Kahoot! And other TPACK thoughts

“if we teach today’s students as we taught yesterday’s, 

we rob them of tomorrow.” 

- John Dewey

Democracy and Education, New York:  Macmillan Company, 1944, p. 167.

On Thursday I went back to that inner-city Akron public school, as I have been every week since that first disastrous episode.  Although it's still a rough and overwhelming culture shock... and I continue to be appalled by the lack of respect these kids have for many of their teachers, each other, and themselves... it has yet to be as bad as the first day.  Plus, I've been seeing genuine glimmers of hope in both instruction and students' attitudes (I have to squint to see it, but it's there I think.)

But anyways, on Thursday I was witness to a rather interesting implementation of TPACK in a large and usually very, very rowdy Biology/Health class.  What is TPACK?  Well, funny you should ask, I just learned that myself...

“Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org” 

So, essentially, TPACK is the"sweet spot"where the teacher is able to successfully utilize an effective combination of Pedagogical, Content, and Technological knowledge.  As I stand right now, I definitely have the Content Knowledge for fine art (although there are still a few media I have yet to 'master' well enough to feel qualified to teach them... but in the near future I'll have classes in ceramics and metalwork under my belt - plus I'm toying with the idea of teaching myself watercolor or some other media I'm lacking in for my final project for this Instructional Tech class). I have pretty much zero Pedagogical Knowledge... but that's why I'm back in school in the first place!  And as for Technological knowledge, I'm afraid I might be close to hopeless - computers and I are not friends, although relationships have progressed to being on speaking terms and hopefully can become friends someday. 

Anyways, back to my story.  So I've noticed at this school they have implemented an impressive amount of technology, far more than I ever worked with as a high school student - every classroom has a Smart Board, laptops for every student, and there is a student/teacher web portal that pretty much all communication and assignments go through. I've seen teachers use YouTube, assignments that require group collaboration on Google Slides, and students being allowed to use their cell phones to look up definitions of words for a vocab exercise. Granted, the cell phones are always a constant distraction as well, and sometimes I see students shopping on Amazon rather than collaborating on their assignment. In this Bio-Health class, its a combined class that lasts two periods and is co-taught by two teachers.  There are about 40 students, however it's hard to count them because half of them are never in their seats.  But after they (for the most part) did a reading/response assignment via their internet portal, the teacher yells over the din "OK, go ahead and log into Kahoot."  "What's Kahoot?" I ask one of the more attentive students. "It's pretty fun," she says, "it's technically a quiz but we do it as a competition/game show sort of thing."  I must admit, I'm intrigued.  I'll be impressed if any activity can reel in this rowdy bunch.  

So it's actually a free-standing program, not just a part of their school's ECHO system. I found the website for Kahoot here. I love this idea!The students all sign in with user names - most use their first names, but a few boys attempt to use some rather profane monikers but are made to change them - they end up being their favorite basketball players or defamatory towards non-favorites (i.e. Steph Curry and Steph Curry Sux). The teacher realizes that's as good as it's gonna get so we move on. It's a 28 question quiz.  First the question comes up on the Smart Board, gives them all time enough to read it.  Then 4 possible answers come up in different colored squares and on the kids' laptops the colored squares pop up. There's a clock counting down.  It's almost like the "Ask the Audience" lifeline from "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Once the time runs out, each student's laptop tells them whether they were right or wrong and a bar graph comes up on the big screen showing how many were right, plus a leader board showing the cumulative scores of students (the faster you respond correctly, the more points you get.) The individual computers keep a running rank for the student, plus a tally of correct answers.  

I was surprised by how into it everyone got - even the ones who are usually disengaged.  Everyone reacts when the answer pops up "Oh MAN! I thought it was zygotes!" or "Sweet, I got it!" They rib each other and look around asking "Who's DollaBill?" searching for the anonymous leader of the rankings. (The teachers told them before starting that the top 5 would receive 10,8, 6, 4, and 2 extra credit points)  Admittedly, they have to be shushed quite a bit but I think it was a successful integration of technology, content and pedagogy.  

Nada Salem Abisamra writes in Integrating Technology in the Classroom 

"There are so many different ways teachers can incorporate technology; so many choices to make when it comes to the medium they will use, the time, the place, the context, etc. Besides, the “digital natives”—i.e. the students who grew up surrounded by technology--represent a challenge to the “digital immigrants”—i.e. the teachers, who did not grow up with it--because of “differences in comfort levels and knowledge of technology, and a concomitant clash of culture, language, and values ... So, it is our duty to teach today in a way that prepares our students for tomorrow. They are already halfway there... they have beaten us when it comes to technology; we should definitely catch up, and even more! It is crucial to acknowledge the importance of the role technology plays nowadays in schools.”

As a befuddled "digital immigrant" I certainly do struggle.  As I've been doing research for this class it's being drilled into my head that technology is good - it is beneficial to my future students and will expand their access to my content area.  I get it!  I just don't necessarily look forward to doing it.  I value face-to-face interaction.  I honestly don't like having a smart phone.  I feel like it obliges me to be available at all times (people need to be able to have time to themselves). It's a constant nagging mosquito, bloated with news and information and status updates buzzing in my ear. It takes away the enjoyable pursuit of friendly banter and argument and abruply halts personal conversation ("Who was that guy in that movie, dear? You know..." husband Googles it... "Sean Connery." "Oh, that's right." Conversation over.)  No one can go out to dinner and focus on eachother - everyone is looking at their phones - no one just "waits" - or interacts with strangers. We can't stand not being overstimulated at all times.  There's always extra tabs open on our computers and our attention spans seem to be shrinking as a whole - we need entertainment at our fingertips at all times.  But.... what if those entertaining devices could have educational value?

But I do see the value of a TPACK approach, and I've already come up with a few ways I could implement technology into my classroom.  I might have to suck it up and embrace some graphic arts software so as to expose kids to that as well, since much art nowadays is made via these blasted computers.  I could show students how to properly photograph their work - without the crutches of filters - and maybe create an online "portfolio" of some sort.  I could encourage online critiques and collaborations.  Finding where to start with all this is a little overwhelming.  I guess I will ask colleagues for input and do research on my own... because what works for one person may not work for another.  I just need to keep my eyes - and my "Ideas" notebook - open.  I mean, I really loved that Kahoot! program. As a teacher I will need to consider my own familiarity with whatever technology I use (during the Kahoot !session one teacher had to play 'tech support' for a few students).  I will need to find resources that are not only fun, but meaningful and thought provoking.  I don't want to select something just as next-generation busy-work - I don't want "make your own meme for homework" assignment to become the new vocabulary word crossword puzzle.  

Technology is unavoidable.  I guess I'll just do my best to harness that power and channel it towards better educating my  students.  I've just got to find my "sweet spot."  I fear I may be a long way off - in two of the three circles of the TPACK Venn Diagram - but teachers never stop learning... and I've got a lot to learn to even become a teacher!