2017 (Spring) — Flag City Elementary School
EdTech Align Survey: https://app.edtechalign.com/s/?sid=demo
The following participants have completed the survey. Click their names to view their proficiency reports.
Five Dimensions in Participants’ EdTech Align Profile
Dimension 1: Creativity
Participant Score Distribution (N = 16)
Low: 63 %
Moderate: 13 %
High: 25 %
This CREATIVITY dimension assesses your ability to integrate technology creatively in your teaching. CREATIVITY and technology are intertwined concepts that enhance engagement and promote critical thinking skills. Using emerging technology in the classroom can improve differentiation so all students learn at their own level. Multimedia technologies allow for authentic real-world problems to make learning relatable. Additionally, a creative and immersive lesson motivates students to learn and can result in a better-managed classroom. Embracing your creativity through the use of technology will make a measurable difference in your classroom environment and the learning outcomes of your students.
CREATIVITY strategies for low edtech proficiency teachers:
- Differentiate lesson content with interactive multimedia (e.g., videos, links, images, graphics, etc.);
- Use the internet to provide real-world examples;
- Invite virtual guest speakers to present in classrooms;
- Use a computer or mobile device for interactive learning games to check for comprehension (e.g., Kahoot, Quizizz);
- Develop engaging slideshow presentations (e.g., Pear Deck, Nearpod);
- Integrate a learning management system to publish materials, multimedia resources, and online quizzes (e.g., Google Classroom, Moodle, Blackboard);
- Use interactive displays for classroom activities;
- Gather digital artifacts to use in student choice boards;
- Use online calendars to manage deadlines and scaffold projects.
CREATIVITY strategies for moderate edtech proficiency teachers:
- Develop lessons that integrate gamification;
- Use virtual design tools (e.g., Canva, Piktochart, Adobe Spark);
- Model to students how to produce multimedia mastery documents;
- Use video production techniques to publish high quality instructional resources;
- Integrate podcasting for lessons or school communications;
- Collect data with a variety of different online tools;
- Use artificial intelligence technologies for instructional purposes;
- Use virtual reality headsets to interact with lesson topics;
- Incorporate passive virtual field trips (e.g., videos, websites);
- Design a QR code for virtual scavenger hunts or choice boards.
CREATIVITY strategies for high edtech proficiency teachers:
- Design Project Based Learning (PBL) lessons;
- Instruct students to document project development with a multimedia production (e.g., videos, links, images, graphics, etc.);
- Integrate Design Based Learning (DBL) (e.g., create an app, program a robot);
- Develop immersive virtual field trips;
- Create eXtended Reality content (e.g., VR, MR, AR);
- Teach students to analyze data using spreadsheets to inform critical thinking decisions;
- Instruct students to design 3D models with a CAD program;
- Use a 3D printer to produce an artifact from a topic/lesson;
- Code a program that uses artificial intelligence.
Dimension 2: Citizenship
Participant Score Distribution (N = 16)
Low: 50 %
Moderate: 13 %
High: 38 %
This CITIZENSHIP dimension measures your competency level in teaching digital citizenship to your students. Digital citizenship is about more than online safety. It’s about creating thoughtful, empathetic digital citizens who can wrestle with important ethical questions at the intersection of technology and humanity. As a teacher, you could help students recognize the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning, and working in an interconnected digital world. Meanwhile, you could encourage students to apply critical thinking to all the media they use and consume; and to learn how to evaluate all these things ethically and effectively.
CITIZENSHIP strategies for low edtech proficiency teachers:
- Provide tutorial videos on proper netiquette;
- Model proper informal communication strategies;
- Include language in the syllabus about expectations for digital communications;
- Provide examples and non examples of discussion comments;
- Introduce copyright/plagiarism/fair use topics;
- Research assistive technologies for the classroom;
- Practice with an assistive technology to develop confidence/competence for troubleshooting the use of that technology;
- Select inclusive multimedia carefully.
CITIZENSHIP strategies for moderate edtech proficiency teachers:
- Employ case-study instructional strategies;
- Utilize an AI plagiarism detection tool;
- Assign students a project to research and present on digital citizenship topics (e.g., online safety, plagiarism, fair use, copyright, creative commons);
- Review creative commons resources with students for multimedia projects;
- Provide a helper buddy for a student with assistive technology;
- Present an expert in diversity and inclusion via video conferencing;
- Establish a pen pal program with a classroom in a different country via a communications technology;
- Moderate an online discussion about how cultural differences have strength and value;
- Encourage students to record video diaries of their family’s cultural practices to share and discuss.
