Interactivity and Engagement with Educational Technology

      Hello teachers! Why do students come to school? What do they want to get from school? Christensen (2017) states “students come to school because they want to feel successful, and they also want to feel a sense of connection with their friends''. Interactivity through engaging activities are the keys to help students feel successful and interact with their friends. As teachers, we all know the importance of students' interactivity and engagement because when students are engaged they learn better. Karuppathal et al. (2021) states “the interactivity increases the involvement and perception increases significantly” (p.698). According to Martin and Bolliger (2018), “student engagement increases student satisfaction, enhances student motivation to learn, reduces the sense of isolation, and improves student performance” (para.1). As students, they hope to be included and engaged in the instruction because when they are involved they learn better. “When high school students talked about the types of teaching they wanted, they expressed that they preferred engagement,or just the opposite of boredom” (Himmele & Himmele, 2017, p.7). 

       Pechenkina et al.’s research finds (2017) “after measuring the relationships between students’ app usage and their engagement, retention and academic achievement in the subject, it is suggested that following the app’s introduction, student retention rates and academic performance increased, and there was a positive correlation between students’ scoring highly on the app and achieving higher academic grades” (p.1). Gamification provides the opportunity for students to feel successful by winning the games. Technology connects students with their friends and others during the game. According to the Gamify website, gamification is “the application of game-design elements and game principles in non-game contexts. It can also be defined as a set of activities and processes to solve problems by using or applying the characteristics of game elements” (para.1). Aldemir et al. (2018) “investigated users’ attitude towards gamification elements, including leaderboards, points, badges and found that, in general, users have positive insights about the game elements inserted into a gamified course”. These gamification elements motivate students to compete with others and make them feel proud when they win. This is supported by the research of Tsay et al. (2018) that “some gamification elements, including badges and a leaderboard, and compared the experiment and control groups with results that suggest that students in the treatment group were more engaged and therefore had a better performance compared to the control group”.

       Meanwhile Biryukov et al. (2021) point out some disadvantages of the gamification. “No successfully solved complicated tasks as an incentive for emulation. Setting the goal to win the game, not the study.” For example, most digital games used in Chinese language classrooms focus on the vocabulary, such as Quizlet, Gimkit, Kahoot. Many of my colleagues and myself notice that after playing these online games many times, some students still struggle in handwriting Chinese characters and writing in sentences and paragraphs. I do not think a game can effectively educate on its own. “Educational technology is being used to simplify and improve learning but using technology in education does not directly impact student achievement as the technology tools have to be in line with the curriculum for them to be effective”, say Zirawaga et al. (2017, para.1).

       Before sharing with you three educational technology tools which can engage learners, I would like to introduce the connectivity and integration background of my classroom technology. I use the laptop provided by the district. It works well with my current network most of the time. HDMI cables are needed to connect parts together. I do not think there is a wireless option for the HDMI connection. Most educational technology tools support Windows, Androids, iOS systems. Users can access them with various devices such as Chromebook, computer, laptop, ipad, and cellphone. I can transmit data to learners and their parents through Email with the direct link. I can invite parents to join ClassDojo to view their children’s participation in class. I need to learn how to connect to cloud storage services. 

       The three educational technology tools I want to share with you are AnswerGarden, Padlet, and Quizlet. “AnswerGarden is an easy-to-use polling tool that allows a teacher to quickly collect students' thoughts and ideas. It adopts a minimalist design that allows users to create, share, answer, and manage topic questions without signing up for accounts. Although it is a simple app, it has the potential to be used to accomplish a wide range of educational tasks, such as brainstorming, polling, synchronous and asynchronous communication, and formative assessment” (EdTechBooks). “Padlet provides a virtual wall for interaction. The writing on the wall is similar to a common class activity in which the teacher asks students to write their ideas on “post-it” notes or a poster and then display them so that the collected ideas can be shared with the whole class” (Chen, 2021, p.1444). “Quizlet is a web tool and a mobile app that boosts students' learning through several study tools that include flashcards and game-based quizzes. You can either design your own study sets from scratch or search for pre-made sets to customize and use in your teaching” (Duotl, 2022, para.1).

