Embedded Files
Elementary Bros
Michael Armor, Frank Felix,
Christopher Holguin, Cory Vargas
Focus Question:
What impact does technology have on student motivation and engagement?
Introduction
Introduction
(Edmodo Classroom, 2010)
This is an image of different types of technology a teacher might use in the classroom to motivate students.
Promoting student motivation and engagement through technology
Promoting student motivation and engagement through technology
The pandemic of 2020 turned the education world upside down and forced it to shift instruction to distanced learning (DE). The need for emergency remote teaching (ERT) illustrated the significance of student participation in learning outside of typical classroom settings. New educational strategies emerged bringing 21st-century tech-advanced students to the forefront of education. Many students excelled in the new virtual format. Teachers began to experiment with how they taught in a virtual setting. Collaborative environments were created through Zoom break-out rooms, Microsoft teams, Jamboard and Google meets, where students met with minimal teacher oversight to collaborate on tasks and assignments. Students used these collaborative environments as an impromptu social meet-ups where they used a few minutes to reconnect with each other before getting on with their work. Additional collaborative applications like Flip-grid now Flip, Seesaw, Nearpod, and Google classroom, to name a few, rose to the occasion and facilitated student collaboration and engagement. Even though we learned as a society how to operate from home in front of a laptop, and with all the advancements in tech tools that arose during the pandemic, teachers and parents continue their hesitancy to implement tech tools into classrooms, seeing it more of a distraction. However, in the hands of the right teacher, technology will prove to be instrumental in the advancement of the 21st-century tech student, (Fantozzi et al, 2018).
Collaborative applications include child play and gamification elements that work together to motivate students creating classwork into play. Blended learning, a recent pedagogical strategy, has found success in employing video-sharing apps into the classroom to engage students in mathematics lessons (Chao et al, 2014). These digital assets provide an essential component of classroom management into the classroom which is why it’s important for teachers to incorporate digital tools into daily instruction. Teacher buy-in is conducive to pedagogical changes. The future of the advanced tech world is relying on the digital literacies of the 21st-century tech student.
This literature review intends to answer the following research question: What impacts do educational technology applications (e.g. Flip, Seesaw, Jamboard, Google Classroom) have on students' motivation and engagement?
(New EdTech Classroom, 2022)
The pedagogical integration of technology can and should play a key role in developing 21st-century skills in students. This walkthrough of the “4 C’s” – Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking – and how technology integrates with their cultivation in students aligns perfectly with the Elementary Bros Motivation study. Many of the apps that the piece mentions are echoed in the video and engage students in higher-order 21st-century skills.
(McNeil, 2016)
Teacher perceptions of technology play a key role in the successful adoption of effective digital teaching strategies. One of the most significant influencers of positive teacher perceptions of the integration of technology is administrative. In a survey conducted by Edgenuity, a curriculum provider for blending learning, 400 secondary teachers were asked about their views of their site's ability to implement effective blended teaching strategies. The survey indicated that when teachers perceive their access to digital applications to be (a) engaging, (b) support differentiation, and (c) provide variety, the more likely that the teachers would grade their schools as providing enriching experiences. However, at the time of the study, half the teachers who participated in the study felt that their site provided access to outdated technology and lacked insufficient time to plan for the integration of technology, which is directed as an administrative factor to effective adoption.
Literature Search Strategy
Literature Search Strategy
Our literature research strategy included peer-reviewed journals and articles retrieved from JSTOR, ERIC, Google Scholar, Academic Premiere, and EBSCOHost online databases via Pollak Library at California State University Fullerton to review the selected research. The key search words and phrases used were: instructional design, student + motivation, student collaboration + seesaw, blended learning, and distance education, UDL + student engagement. The search included a 10-year filter to capture the most recent peer-reviewed information. Three themes emerged when reviewing the research: (a) collaboration, (b) blended learning, (c) and teacher involvement.
Theme 1: Collaboration
Theme 1: Collaboration
(Mansfield, 2014)
This video shows how students can use Google apps like Google Classroom and Google Docs for instantaneous, open-ended collaboration.
Collaborating with students and being able to study nonverbal cues and body language are some aspects that are not able to be duplicated via distance learning (Burns 2021). This is a part of education that many teachers are truly looking forward to being able to employ in their physical classrooms once again. However, the Covid-19 pandemic has taught educators that some of the tools and strategies that were used during distance learning actually have a place in the physical classroom and can greatly improve the quality of collaboration that takes place (Tucker 2018). Many teachers are able to use technology to facilitate constructive classroom interactions with their students and affording students more autonomy over their learning. Why then, should teachers stop at just using technology to collaborate between teacher and student?
