Changes Headed Your Way

When Carin Corcoran said, "I want to use Google Classroom with my students." I did a double take. I've seen fourth and even third graders use Google Classroom effectively, but never imagined introducing any Learning Management System to second graders. Carin and I had several good conversations about learning objectives first, then looked at how Google Classroom (or any other LMS) might be leveraged to help students meet those objectives. 1989 was my last 'formal' classroom experience with second graders, and I really wondered about her students' developmental readiness to latch onto the fairly esoteric concepts of digital document distribution and submission. I had not been so unnerved in a classroom in quite some time.

Second graders completing a word bank
project through Google Classroom

Due in large part to Carin's excellent instruction, her calm, unflappable demeanor, and enthusiasm for the project, I am happy to report that the LMS was a solid contributor to teaching and learning that morning. Carin's and her students' success got me thinking about technology's impact on the face of teaching and learning across our district, and what exposure to and use of technology for teaching and learning at the lower grade levels means for junior and senior high learning environments.

Tech being 'taught' at the junior and senior high will, in short order, no longer need to be introduced at the middle and upper levels. Students in elementary grades right now are already

• Using learning management systems like Google Classroom, Dojo,  and Reading Street, among others to communicate with their teachers and peers, and receive and submit digital content, and review feedback. You will not have to teach students the mechanics of an LMS like Google Classroom, Edmodo, Schoology, or 2020's next big thing. They will arrive with that background in place and the expectation that teachers will use it.
• Sharing and Collaboration. Students at the elementary school level are already sharing documents and presentations with peers for various collaborative endeavors. You will not have to explain sharing. Rather, you might consider the ramifications of sharing, with whom sharing is appropriate, and digital footprints.
• Slide shows and presentations. Students at the elementary schools choose presentation platforms. Frequent choices are Prezi and Google Slides. Middle and high school teachers will no longer have to instruct in the use of presentation tools, but instead will have the luxury of helping students dive more deeply into subject content, or master the nuances of awesome presentation tactics.
• Printing. With a good LMSs in place, there are fewer reasons to print. There is little student printing taking place at the elementary schools.
• Formative assessment is alive and well at lower levels. More formal 'quiz' based tools abound, and tools like Dojo provide nearly continuos, real time feedback. Younger students are living within this digital learning realm and, I suspect, will expect similar tools by which to gauge their performance in middle and high school.
• Technology is getting and staying out of users' way. Our district's IT department keeps a robust, highly resilient network in smooth operation. While reliance on technology makes connectivity issues that much more painful, outages are rare and brief. Seriously. Our district's bandwidth is ample and amazing. Having plan B is still important, but is less critical than at any time in the past.
• Fourth graders in Mrs. Lavoie's class recently created surveys using Google Forms to collect data from their piers. You are less likely to be teaching the mechanics of survey building at the middle and high school, but will enjoy the opportunity to help students shape stronger questions for the purpose of supporting or refuting a hypothesis.