By AshaLee Ortiz

Educational technology affords our students experiences firsthand that they could previously have only through a secondary source like slides, videos, and teacher lectures. I liken the experiences students could potentially be having to the Holodeck on Star Trek: The Next Generation, a show that was popular while I was growing up in the late ’80s. It was here that Jean-Luc and his interstellar crew could find solutions to problems in a low-risk environment, as well as engage in fantastic hypotheticals and, on occasion, have fun.

Imagine having a Holodeck to teach about the Civil War, or to experiment on “living” organisms without doing mortal harm. Imagine inputting the components of a classic novel, and bringing it to life for your students as they take on the role of a character. Well, guess what, my esteemed colleagues? The ability to “boldly go where no (class) has gone before” is at the fingertips of every educator right now.

There are so many exciting and innovative ways technology is enhancing student learning, and none require a computer replacing the role of instructor. Rather, the requirement of all methodologies of technology-based learning is to have teachers facilitate meaningful learning experiences, seek out the opportunities that will best engage and meet the needs of their students, and structure these experiences in a manner that maximizes access and learning for all students.

But how does one begin to transform the traditional classroom into the limitless virtual reality that was afforded on the Holodeck? It simply requires an Internet connection. What this looks like on your campus and in your classroom is dependent on the resources you have available to blend technological learning experiences with content. Most campuses can facilitate what is known as a supplemental blended design, which means instruction typically happens in the classroom, but scheduled computer lab time or mobile carts augment instruction when needed. Supplemental design is also evident in “flipped” lessons; where students access technological resources at home, and spend in-class time on collaborative experiences with the teacher facilitating.

In a replacement model, more significant changes need to be made to how you structure instruction and student experiences. Here, the majority of “work” students complete will be evidenced digitally. This can be accomplished with successfully integrated BYOD plans or 1:1 computing ratios for students.

Finally, in an emporium model, students basically check in to a computer lab and are relatively self-directed, with occasional assistance from the facilitator as needed. Here, learning objectives need to be clear and accessible to students online, but also should maintain flexibility in how a student can demonstrate their mastery of the content being addressed.

Whichever scenario best describes your learning environment, there are countless ways to help students engage with content, “Holodeck style.”

So now that we have a better picture of what learning will look like based on the technology at your disposal, it’s time to program your students’ experience. There are several schools of thought on how to best engage students in the learning process.

• Problem-Based Learning happens when you give students a complex problem to solve, and students may find a variety of ways to achieve a solution. This relies on a student’s problem-solving strategies as well as critical-thinking skills.
• Project-Based Learning occurs when you require students to create and present a project in lieu of traditional worksheets, notes, and testing strategies. Here, students align learning with requirements from an established rubric, but are often given flexibility in determining the end result of the project. Depending on the project, students can create a poem or make a model. Technology augments the scope of these projects with various Web 2.0 tools, just a few of which are listed here. I encourage you to invest time on a few of these websites, or search and create a list of your own. If you get excited about various web tools, it will be contagious for your students.
• Challenge-Based Learning is a hybrid of both problem- and project-based learning with one key difference: relevance. Challenged-based learning is centered on a real-world problem with which students can connect. Because it is tangible, rather than abstract, it becomes more engaging. It is also empowering to students when they are tasked with finding a viable solution to this real problem. Challenge-based learning lends itself to cross-curricular content. For example, finding a viable solution to decreasing pollution in the Pacific Ocean can broach topics such as habitats, economics, engineering, social studies, oceanic currents, biology, etc. Students will be required to understand all the facets that contribute as well as are affected by the problem before a solution can be reached. If you got into teaching to change the world, I suggest you get involved with the challenge-based learning movement.
• Game-Based Learning most closely resembles life on the Holodeck. This is where students can immerse themselves in a digital world to access content, but some virtual reality experiences like Second Life © allow for users to solve problems, complete digital experiments, and create projects internally. Other educators have tapped into similar formats by adapting SimCity© or Minecraft© into an immersive learning environment students navigate with their avatar. Other game sites, from Atlantis Remixed© to Quaver’s Marvelous World of Music© get students to engage in educational content because it’s just fun. They don’t necessarily know they have demonstrated the scientific method or are composing using a pentatonic scale. Rather, game based learning gets a student to engage and explore the content first, and they can explain and evaluate their learning as they progress.

AshaLee Ortiz has been teaching K–8 music for the past eight years in Peoria, Arizona. Her program was recognized as one of the best communities for music education in 2013 by the National Association of Music Merchants (NAMM). She has a bachelor’s in music education from California State University, Fullerton, and is currently working on a master’s in educational technology. In her spare time, AshaLee enjoys spending time with her family, arranging musical mash-ups, blogging, and sleeping. 

Please post a comment or share how you are using technology in your school or classroom.