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Patricia Brown began her position as director of know-how for the Ladue faculty district in Missouri in July and already has large concepts on learn how to successfully use know-how within the classroom.
“I do imagine we now have this chance to essentially have a look at our techniques, at what we’ve been offering educationally for our college students and for our lecturers and for our mother and father—our group as a complete, all of the stakeholders,” Brown mentioned. It’s time to “problem a few of the issues which have at all times been” and take into consideration how colleges can enhance schooling for all youngsters.
Brown just isn’t new to the ed-tech house. For 11 years, she was the educational know-how coordinator for the 4,300-student faculty district. And he or she’s at the moment a board member for the nonprofit Worldwide Society for Expertise in Training.
In her 21-year profession, she’s racked up awards for her work as a know-how integration specialist: She earned the Ladue faculty district’s Excellence in Training award in 2021, was a part of the Apple Distinguished Educators class of 2019, was one of many Nationwide Faculty Board Affiliation’s 20 to Watch academic know-how leaders in 2016, and has been named one of many prime ed-tech influencers by EdTech Digest in 5 completely different years.
Right here’s what she needed to say in a Zoom dialog with Training Week about what’s subsequent for know-how use within the classroom, what the most important tech challenges are for colleges, and what her priorities are in her first 12 months as tech director for Ladue.
The next interview has been edited for brevity and readability.

What’s your philosophy relating to utilizing know-how within the classroom?
For a very long time—particularly early on, once we have been first adopting the usage of know-how—it was at all times about that “wow,” that cool factor you are able to do. I keep in mind pondering across the time once we first adopted iPads, and it was at all times the entire mantra: ‘There’s an app for that.’ We have been simply pulling so many assets, so many instruments, so many apps, the place it was fully overwhelming for a instructor. So I began to consider what will we truly need college students to do with the know-how? What can know-how do? The place can it take us? The place can we offer these alternatives for our children to be creators and producers and demanding thinkers and never simply shoppers of know-how?
For me, once I’m utilizing know-how with my college students, it isn’t an add-on. It’s not only a cool factor that you just do. It’s built-in within the classroom, the place it’s part of the curriculum and it’s part of the training course of. We study with know-how, we study via know-how, we enable it to supply alternatives that we wouldn’t have [had] earlier than.
As exhausting as these final three years have been on the tutorial system, I do imagine it has created alternatives for us to supply a degree of engagement for our college students that we’ve not had earlier than.
Patricia Brown
Fairness is an enormous a part of my philosophy. I really feel like once we’re using know-how as only a consumption device, we’re offering inequity for our college students. The true purpose is to supply these alternatives the place they will invent, they will create, they will produce, they will join and talk with individuals exterior of the 4 partitions of their lecture rooms. That’s a very highly effective factor that we’ve discovered via COVID. As exhausting as these final three years have been on the tutorial system, I do imagine it has created alternatives for us to supply a degree of engagement for our college students that we haven’t had earlier than.
I do know that each pupil doesn’t study the identical method, however what know-how permits us to do is to distinguish [and] present these completely different alternatives for our college students. It permits lecturers to have a extra environment friendly method for them to grade papers, for them to roll out curriculum, for them to work together with their college students, for them to create extra revolutionary tasks.
Faculties proceed to push know-how use to the following degree. What does that imply for schooling? The place will we go from right here?
What we’re left with, as we journey via this pandemic, is we have now a era of scholars who’re very completely different from the pre-COVID occasions, which means their degree of engagement is one thing that we wrestle to maintain in keeping with what we’re doing as educators. So one of many principal issues that’s going to shift within the schooling format is the deal with pupil engagement, but additionally the deal with steadiness—the way you steadiness the use of technology in classrooms and the quantity of assets and media and “distractions” that exist now with having a pupil to focus.
On the subject of know-how, I don’t assume it’s going to be extra know-how. I believe it’s going to be: Let’s have a look at what we have already got. Let’s have a look at how we are able to make the most of these assets to the best potential and what we are able to create from what we have now. Video goes to be an enormous a part of that, for college students to have the ability to present what they know in additional distinctive and artistic methods.
You’re going to have a look at different methods that you would be able to have interaction—even studying administration techniques and utilizing alternative ways for college students to show in assignments. You’re going to have some non-traditional lecture rooms.
I believe it’s going to be extra of a personalized method of offering schooling for our college students as a result of I do assume we have now completely different youngsters now, so we have now to fulfill their wants.
What are the most important tech challenges that colleges are dealing with proper now?
One of many largest tech challenges that the majority colleges are dealing with remains to be combating offering the assets for college students and for lecturers.
What we’re affected by now could be digital burnout. I’m truly doing a research and dealing on my doctorate, so one of many issues I needed to know is: Academics’ and educators’ expertise in COVID, did it construct confidence of their use of know-how? And are they utilizing know-how extra effectively and extra often in our lecture rooms due to COVID?
The reply is sure and no.
Sure, there’s extra confidence of their use of know-how. I believe lecturers are extra prepared to take some dangers. [But there’s] a sure group of lecturers the place they’re like, “I don’t need something to do with that as a result of these final two years have been exhausting, so I need to take a break from know-how and I actually simply need to return to fundamentals.”
So I believe the problem for schooling goes to be to search out that steadiness: How do we all know when to make use of know-how and the way do we all know when we have to return to fundamentals?