It has been found that students are able to develop very important 21st century skills such as self-confidence, content knowledge, and even social skills through the use of technology and they don’t necessarily have to be in the same physical environment (Sahin & Top 2015). With students being capable of achieving such important feats with the aide of technology, imagine the level of education that could be reached if technology is used strategically and infused into already pedagogically-sound learning environments that are able to be further enriched by technological programs that students are now familiar with as a result of the pandemic? The results could be truly breathtaking, but teachers must be willing to rethink some of their teaching and allow students some choice (Burns 2021).
(Edutopia, 2020)
This video points out some shifts in strategies (and the tools employed) on the teacher’s part that might be required to facilitate collaboration for remote students, who can be as engaged in collaborative learning as their on-site peers might be. This echoes a similar point indicated in this Motivation research study, about leveling the playing field for remote collaborators.
Giving students choice is a strategy that allows students to have a voice when it comes to their own learning (Sahin & Top 2015). It also leads to much higher levels of engagement on students’ parts because they realize that they are in control of their own learning. Teachers can use this engagement and allow students to have a level of choice over what activities they engage in and how they will be collaborating in order to further work on 21st century skills such as being part of a team while still being engaged because they get to choose how they are working on those skills. By simply giving students a “umbrella topic” that is related to the topic of study and then having them engage in the process of design thinking, educators are giving students the freedom to control how they will be learning content that they must learn, but they are doing so on a collaborative and engaged basis (Tucker 2018). Open-ended creation tools are programs that allow this to happen and students are able to use this technology to not only display their own work, but also to collaborate and make completely novel work from a blank canvas (Burns 2021).
Some open-ended creation tools are Flip (formerly Flipgrid), Adobe Spark, Seesaw, and many more. These programs give students the ability to show what they know but don’t have to adhere to certain limitations that are imposed on them by a teacher and may have a detrimental effect on their engagement. By giving students the ability to collaborate through the use of technology, teachers are also opening the door for more streamlined and immediate feedback (Tucker 2018). By giving students the ability to work together and collaborate, this will generally mean that the teacher is taking a step back from the one-size-fits-all teaching model of direct instruction. This will immediately open up more time for the teacher to get to collaborate with students as well and provide feedback that is individualized and able to help students through apps such as Kaizena, Google classroom, and Google Docs. Giving students the time to reflect and think about what they are learning and the feedback that the educator is providing allows them make changes that they never would have even thought of and leads to an even better end-product (Burns 2021). Technology is capable of adding to pre-COVID collaboration strategies that were already effective and allows educators to better engage and motivate students leading to more enthused learners that have a voice and choice in what they are learning.
(Equinox Films, 2010)
This video shows how teamwork can achieve unthinkable tasks. It shows how collaboration starts with one person and can achieve something great. This video is not only a great tool that one can show to students but visually shows the impact teamwork and collaboration can have.
(Teacher Prep Tech, 2020).
The video is a great tool to introduce to teachers how to facilitate an effective synchronous session that involves collaboration with the group through an open-ended creation tool. The tool used in this video is Google Suite's Jamboard, an application that many educators have access to and can be used to increase or maintain student engagement and motivation to engage in collaborative settings.
Theme 2: Blended Learning
Theme 2: Blended Learning
Blended Learning is mixing traditional classroom methods with e-learning (Kantaris et al., 2021). Students learn in part through online learning and in part through a supervised brick-and-mortar location away from home (Dursun & Mese, 2019). This approach seeks to find the best of both worlds between the benefits of traditional classroom teaching and new techniques involving e-learning technology to find the best methods for teaching students. Blended learning allows for approaches that have been shown to have a strong correlation with student motivation, such as videos from Youtube or other sources (Chao et al., 2014) with face-to-face teacher interaction, which many students felt was necessary to guide the work (Inga & Yangari, 2021). The flexibility and independence of e-learning are the aspects most praised by students that lead to higher motivation levels (Kantaris et al., 2021). Being able to revisit lectures that were missed as videos was another factor in increased motivation among blended learning students (Sucaromana, 2013)
Gamification is another aspect of e-learning that has been used with success in blended learning. Qualitative surveys of students who experienced blended learning with gamification elements reported high levels of motivation and self-confidence especially when elements of badging and experience points were present. (Dursun & Mese, 2019) These aspects allowed for a sense of competition and self-esteem that are highly engaging. A desire for challenge and a desire for ability has been found to be important aspects of motivation (Sucaromana, 2013). It is also notable that these results hold true for both genders, despite the stereotype of males being more competitive than females.
