
