CITIZENSHIP strategies for high edtech proficiency teachers:
- Design a webpage with instructions and tips for creating non-plagiarized/fair use-compliant projects;
- Integrate an assistive technology in the classroom for all students to use to destigmatize the tool;
- Recognize when students require assistive technologies not outlined within their IEP;
- Evaluate the use of an assistive technology to determine if it is helping the student succeed.
Dimension 3: Collaboration
Participant Score Distribution (N = 16)
Low: 63 %
Moderate: 19 %
High: 19 %
This DIGITAL LITERACY dimension measures your fluency in a digital society - both how you use and teach it. Much of the communication and information in our daily lives is facilitated by computer devices and the Internet. Navigating the contents of the internet - including news, multimedia, and social media - requires users to access, interact, discern, evaluate, learn, and create digital information safely and intelligently. Digital literacy involves critical thinking and combines technological and cognitive skill sets as you utilize edtech and research, create, evaluate, and communicate information.
DIGITAL LITERACY strategies for low edtech proficiency teachers:
- Research edtech for the classroom;
- Ask colleagues for tips about tools to use in the classroom;
- Attend professional conferences or professional development sessions on edtech;
- Take the initiative to try new edtech tools in the classroom;
- Ask for help from someone qualified for solving a technology issue
- Be open-minded about using technology tools;
- Develop the confidence to not be intimidated or flustered by technology issues;
- Research different sources to uncover differing perspectives;
- Teach students to change their passwords regularly;
- Teach students how to utilize strong passwords;
- Teach students not to give out personal information online;
- Teach students that not everyone is who they say they are online;
- Teach students safety protocols (such as turning off monitors and raising hands) when they discover inappropriate or confusing internet content;
- Teach students to think carefully before clicking hyperlinks in email messages, as well as how to verify safe senders.
DIGITAL LITERACY strategies for moderate edtech proficiency teachers:
- Utilize keystroke shortcuts;
- Understand that using a search engine to find the answer is the first step to troubleshoot a technology problem;
- Utilize documents and video resources to find solutions to technology issues;
- Design tutorial videos on technology troubleshooting
- Try emerging technology tools in the classroom;
- Triangulate the scientific consensus or general accepted truth on a research topic;
- Teach students how to sort through various different sources online
- Teach students to recognize search engine biases;
- Teach students about geotagging and personal information breadcrumbs;
- Establish troubleshooting protocols for fixing classroom technology issues (e.g., device failure, connectivity issues).
DIGITAL LITERACY strategies for high edtech proficiency teachers:
- Offer your expertise as a resource to others to help with technology questions or issues;
- Train students to act as technology supports within the classroom;
- Encourage students to create their own technology troubleshooting solution tutorial videos;
- Evaluate sources while researching to assess their perspective/motive;
- Create evaluative rubrics for reviewing the accuracy of online content;
- Teach students how to design algorithm-based passwords;
- Teach students about using active virus scan software;
- Teach students how to use a VPN;
- Install kid-safe internet browsers on classroom computers and teaching students how to use them;
- Model how to protect personal metadata.
Dimension 4: Communication
Participant Score Distribution (N = 16)
Low: 44 %
Moderate: 31 %
High: 25 %
This PEDAGOGY dimension centers on the purposeful and effective integration of technology into professional practice for face-to-face, hybrid, and fully-online learning. This dimension measures how you leverage technology for teaching, learning, collaboration, productivity, and communication. Improving the integration of technology into your pedagogy requires lifelong learning, and often involves research, trial and error, reflection, learning from others, and sharing your technological pedagogical expertise with the larger community.
PEDAGOGY strategies for low edtech proficiency teachers:
- Use cloud-based learning materials/documents;
- Use a learning management system for classroom materials;
- Use a learning management system for student work submissions;
- Use a learning management system for storing students’ grades;
- Evaluate digital resources for school appropriateness;
- Research reviews on different online resources;
- Review edtech tools’ star ratings in app stores;
- Distribute classroom emails informing parents and guardians of classroom news;
- Utilize a text-based mass-messaging system;
- Use social media to share classroom news;
- Use an identity-masking proxy number or profile to communicate with parents/guardians to retain the confidentiality of your personal information;
- Utilize an offline gamification quizzing tool;
- Use pre-built content templates;
- Participate in technology professional development;
- Passively consume resources on new technology tools.