 

       After knowing these tools’ benefits, I believe you wonder about the price of each. AnswerGarden is a free online tool. It accepts donations. Padlet has memberships for personal, team, business, and school. It offers three free padlets topics for free in each tier and charges different prices for different amounts of the padlet topics. For example, under personal membership, three padlets are free and twenty padlets are $6.99 monthly or $69.99 yearly. Quizlet offers a free option with limited features and a paid subscription called Quizlet Plus for  $35.99 annually for teachers. Students do not have to pay once they join the teacher’s Quizlet class. They are user-friendly for first time users. There are tutorials for these apps. Users can contact these apps’ customer service for support when something does not work. My students tell me and I connect these tools’ customer service when something does not work. While waiting for their response, I usually provide students with the printed out copies for them to complete the assignment or activities. These tools can be used for asynchronous and synchronous distance learning and face-to-face classroom. I display work on the projector and Promethean screen to the entire class at the same time. I can invite and encourage synchronous learners at a distance to join Zoom or Google Meet online learning platform to participate. 

       Now, you are invited to use the interactive asset to share your opinions and experiences of educational technology on the tools I created for you. Please share your favorite educational technology tool’s name on www.AnswerGarden.ch, post your favorite educational tool’s pictures and videos and comment on others on www.Padlet.com, and study, review, test, and match the vocabularies of educational technology on www.Quizlet.com. Thank you for your participation and inspiration. 

       In conclusion, regardless of the tool, it is about the teaching and learning, not the technology. We only use technology as a tool to improve teaching and enhance learning. The ultimate goal of education is to improve students’ academic performance and social emotional learning. Some of the roles of the instructor when implementing technology for learning include: choosing the age and content appropriate games, providing related learning materials and assessment standards, and facilitating the use. It is true that technology brings many benefits to education, for example, it makes learning more accessible, affordable, and interactive, it helps teachers save time in designing games, grading, and delivering the lesson. One-to- one Chromebook programs made remote learning possible. However, it does not guarantee quality education. Only when teachers mindfully guide students to use technology in learning, demonstrate how to explore information, train them in the ability of concentration, and teach them cyber safety skills, can technology be a beneficial tool in education, instead of a distraction. “Given the human interactions at the heart of learning and the plethora of demands on teachers' time, the best measure of most K-12 technology may be whether it makes it easier for teachers to do their job well”, says Hess (2022, p.24). Tuma (2021) adds “technology can enhance interactive learning in well-designed and structured formats based on educational objectives” (p.231). I hope this blog could illuminate your mind with the core of education which is the interactivity and engagement in education and technology can be an effective tool to enhance the outcome of teaching and learning.  

       Thank you for reading and sharing.

References

Anonymous. AnswerGarden. EdTeach Books. https://edtechbooks.org/onlinetools/answergarden

Aldemir, T., Celik, B., & Kaplan, G. (2018). A qualitative investigation of student perceptions

       of game elements in a gamified course. Computers in Human Behavior, 78, 235–254.

Biryukov, A., Brikoshina1, I., Mikhalevich, N., Sycheva, S., Khalimon, E. (2021). Gamification 

       in education: threats or new opportunities. Russian and Foreign Experience in the System

      of  Humanities Education. SHS Web of Conferences 103, 02001.  

       https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202110302001

Christensen, C. (2017). Disrupting class book to education commission of the States.

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hewX1Wmqrb4&t=1865s

Duotl. (2022). Introduction to Quizlet.       

       https://otl.du.edu/knowledgebase/introduction-to-quizlet

Hess, F. (2022). Education after the pandemic. National affairs. 

       https://nationalaffairs.com/publications/detail/education-after-the-pandemic

Karuppathal, R. (2021). Impact of augmented reality education on students interactivity.   

       International Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, 13(2), 690-699.

Martin. F., Bolliger, D. (2018). Engagement Matters: Student Perceptions on the Importance     

       of Engagement Strategies in the Online Learning Environment. ERIC. 

       https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1179659

Himmele, P., Himmele W. (2017). Total participation techniques. Making every student an  

       active learner. ASCD Member Book. 

