Tech in classroom prompts collaboration, demands balance, says Regina teacher

As kids headed back to school Tuesday for the start of a new academic year, it’s less likely they’ll find chalkboards, pieces of chalk and dusty brushes in their classrooms.

They’re more likely to find white boards, dry-erase markers and touch screens.

Grade 7/8 teacher Aaron Warner uses tablets, laptops, smart phones and a smart projector in his classroom at Wascana Plains School in east Regina.

“We’re immediately able to take something and throw it up on the screen (via the projector),” he said. “One student might be on a device, one might be on an iPad, one might be on a Chromebook (a small laptop). But they can all be working on the same document.”

Using the technology as an aide to teaching lessons is good for encouraging collaboration among his students, he said.

Wascana Plains grade 7/8 teacher Aaron Warner uses Google Chromebooks, small laptops, in his classroom during lessons. They can be used to project their images onto the classroom’s white board. (Evan Radford/980 CJME)

Entering his third year at Wascana Plains, and his seventh overall as a teacher, Warner said technology in the classroom provides another tool for solving problems.

That can mean having instant access to researching a topic during a lesson, quickly searching out an answer online or working on a group project, when one party is thousands of kilometres away.

“One of their group members is gone away to Mexico for a week, and they’ve scheduled time to have a video conference,” he used as an example. “There’s the desire from that student, who could be on the beaches of Mexico, taking time, because they want to continue to have that voice.”

Using screen-based tools, many of which rely on an Internet connection and using the web, also requires his classes to talk about digital citizenship and proper online behaviour.

Warner said that means talking about the outcome of posting an item or a message on social media platforms that anyone anywhere can see.

Those discussions become all the more pertinent for 12- and 13-year-old kids, who are just starting to figure out who they are as individuals.

The other important part of using tech in the classroom is ensuring students have technology-free time, when they’re shutting off the screens and developing their interpersonal skills.

“We have a device parking lot,” Warner said, referring to a black canvas with individual pockets hung up on a metal frame near the entrance to his classroom. “I get them to park (their devices) first.”

It has pockets sized for smart phones and for tablets.

“They know it’s there, (their device is) safe there while they’re in class, but it’s not in front of us. We’re all guilty for it: If my watch buzzes or if my phone lights up, our mind is elsewhere,” he said.

Grade 7/8 teacher Aaron Warner says using technology like tablets in the classroom at Wascana Plains School builds his students’ problem-solving skills. Warner poses for a photo in his classroom on Aug. 30, 2019. (Evan Radford/980 CJME)

He’s also seen his students set career goals that didn’t exist 20 years ago, thanks the pervasive nature of technology in our daily lives.

“There are a lot of kids who see themselves working in computer programming or with some sort of computer language in coding,” he said.

And others are dreaming big.

“Students (are) talking about being YouTubers, and what does that mean to be a YouTuber?” he said. “If you dissect the people that are successful and have that online identity, there’s also that self-organization, how communication works and marketing.”

Warner said the chance to use technology in his classrooms as part of his lessons is well-suited to his interests

“My favourite show growing up was Inspector Gadget, and Penny’s watch,” Warner said.

His favourite gadget now is his Apple Watch, he said.