How do you tackle tech burnout amongst lecturers?
It’s been a problem as a result of as a tech individual, a tech coordinator, to now a tech director, in fact, know-how is at all times on the forefront of my thoughts and it’s my job. Nonetheless, I’m very linked with my human aspect as effectively, as a instructor, as an educator, as a guardian, and I at all times have a look at views and completely different lenses. I get all the way down to the why. Not “oh, they only don’t use know-how,” and depart it at that. What’s the root of the issue? Is it as a result of they’re burnt out as a result of the whole lot they’ve tried to make use of doesn’t work that day, and it’s simply irritating? Or is it that they’ve been utilizing this device nonstop and need to do one thing completely different however don’t know what to do? Simply asking these proper questions, asking these whys.
In fact, you’re at all times going to have some people who find themselves completely anti-tech. However on the whole, attending to the foundation of the why is at all times useful for me as a result of then I can say, “OK, I’ve a advice. Let’s do that.”
Skilled studying is so necessary. I’m a proponent of getting distinctive ways in which lecturers obtain skilled studying. I like to do lunch and study, the place I simply invite lecturers in for a 15-minute or 20-minute drop-in the place I’m going to show them one thing new, however they’re bringing their lunch they usually’re chit-chatting or speaking and asking questions, and it’s simply a casual method. Playdates: I’ve had lecturers go to the Apple Retailer and simply form of mess around with the know-how and study that method. Children prefer to study via play. Academics do, too.
What ought to high quality know-how use seem like? And what ought to it not seem like?
I’ll begin with what it doesn’t seem like. It doesn’t seem like youngsters sitting on their units, not interacting with one another in any respect; engaged on a drilling apply app, the place they’re training their math abilities, and that’s just about all they do; or they’re utilizing their know-how for testing functions solely and the one time they carry out the know-how is after they’re on the point of take a check or they should do an task that’s unbiased.
What it seems like is trying on the curriculum and discovering pure methods to combine know-how. Not taking the know-how after which making an attempt to suit the curriculum in, however as an alternative taking that curriculum and taking a look at a unique method that I may instruct my college students—I’m going to make use of the know-how to create a very partaking slide deck to have interaction my youngsters. I’m going to embed some movies. I need to embed some GIFs into my slide deck. I need to add Nearpod. I’m going so as to add some interactive elements as I’m instructing or lecturing my college students.
[Quality technology use] does not seem like youngsters sitting on their units, not interacting with one another in any respect.
Patricia Brown
As soon as the scholars are instructed they usually get the data that they want from you as an teacher, how do they apply that data? Are they capable of take that data and create a video? Are they working collaboratively with a accomplice or group in designing a STEM problem that integrates with what they’re studying in science? Are they happening an array hunt as a result of they’re studying about arrays in math class, in order that they’re strolling round their faculty with their iPads taking photos of pure arrays that they see across the constructing? Are they making a stop-motion video of the change of states of matter?
How do they apply [the learning]? Are they creating, producing, creating issues? Are they capable of take the data that they’ve and use it in a pure method?
How ought to ed-tech leaders decide which tech instruments keep and which of them go?
It actually relies on the demographics of your college students, your funds, what you have got accessible. It actually comes all the way down to what works for you, what works on your district, what are the challenges that you’ve got, and what know-how assets and instruments will be that answer for you.
I do assume it is rather necessary to be proactive in ensuring that you just’re staying abreast with the brand new issues which might be created which might be serving to to make studying extra accessible and possible.
We in our district have Apple units, which I completely love, however we even have Chromebooks that we additionally love, they usually match our goal and our wants. So I simply actually assume it comes all the way down to evaluating what your wants are within the district, taking a look at your funds.
[When it comes to the budget] typically districts enable their budgets to dictate the kind of assets and know-how that they’ve, when in truth I believe it ought to be extra of: Let’s consider what’s the very best device and the very best useful resource for our district, after which let’s discover a strategy to pay for it.
I believe that it’s necessary to proceed to make use of assets which might be going to open up alternatives for our college students to collaborate, to attach, to create, and share. So no matter that device seems like for you, I say, use it.
What are your largest priorities this faculty 12 months?
One is data privacy and security, ensuring that each one of our information is safe. There are numerous issues happening on this planet proper now and not-so-honest people who find themselves concentrating on completely different districts, in order that’s primary precedence.
The opposite priorities I’ve are ensuring there are techniques and processes in place for the usage of know-how all through the district. One cool factor is, taking over this position, I had the chance to affix within the curriculum and instruction division. Expertise is now part of curriculum and instruction, which is an ideal marriage to me as a result of it permits [technology] to be part of the conversations that occur in curriculum, and curriculum to be part of the conversations that occur in tech. We’re working collaboratively for a similar purpose, and we’re ensuring that our college students and our lecturers are educated concerning the assets which might be accessible. So my precedence is ensuring that this course of and the seamlessness of the wedding between curriculum and know-how occur as greatest as they will.
Innovation can be one other precedence, ensuring that we’re pushing the needle and pushing our college students and our lecturers to be future prepared; ensuring that the coaching and the assets and the know-how that we’re utilizing is state-of-the-art, updated, accessible, and prepared for all of our college students and our lecturers.