Getting Beyond the WOW and to the WHY

My school is transitioning to a 1:1 school next year.  I have the privilege to be on the Digital Transition Leadership Team.  We are looking at trying to make this transition easier for the teachers on our campus.  Our biggest concern is having our teachers embrace the transition and see how this can radically enhance our students' learning.

As I think about it more, I know it is important to stress that technology integration needs to get beyond the WOW factor and into the WHY.

Technology is so exciting and full of a lot of wow factors.  Using virtual reality, augmented reality, amazing creation apps, and so many other tools can really impressed the students.  As teachers, we must get beyond the WOW and into the WHY.  We are still the teacher.  We still create the learning experiences for our students.  The digital tool is just that, a digital tool.  This is a big push for me. Get beyond the WOW.  It is so hard because there are so many things that are so cool.  If the students can't see the WHY, then the learning experience has been lost.

A few weeks ago, Google Expeditions came to my school and demonstrated virtual reality for the students.  They were wowed like I've rarely seen them.  It was insanely impressive.  Students all day were talking about how awesome it was and were complaining if there classes weren't doing the activities.  I know I will definitely use it in my classes.  But, now I need to figure out the WHY of the experience.  I know the students would love spending time virtually visiting places, but it will get old quickly if that's all we do.  To incorporate this meaningfully, I must find the WHY of the tech integration.  I could have my students look through the Google cardboard every day, but without framing it correctly, I would just have a flashy show without any content or a valuable learning experience for the students.

I know a lot of different apps and tools that I could do something different every day next week. However, if the learning is not the focus in my planning, my "cool" lessons will be nothing more than busy work.  It's funny how students can see right through things.  They have no problem calling you out on assigning them busy work.  Just because it is using technology doesn't mean that learning and deepening understanding is the focus of the lesson.

Teachers, as you start to integrate technology more in your lesson planning, don't forget what you've learned about good teaching and learning.  Wowing the students, although impressive in our day-in-age, will only get you so far.  They want to learn in the classroom.  They want to use their technology.  It is our job to integrate technology and learning in such a way that the students can see the WHY of the technology, and allow themselves to be wowed by the learning that just happened!