"Teacher Talk" with Ken Newton
All about education in Elementary and Middle School for the 21st Century Student, Teacher, and Parent.
"Teacher Talk" with Ken Newton
Episode 4-Shaping the Future: Student Insights on Educational Technology
Discover the transformational power of educational technology as we welcome the vibrant voices of my students, Ellie and Adam, to the latest episode of Teacher Talk with Mr. Newton. Ellie kicks off our electrifying discussion with her firsthand experience utilizing ReadWorks, an innovative program that has revolutionized her learning with its dynamic reading passages and interactive comprehension tools. As the conversation unfolds, she paints a picture of a future where digital platforms outshine traditional textbooks and education is merely a click away.
Adam then steps into the spotlight, offering a nostalgic look at the evolution of EdTech from his early school days to the present. He reminisces about the once-loved IXL program and lauds the challenging nature of iReady's math diagnostics. His infectious optimism for what's on the horizon is undeniable; Adam envisions a world where the continuous advancement of educational tools, infused with AI technology, promises an exhilarating and enriched learning experience for all. Join us to hear the insights and aspirations of these young minds as they navigate and shape the future of learning.
It goes electric, baby, when I turn it on. Off in my city, off in my home, we're tying up no ceiling when we in our zone?
Speaker 3:All right. Good morning ladies and gentlemen. It is Mr Newton with episode number four on educational technology Teacher Talk, teacher Talk with Mr Newton and I have a couple of special guests with me for today and we're going to talk about educational technology today. Where do I begin when it comes to educational technology? Edtech, as the abbreviation says, is the field of study that investigates the process of analyzing, designing, developing, implementing and evaluating the instructional environment, the learning materials, which we'll talk about. There's so many to talk about the learners in the learning process in order to improve teaching and learning. So where do I begin? On all the great EdTech programs that are out there? So I have a guest with me Hi, ellie. Hi, ellie is a student of mine and Ellie educational technology. What comes to mind when you think of EdTech?
Speaker 2:What comes to mind when I think of EdTech is I think he inspires a lot of people to do good in life and never to give up on things that you're hopeful for.
Speaker 3:And when you think of EdTech and educational technology, do you have any favorite programs that you've used in class? What comes to mind?
Speaker 2:Probably ReadWorks. Readworks is a really helpful site and if you don't know what ReadWorks is, it's where they have like four paragraphs maybe and then it has a vocabulary set and a question set, and I think it's just really helpful during class.
Speaker 3:I love it. So I'm sure you've seen a big jump in educational technology since you've been in school. So I'm going to ask you to predict what do you think is the future of educational technology? I know Mr Newton has talked to you a little bit about AI artificial intelligence, but I want you to look in your crystal ball and tell our audience what you think lies ahead in educational technology.
Speaker 2:I think what lies ahead in our future is it will not overpower, but it might overpower textbooks, and so, basically, we can just press some buttons and there will. There are, textbooks will be on our computer.
Speaker 3:I love it. Thank you so much for hanging out. I appreciate it. All right, after the next break we'll have another guest. Thanks, friends. All right, hey, friends, we are back. Educational technology teacher talk with Mr Newton, and I have another special guest with me which I'll introduce in a second. So, yeah, we're here talking about ed tech and just to talk briefly about some types of educational tools. We have utility tools, learning platforms, lesson planning tools and social learning tools. Some of my favorite, as I look through this list and I use quite a few in class over the years Flipgrid, google Classroom, kahoot, class Dojo, padlet, just to name a few. And the list goes on and on. And I have my friend, mr Adam, here. Hi Adam, how's it going?
Speaker 4:It's going good.
Speaker 3:Yay, adam's a big fan of ed tech and educational technology too. So, adam, what's your take? Tell the audience how has educational technology advanced. Think about when you were in fourth grade, third grade. And then my question, like the last guest, is what do you see in the future? And I know you have a great background in technology as well, so tell us your thoughts.
Speaker 4:So I think that maybe something like IXL that used to be a program that we used to use, but it's sadly not available anymore in school, which is very disappointing, because I liked IXL a lot. It was very useful and nice.
Speaker 3:Do you have a favorite one that you use now and let us know? Like I asked previous guest, look in your crystal ball. What do you see? Where do you see technology going in the future? We've talked a little bit about AI, so again, what are your thoughts?
Speaker 4:So to answer your first question, I really like when I have, when I do the math diagnostic in iReady. It's really fun and it gives me a challenge. So to answer your second question, I think it can only go up and it can only get better from here. It'll just keep on getting better and I, iready and other things will have better ways for children to learn.
Speaker 3:I love it, thanks. And on a much lighter note, what if some fun technology that you use doesn't have to be educational, but do you have a favorite game that you like to play, or is there something at home that you like to play? That's very techie.
Speaker 4:So what if I say that there is a gaming platform called Steam for your computer that you can buy? You can buy, you can purchase so many games on there and they're all quite fun. And also you can sell games on there if you feel like that.
Speaker 3:I love it, adam, thank you, thanks for hanging out and giving us your thoughts on EdTech awesome, thank you, and one more segment we'll see after the break. Alright, hey, friends, I'm last segment on EdTech educational technology teacher talk with Mr Newton, and my last guest I have is Mr Grant. Say hi, grant. Hello, and Grant is here to talk about his favorite EdTech. Maybe I'm guessing, robots, maybe, or maybe something else. Grant loves technology, along with Mr Newton. So, grant, what's your take on EdTech? Is it important? Does it make learning fun? Does it make learning exciting? And my last question is what do you look for in the future on technology?
Speaker 1:Well, I do think that technology is very important and it does make learning very fun. It's always really exciting to come to make our space. I mean, you get to play with robots and do other stuff, and technology has just made our world like next level. Because you, like it used to be, you had to do all this stuff by hand, and now all this stuff is more technology is just taken over. And what I think for technology in the future? Probably I'm not exactly sure, but I think that technology is gonna definitely continue to take over our world and it's gonna continue to be very important. So that's my take.
Speaker 3:I love it. I appreciate your, your take and I appreciate your insight into EdTech. Who knows where EdTech will be? And I think it's made amazing advancements in progress, as I'm sure all my guests would agree, when they were little and now currently in the fifth grade. So, hey, friends, thanks for listening EdTech, we love our technology here in Mr Newton's classroom and we will catch you on episode number five. Thank you very much, see ya, peace.