Pechenkina, E., Laurence, D., Oates G., Eldridge D., Hunter D. (2017).  Using a gamified     

       mobile app to increase student engagement, retention and academic achievement. 

       https://doi.org/ 10.1186/s41239-017-0069-7

Tsay, C. H. H., Kofnas, A., & Luo, J. (2018). Enhancing student learning experience with 

       technology-mediated gamification: An empirical study. Computers and Education, 121,  

       1–17.

Tuma, F. (2021). The use of educational technology for interactive teaching in lectures. Annals   

       of Medicine and Surgery, 62, 231-235. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amsu.2021.01.051

Zirawaga, V., Olusanya, A.,  Maduku, T.Gaming in Education: Using Games as a Support Tool 

       to Teach History. Journal of Education and Practice, v8(15), 55-64.   

       https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1143830

What makes us feel good about our work? What makes life worthwhile?

       Please read this blog on computer to open the attached videos.

       What makes us feel good about our work?- Dan Ariely's speech at TED              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aH2Ppjpcho&t=1090s

What makes us feel good about our work?

       Behavioral economist Dan Ariely questions the forces that influence human behavior. What motivates us to work? He presents eye-opening experiments that reveal our unexpected and nuanced attitudes toward meaning in our work. The example of IKEA furniture he mentioned in the video reminded me of my experience of assembling IKEA furniture. I did not enjoy those complicated pieces and the time consuming process, but when I completed it, I began to like the furniture I built. This made me reflect on my teaching and students’ learning. I teach Mandarin Chinese at a public high school located in a Latino community. The Chinese language is beautiful but can be challenging to learners. The learning process requires great effort. Teacher’s guidance, direction, encouragement, and explanation can motivate students to achieve the learning goals. The teacher also can show students the learning tools such as Chinese character websites to help students learn the subject efficiently, just like using the correct tools can help us assemble the furniture quickly. Ariely also used the cake mixes as an example to show how easy things demotivate people. All people needed to do is to put its ingredients into a bowl and mix with water, put into the oven, then the cake is done. They did not like the cake even though it tasted good. It was because they did not see enough effort being involved. So the company took out the ingredients of egg and milk from this product and people had to break the egg and measure the milk and mix with this product. Since more effort was made into baking the cake, the guests began to enjoy the cake. This makes me reflect that I should adjust and balance the difficulty level of my teaching for students, not too challenging nor too easy. In order to do this, I need to check students’ comprehension and conduct assessment more frequently and meet their needs with equity. 👍  

       

       Measuring what makes life worthwhile. -- Chip Conley's speech at TED

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UROCz70tlMY

What makes life worthwhile?

      The Airbnb Head of Global Hospitality and hotel entrepreneur, Chip Conley, goes in search of a business model based on happiness, when the dotcom bubble bursts. In an old friendship with an employee and in the wisdom of a Buddhist king, he learned that success comes from what you count. His speech makes me think about what really counts. I was shocked when he compared and contrasted what GDP counts and does not count. It counts the economy, air pollution, ambulances to clear highways of carriage, napalm…, but does not count the health of our children, quality of their education, joy of their play, beauty of our poetry, strength of our marriages…. This impacts me powerfully. We should learn to build a positive mindset of counting the ones that can not be counted by numbers such as physical and mental health, joy, peace, and love. Students need our endless unconditional care, patience, and dedication. It is our mission to provide our best to them because they count on us! 👍

The following slide he shared in his speech inspired me tremendously and I hope you could find the inspiration as well! 👍

How to coach the teacher to collect, analyze, and utilize the student work?

        When we mentioned student work in the past, most people would think of the ones presented on the paper. However, Generation Y teachers (Rebore 2015) make a broad use of the technology in teaching. Therefore nowadays, especially during and after the pandemic, teachers began to collect student work electronically as well, for example, the assignments submitted to Google Classroom. Student work can be from the formative assessment like classwork, homework, or quiz, and summative assessment such as the midterm exam or a project. 

