The Constant Struggle: Engaging and Motivating Students

One of the main concerns for today's teachers is student engagement and motivation. Students' engagement is key to student achievement and success in the classroom. As a 1st grade teacher it is a constant struggle to keep very wiggly six and seven year olds engaged and motivated to learn for seven hours each day. It is also hard to teach them the basic skills yet also keep in mind that they need to be prepared to be 21st century learners. I am in my fifth year of teaching and I have not come up with a perfect solution for this but have found ways to help provide opportunities for creating these 21st century learners. Since last January, I have had a 1st grade 1:1 iPad classroom. This opportunity has been great! Along the way I have done a lot of research on how to best implement the 1:1 technology to better my classroom and promote higher engagement, motivation, and achievement through these technologies. In my experience, students of this generation are used to a non-stop world. Students seek interaction that is constantly changing and engaging. They are also used to a world that craves immediate feedback. Many of these characteristics are common to the widespread use of technology in our society. The question that is always running through my mind is how to we better engage and motivate our students to promote learning and achievement? What can I do differently to meet the needs of my 21st century learners? The jobs and skill sets that our children need to be successful today and in their future endeavors can not be met by sitting in nice rows listening to a teacher lecture and then recalling that information (Garwood, 2013). Students need to be think critically, research, problem-solve, and create. But how do we engage and motivate students in achieving these skills? One idea for helping in this search for changing teaching and learning to meet the needs of 21^st century learners is that of 1:1 technology like I am implementing in my classroom.  Current research supports that 1:1 technology implementation does increase engagement and motivation in the classroom. Steeg et al (2013) states that learning seemed to be more interesting and students were more willing to learn when engaged with technology. Struggling students also seemed to find learning with the technology device less difficult.
            Denise (Steeg et al, 2013, p. 68) observed this of her students during their technology                           enriched literacy camp:
                        I was amazed at how much Aaron and Zoey learned today while using                         their iPads. They both were so engrossed in their stories and learning.                         Both of these kids have great minds, but they do not want to read a book                         or write. Listening to the information on the iPad and typing it or                         displaying it in a visual manner engages them in learning (Set et al, 2013                                               p. 68).

Finding ways to engage students in learning is always a concern for teachers.  I too have seen that 1:1 technology implementation has helped some of my reluctant learners to be more engaged. 

            Students are not only more engaged they are more open and motivated to delve deeper into their learning (Looi, C., Zhang, B., Chen, W., Seow, P., Chia, G., Norris, C., & Soloway, E., 2011).  Students ask more questions.  One-to-one technology implementation promotes community based learning environments that are a “safe-heaven”, as stated by Looi et al (2010), where students can explore and question without fear of failure or being judged by their peers.  Students are provided the opportunity of using 1:1 technologies as a tool to practice 21^st century skills in the classroom. 

            The use of 1:1 technologies as tools to provide practice in research, critical thinking, problem-solving, and creation has begun to transform my classroom learning environment.  Students are showing greater enagement, motivation, and more ownership of their learning.  Students are more excited and motivated to learn and I am excited to guide them on my small piece of their journey to become 21^st century learners.  

References

Garwood, J. E. (2013). One-to-one iPads in the elementary classroom: Measuring the                         impact on student engagement, instructional practices, and teacher perception (Order No.    3608079). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1496772546). Retrieved  from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1496772546?accountid=6143

Looi, C., Zhang, B., Chen, W., Seow, P., Chia, G., Norris, C., & Soloway, E. (2011). 1:1   mobile        inquiry learning experience for primary science students: a study of learning effectiveness. Journal    Of Computer Assisted Learning, 27(3), 269-287. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2010.00390.x

Steeg, S. M., Costley, K., Engelman, K., Gonzalez, D., Knutson, V., & Maroni, K.  (2013). Changing  teachers, changing students: Exploring iPads in inquiry-based learning. Research in the                    Schools, 20(2), 57-72. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1663613519?    accountid=6143

Implementation from day 1.

This year so far has been a crazy journey.  I am in my second year of 1:1 implementation in my 1st grade classroom.  I was given 1:1 iPads last January and am endeavoring to implement them from day 1 this year with six and seven year olds.  We have come very far since the middle of August and am proud to say my students have surpassed my expectations and goals for implementation thus far.  We have successfully implemented level and differentiate learning on the iPads through app folders.  We have learned to use many many apps as tools to enrich and enhance our learning.  We are currently using Edmodo, the suite of Google Apps for Education (including Google Classrooms....I know ambitious for 1st graders), SeeSaw, myOn, KidBlog, Lexia, and Pearson.  Procedures and routines with the iPads are down and now it is time to start getting deeper.  We are starting to use the iPads to make our classroom more learner focused and student driven.  In the quest to do this I have started giving my students the opportunities and skills to be more independent.  The hope in providing this is that my students will be able to begin researching, problem solve, and create.  Students are also beginning the process of expanding their learning beyond the walls of our classroom.  To do that we are going to extend the opportunity to use the 1:1 technologies into the home.  A few weeks ago we had an iPad parent night and students are earning their "iPad licenses".