Smart Classroom Tech Integration

Teachers say that technology is a great tool for learners to use, but they never really take the time to show us how to use technology in positive ways. Liz Kolb, a professor at the University of Michigan, is the creator of the SMART classroom tech integration. It is an online website that helps teachers integrate technology into their everyday curriculum, and it's being used by teachers around the world. It was designed so that educators can create learning experiences that have positive impacts on students. I think that Liz Kolb invented this website because she noticed when teachers were being told to start integrating technology into their classrooms, teachers didn’t know how to teach using technology, or they were not using it the right way. Liz asked principles of schools and their administrations how they were using technology in the classroom, lots responded with answers like, “I usually just tell teachers that I want to see them using iPads, but honestly, I am uncertain as to what I should be looking for when it comes to effective use of iPads for student learning.” This shows us that administrators don’t know how to appropriately integrate technology into their everyday teaching. I think this motivated Liz to create the Triple E Framework because she noticed how much teachers were struggling. She wanted to create a website that would help teachers integrate technology into work without it becoming a distraction. The Triple E Framework helps teachers evaluate connections between learning outcomes and technology. I think Liz wanted to make this because she realized that teachers don’t know how to appropriately use technology in the classroom, because they were never taught how to teach with it. 

The Triple E Framework is important to the global community because it gives teachers a platform to communicate and share ideas with one another. A fourth grade teacher had a really good idea because of this website. She had her students start writing weekly in google docs then had high school students edit the fourth graders writing through the doc once a week. This gave kids the chance to learn in a new creative way, and it gave them a chance to learn from someone new. This tool has not only helped with integrating technology, it has helped teachers create more social, or collaborative assignments. Instead of having students read alone, teachers have started pairing students up and asking students to challenge themselves by discussing the review questions and getting every answer correct the first time through. This pushes kids because they want to be the one to get all the questions right, before you know it students are pushing themselves even harder because they want to do good the first time. I think this innovation will have a positive impact on the world. This innovation has helped teachers communicate and share their troubles with adding technology into the classroom. It has also helped teachers bounce ideas off of each other and help find new creative ways to incorporate technology. Overall, this will help students in the long run because they will have better work ethics and want to do better. It helps make real world connections, one teacher used skype to let their students talk to a scientist and ask them any questions they wanted that way the students can connect what they are learning to the real world. Another teacher created interactive scavenger hunts for their students to complete in google classroom when they were on a field trip. This got kids excited about what they were doing because it was such a creative idea it made them more engaged. Now that teachers have this tool, integrating technology into curriculum keeps getting easier. 

Works Cited 

“About.” Triple E Framework, www.tripleeframework.com/about.html.

Kolb, Liz. “SMART Classroom-Tech INTEGRATION: By Asking the Right Questions, School Leaders Can Coach Teachers to Use Technology to Drive Deeper Learning.” Educational Leadership, vol. 76, no. 5, Feb. 2019, p. 20. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=134555676&site=ehost-live