PEDAGOGY strategies for moderate edtech proficiency teachers:
- Use technology purposefully;
- Encourage students to utilize synchronous collaborative editing tools for projects;
- Publish instructional content with cloud storage;
- Teach students how to share documents using cloud productivity tools;
- Use synchronous collaborative editing tools in the classroom;
- Evaluate digital resources for pacing, lesson objective alignment, and ability levels;
- Evaluate different resources to determine the best fit for filling a technology need in your classroom;
- Seek out a technology tool that modifies or augments what you are doing in the classroom with a non-digital tool;
- Distribute an online classroom newsletter;
- Conduct parent/guardian conferences with a video conferencing tool
- Host summative objective tests online;
- Use the quiz function within a learning management system;
- Perform formative game-based quizzing online;
- Build your own quiz questions for an online quiz tool;
- Develop corrective feedback;
- Create digital rubrics for student assessments;
- Import assessment data into a learning management system;
- Use performance data to group students;
- Observe other teachers’ classrooms to learn how to better integrate technology;
- Participate in technology professional conferences;
- Schedule an observation with your technology specialist;
- Develop a fallback unplugged activity/lesson plan for when technology fails;
- Develop a toolbelt of technology alternatives for when an edtech tool/digital resource does not cooperate.
PEDAGOGY strategies for high edtech proficiency teachers:
- Design a webpage for class resources;
- Teach students to develop digital portfolios;
- Create a rubric for evaluating digital content resources;
- Conduct a pilot test to measure instructional impacts of a new technology;
- Offer students the option to use different digital content resources for the same learning task/objective;
- Publish review videos/posts on the technology tools;
- Share lesson ideas/strategies online for using edtech tools/resources;
- Perform a usability study on edtech tools/resources;
- Create video blogs or provide videos for parents/guardians on classroom events;
- Develop customized explanatory feedback on digital assessments;
- Analyze student data to make informed instructional decisions;
- Download data and run custom analytics in a different platform;
- Update edtech tools and content used in the classroom periodically;
- Perform action research on edtech tools and content used in the classroom;
- Participate in district technology initiatives;
- Present at a professional edtech conference.
Dimension 5: Critical Thinking
Participant Score Distribution (N = 16)
Low: 25 %
Moderate: 56 %
High: 19 %
This LEADERSHIP dimension measures your ability to advance the edtech competencies of other professionals at your institution. Effective leaders research and share best practices with their colleagues, advocate for equitable access to resources, and collaborate with decision-makers to influence educational technology policy and manage innovation diffusion. Your Leadership score is 75 (Moderate Proficiency). You participate in research and management activities that inform decision makers about educational technology initiatives. You model best educational technology practices informally to your colleagues and are an active member of professional communities in the field.
LEADERSHIP strategies for low edtech proficiency teachers:
- Talk with other teachers on your hall about edtech;
- Participate in a technology community of practice online;
- Join an online subscription service (following a YouTube personality on edtech, edtech influencer, blog, etc.);
- Subscribe to a professional journal/association;
- Follow/interact with edtech teacher pages on social media;
- Conduct exit surveys;
- Seek out management resources;
- Research equitable strategies for edtech access;
- Identify an equitable access issue;
- Model the use of technology.
LEADERSHIP strategies for moderate edtech proficiency teachers:
- Participate in a professional development or professional conference opportunity;
- Volunteer to serve on a school technology committee;
- Share social media posts about edtech;
- Curate and share a list of edtech resources for other educators;
- Perform action research;
- Consult with experts on management;
- Conduct a needs assessment with stakeholders;
- Collect data on an equitable access issue (e.g., self-study);
- Advocate to administration for equitable access solutions for edtech;
- Design inclusive edtech learning materials;
- Collaborate on designing professional development with colleagues;
- Perform a needs assessment and design professional development accordingly.
LEADERSHIP strategies for high edtech proficiency teachers:
- Lead a professional development/professional conference presentation on edtech;
- Lead a district technology initiative/rollout;
- Chair a school or district technology committee;
- Become an edtech influencer;
- Publish in professional journals;
- Develop and publish custom edtech resources for other educators;
- Conduct scientific research on the impacts of a technology;
- Manage implementation of a school or district technology initiative;
- Implement an equitable access project (e.g., bus Wi-Fi);
- Offer your classroom for other teachers to observe (e.g., pineapple chart);
- Provide personal consultations on technology/instructional design for colleagues;
- Manage a social media account to share best practices with the field/community.