Using blended learning in the classroom to increase student motivation relies on e-learning techniques that increase motivation and teacher involvement to guide them through the concepts that they may struggle with. The face-to-face aspect of blended learning is most effective when teachers are aware of what is going on with their students’ progress and are available to tailor the environment to their students’ needs (Chao et al., 2014). Teachers should act as organizers, using their own experience to manage learning experiences that they are not present for and thus teachers should have a mastery of the e-learning programs that they are using as part of their courses (Inga & Yangari, 2021). In this way, they can ensure the best experience for students and maintain high student motivation.
(National Education Association, 2021)
"Rethinking the Classroom for Blended Learning" does a great job reviewing terminology, strategies, and best practices for blended learning as discussed in the research above. It really helps to reinforce and expand on the ideas written in the above blended learning section.
(Edynamiclearning, 2019)
Blended Learning is a good middle ground to learning because students can work independently at their level and pacing but still collaborate with peers. Some examples of blended learning include digital lessons, small group instructions, stem projects, teacher-student check-ins, etc...
Theme 3: Teacher Involvement
Theme 3: Teacher Involvement
Teacher involvement can be defined as an instructor’s presence, interactions, and facilitation of learning during a lesson or activity. It is common knowledge that teacher involvement in classroom activities leads to more positive learning outcomes. Students are very keen at identifying an uninvolved teacher during a lesson which can result in drops in motivation and learning outcomes. This is also true when considering digital and technology-based lessons. Callaghan & Bower (2012) found that, when using learning modules based on a social networking site, teachers who logged in more often and interacted with students in real-time resulted in higher quality work and higher levels of learning contributions. Additionally, Bolliger & Martin (2018) looked at engagement strategies in an online learning environment and found that teacher involvement, or learner-instructor engagement, was rated as being one of the most important strategies for engagement by both students and instructors. Teacher involvement can look different depending on the activity or situation; logging into a newly introduced learning software where students navigate a virtual world, roaming a classroom and doing check-ins while students complete a digital assignment, or leaving voice feedback on a student’s word-processed document (Tucker, 2018).
(Hursh, 2021)
Alyssa Hursh walks teachers through 6 practical ways that they could use digital tools to provide engaging and interactive feedback to students in a remote learning context. This ties to the “Motivation” research piece's discussion of the importance of teacher presence and involvement as a critical component for student engagement and motivation. This blog post touches on the possibilities inherent in using digital tools for providing feedback to in-person, remote, or hybrid students in new and creative ways.
We can also think of the term “teacher involvement” in another way, that is, how the teacher is involved in promoting their students’ social and emotional well being in the classroom. It would make sense to see a teacher with positive connections to their students have less difficulty motivating students and getting them to try new things with technology, but what does the research say? Callaghan and Bower (2012) found that a more positive student-teacher relationship led to more on-task learning behaviors during online learning activities while Baker (2010) suggested building a “community of inquiry” as a strategy to maintain learner engagement. In an age where vast amounts of new learning programs, platforms, and technologies are being made available in what seems like a never ending supply it is best to remember that something as simple as teacher involvement can play a significant role in how students respond to it. Sometimes it is not how new or innovative a learning program or technology is, if the teacher can “sell it” and show involvement in its implementation then students will be more likely to become engaged and motivated to use it.
Discussion
Discussion
When it comes to motivation in blended learning, finding software that engages students is important, but making sure teachers know how to use that software as well is just as important (Inga & Yangari, 2021). With that in mind, when selecting software, while it can be tempting to choose new, flashy software, teachers should only implement software that they themselves are familiar with and comfortable with. The advantage of blended learning is teacher interaction and making that interaction meaningful means teachers should know how to help students with software as well as the content.
Additionally, student collaboration is something that many teachers hear is best practice, but not many know how to integrate it into their classrooms due to a lack of motivation on the student's part. Technology integration is something that can enhance the collaborative process because students are afforded choice over their own learning. This is something that teachers should receive focused PD on. Relinquishing the responsibility to students requires substantial time in PD in order to garner better strategies and opportunities to see this practice in action (Tucker 2018). However, once teachers gain more practice in this very intricate process, they will begin to reap the benefits of improved collaboration where students are far more engaged with the instruction.
When using technology in the classroom teacher involvement can be used as a tool to promote student engagement (Callaghan & Bower, 2012) and buy-in. Joining students in new program implementations and providing active support while students explore a program are also a few ways teachers can involve themselves to promote motivation and engagement. Furthermore, a teacher cannot be involved in an effective manner if they are not comfortable with the technology that they are trying to implement. It is extremely important for teachers to feel supported by district administrators if they are to implement technology into the classrooms. That is why it is important to go beyond PD and begin technology support initiatives that provide teachers with the opportunity to experiment in their classrooms. In this way, the most effective tech applications will be used to motivate and engage students (Tucker 2018). Failure in the use of technology by teachers also has to be a viable option. This would ensure teachers trying new things is an integral part of the process.