      The mentor can guide the mentee to do a “class evaluation census” by using the Student Work Analysis Protocol (Protocol by RIDE). They can jointly review the learning goals, the standards, and the rubric to reach an agreement about proficiency. Then the mentor may coach the mentee to diagnose student strengths and needs by doing a “quick sort” of student work: objectives met, partially met, not met, not sure. The mentee teacher writes down or types the student names in the columns in order to monitor progress (2012). It also allows the teacher to calculate the percentage of the class who met the objectives (high), partially met the objectives (expected), and did not meet objectives (low), see the following chart:

       I found it is important and helpful to form a habit of writing notes on the student work. The following examples are the notes I took on the student work collected from the 10th English class I observed. 

Student work from the gifted student This student demonstrated high proficiency of the vocabulary words by answering all the questions in each activity correctly.  This student paid close attention to the capitalization, punctuation, and the directions of the questions.  The teacher may provide this student with additional practice with more challenges.

Student’s work from the English learner This student answered most questions correctly. This student skipped the last 2 questions in the activity 1: In-Context Predictions . Teacher’s explanation is needed.  This student answered all the 9 questions correctly in the activity 2: Fill-in-blank sentences. However, she answered on the blanks and left the column marked “My answer” blank. Teacher’s explanation about where to write the answer is needed.  This student showed confusion of the vocabulary “civil” and “idealism” in the activity 3: Fill-in-the-Blank Scenarios.    This student answered all the 9 questions correctly in the activity 4: Matching.  This student answered all the 9 questions in the activity 5: Application of Vocabulary. The questions in this activity are open-ended without the standard answer key.  This student was able to express himself/herself.  This student needs to work on the capitalization and the plural form.  Scroll down to see the notes on the pages of the student work.

Student’s work from the student with special learning needs This student answered most questions correctly. This student answered 7 out of 9 questions correctly in the activity 1: In-Context Predictions . Teacher’s explanation is needed to explain about the vocabulary “futile” and “hierarchy”.  This student answered all the 9 questions correctly in the activity 2: Fill-in-blank sentences. This student answered 3 out of 9 questions correctly in the activity 3: Fill-in-the-Blank Scenarios. Detailed explanation and various strategies are needed from the teacher to this student.     This student answered 3 out of 9 questions correctly in the activity 4: Matching.  This students showed understanding of the vocabulary “civil” and “contrite” because she answered the questions about these two words correctly in the activity 1, 2, 3, and 4.  This student answered all the 9 questions in the activity 5: Application of Vocabulary. The questions in this activity are open-ended without the standard answer key. This student answered these questions very briefly without following the directions to use the underlined vocabulary word in the answer.  This student was able to express himself/herself.  Teacher’s explanation of the definition of the vocabulary words and the directions of answering questions are needed. Differentiate strategies are needed to provide to this student for him/her to improve with equity.  Scroll down to see the notes on the pages of the student work.

   

After diagnosing what the student knows and still needs to learn (Protocol by RIDE), the mentor can discuss with the mentee together the learning needs for the students in each level: high, expected, and low. The reflective questions may include:

1. What went well in your teaching? What did not go well? Why?

2. What is the trend of the class of this work?

3. What are the teaching strategies you plan to use to benefit the whole class?

4. How would you like to help English learners and students with special learning needs?

      After discussing the above questions, the mentee should be encouraged to fill in the chart with the strategies for the gifted students, average students, English learners, and the students with special learning needs.   

      It is also a great interactive and engaging method to include the excellent student work in the teacher’s slide to demonstrate the work sample, explain the expectations, and connect the subject matter with the students’ real-life contexts. 

      The ultimate goal is increased student learning. The key for student learning is the teacher. Providing support and coaching to the new teachers and veteran teachers with timely instructional feedback can promote the quality of teaching and learning. 

Resources: 

Center for Collaborative Education (2012), Quality Performance Assessment: A Guide for Schools and Districts, Boston, MA. 

Rebore (20215), Human Resources Administration in Education, Pearson. 

Student Work Analysis Protocol, Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE).

https://www.ride.ri.gov/portals/0/uploads/documents/teachers-and-administrators-excellent-educators/educator-evaluation/online-modules/student_work_analysis_protocol.pdf