Here are some suggested next steps for promoting student motivation and engagement through technology:
Implement tech courses for preservice teachers focusing on technology use.
Teaching best practices on the implementation of educational software
Professional development on using technology to support collaboration
Technology initiatives to support teachers implementing technology
Integrate open-ended software programs for students to utilize when collaborating.
(Circulus, 2015)
This summarizes the major points on how to develop effective blending learning and the trends of increased internet access among Australian populations. This infographic is significant because it emphasizes that blending learning strategies for digital learning is different than emergency remote learning.
(Trufflepix)
The above image does a fantastic job showing seven different areas of collaboration. As discussed above, this image shows the impact collaboration can have on others which is vital to being successful in the classroom.
References
References
Baker, C. (2010). The impact of instructor immediacy and presence for online student affective learning, cognition, and motivation. Journal of Educators Online, 7(1), 1-30. Retrieved from: https://www.thejeo.com/archive/2010_7_1/baker
Bolliger, D.U., & Martin F. (2018). Instructor and student perceptions of online student engagement strategies. Distance Education, 39(4), 568-583.
Burns, M. (2021). Planning Technology Integration for In-Person Instruction: Strategic and resourceful use of technology doesn’t have to disappear once distance learning does. Educational Leadership, 78(9), 8–12.
Callaghan, N., & Bower, M. (2012). Learning through social networking sites – the critical role of the teacher. Educational Media International, 49(1), 1–17.
Chao, T., Chen, J. A., Dede, C., Durkin, K., Star, J. R., & Taylor, M. W. (2014). Studying technology-based strategies for enhancing motivation in mathematics. International Journal of STEM Education, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/2196-7822-1-7
Circulus (2015, July 15). Making blended learning work. [Infographic]. E-learning Infographics. https://elearninginfographics.com/making-blended-learning-work-infographic/
Dursun O.O., & Mese, C. (2019). Effectiveness of Gamification Elements in Blended Learning Environments. Turkish Online Journal of Distance Education, 119–142. https://doi.org/10.17718/tojde.601914
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Fantozzi, V. B., Johnson, C. P., & Scherfen, A. (2018). Preschool: Play and Technology An Important Intersection for Developing Literacy. YC Young Children, 73(2), 88–93.
Hursh, A. (2021, February 20). 6 Easy Ways to Give Students Feedback Online. Alyssa Teaches.
https://alyssateaches.com/how-to-give-students-feedback-online/
Inga, E., & Yangari, M. (2021). Educational Innovation in the Evaluation Processes within the Flipped and Blended Learning Models. Education Sciences, 11(9), 487. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11090487
Kantaris, X., Muse, K., Scurlock-Evans, L., & Scott, H. (n.d.). 'The most important question is not “how?” but “why?”: A multi-method exploration of a blended e-learning approach for teaching statistics within undergraduate psychology. Psychology Teaching Review, 27(1), 2021. Retrieved May 23, 2022, from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1304626.pd
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MBR University. (2019, November 10). What is...Blended Learning? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bwhR1ZKGRE
Mace, N. (2018, August 7). 8 strategies for using technology in the 21st century classroom: Resilient educator. ResilientEducator.com. https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/using-classroom-technology/
National Education Association. (2021, March 25). Rethinking the Classroom for Blended Learning. https://www.nea.org/professional-excellence/student-engagement/tools-tips/rethinking-classroom-blended-learning
McNeil, E. (2016, May 20). Teachers like technology in the classroom, but few think it's well integrated. [Infographic] Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/teachers-like-technology-in-the-classroom-but-few-think-its-well-integrated/2016/05
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Sahin, A., & Top, N., (2015). STEM students on the stage (SOS): promoting student voice and choice in stem education through an interdisciplinary, standards-focused, project-based learning approach. Journal of STEM Education, 16(3), 24-33.
Sucaromana, U. (2013). The Effects of Blended Learning on the Intrinsic Motivation of Thai EFL Students. English Language Teaching, 6(5). https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v6n5p141
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Trueffelpix. [Online image]. ShutterStock. https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/banner-collaboration-teamwork-icons-715797241
Tucker, C. (2018). To Stem Teacher Burnout, GO DIGITAL: Used wisely, technology can help shift teachers’ mindsets about how they work--and maybe even save their careers. Educational Leadership, 75(9), 58–62.
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