Meaningful Tech in Primary Grades

It can be tricky to help students in the primary grades do many things independently. When we use a workshop model for math, students must interact with meaningful, engaging work when they are not with the teacher for an extended amount of time in the heart of the workshop while the teacher is working with small groups. Since student engagement increases student outcomes (Cunha, et al., 2023), we must always find new ways to keep students’ attention and involvement in the learning tasks at hand. Another important aspect of student engagement is how it is connected to self-regulation. Students are much more aware of their learning and what they need when they are engaged in their learning environment. In addition to engagement, there is interactivity, which is how students use technology platforms to learn. the level of interactivity will determine how long students will stay engaged in a learning task and give teachers a more accurate view of what students know and need to know (Oluwajana, 2019). High student engagement through interactivity can increase the teacher’s scope of reach with their class, multiplying themselves when used well.

The advantages of using technology in the primary classroom are that it helps students keep their engagement high and can provide more support and guidance to be successful, independent learners. Technology can also have its challenges, especially with younger learners. Students have varying levels of knowledge of technology and how it works, and so can teachers. Sometimes, internet connection can be an issue or even glitches in apps and programs can prove frustrating. If solid procedures are not in place, students can be unproductive using technology to learn, and often technology may lead to high engagement but low levels of learning (Hicks et al., 2023). In the not-so-distant past, most districts struggled to have funding for enough technology for each student, and some still do. Even in primary grades, there must be clear, high expectations for behavior and learning. Activities will need to be modeled and monitored until students are successful independently. So, what are some ways that students can use technology?

As a math curriculum coordinator, one part of my role is to monitor student achievement. Complex math problem-solving is a big struggle for students across our state. Within the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills Standards or the TEKS, the process standards are consistent from grades K-12 and are listed at the beginning parts of the standards in each grade level. The skills directly impacting complex problem-solving in this list are where students apply mathematics to everyday problems, learn to use a problem-solving model, create and use representations, and analyze mathematical relationships. They can be independent thinkers and problem solvers if they know these skills. With students who cannot read independently, how can it be possible for primary students to practice often? 

(Texas Education Agency, 2014)

One significant challenge is for primary students who can’t read well yet. This can impact every subject area and cause students to do independent work without that component of deeper learning. Technology can also create isolation and loneliness, taking the place of discourse and collaboration (Bojic, et al., 2023). In math, the problem-solving scores have been lacking in recent years. Pre-K - 2nd-grade students need to be independent problem solvers, which can be a massive challenge for teachers to read to all 20-24 students. One way that technology can help with this is through the use of story mats. Three technology applications go into creating story mats, but students love them as they bring play to the math classroom. The first application is Canva. You can find this app at www.canva.com. There is a free version that is more than enough for this project. Canva is used to create the story mat with engaging graphics. The graphics bring them to life and are more fun for students as they use problems like Reader’s Theater. The next tech app to use is QRify. This can be found at www.qrify.com. Any QR website will work for this part. The last one to use is Mote, found at www.mote.com. It has a free version to use with 20 free recordings. You can record the problem and then upload the voice recording to your drive to create the QR code. All three of these apps are very easy to use. I created this activity in about 20 minutes. Students can then have the problem-solving read to them as many times as needed. They can do this in collaboration with partners, independent of the teacher.

Here is an example of a story mat for kindergarten students. They would use manipulatives of their choice to act out the problem on the story mat to solve.

Additionally, having a recording sheet for children to show their thinking in writing can be helpful. Here is one example of that. They could even complete this within Seesaw as another technology approach.

In conclusion, technology is an avenue for teachers to enhance learning experiences. Technology doesn’t replace good teaching or best practices for learning. When technology is used in the classroom, effectiveness relies on high expectations from the teacher in the learning environment. A study found that there is not a higher level of achievement in classrooms solely based on the use of technology, but rather, it comes from high expectations from the teacher (Johnson, 2020). Another study also found that there is not much of a discrepancy in student achievement because teachers are applying the teaching practices they know through the use of technology, not necessarily changing the way they instruct entirely (Anthony, 2019). The biggest benefit to technology is that it can make learning more engaging and enjoyable for everyone involved. It can also make the impossible work of the teacher, more possible.

Anthony, E. (2019). (Blended) learning: How traditional best teaching practices impact blended elementary classrooms. Journal of Online Learning Research (5)1. 

Bojic, K., Brdar, I., & Nesic, M. (2023). Do we talk to a wall or pass on knowledge to students - the advantages and disadvantages to online learning. Marketing.

Cunha, J., Martins, J., Peseta, R., and Rosário, P. (2023, Nov.) A self-regulation intervention conducted by class teachers: Impact on elementary students’ basic psychological needs and classroom engagement. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1220536

Hicks, T., Parker, J., Grunow, K. (2023). Making the Move with ed tech. Solution Tree.

Johnson, M. L. (2020). Teaching and tech: An investigation of the relationship and use of digital technologies and the overall effectiveness of the classroom learning environment. Peabody Journal of Education, 95(2). 

Oluwajana, D., Muesser, N., & Fadiya, S. (2019). An investigation of students’ interactivity in the classroom and within learning management system to improve learning outcomes. Croatian Journal of Education, 21(1). https://doi.org/10.15516/cje.v21i1.3085

Texas Education Agency. (2014, December). Title of the Webpage. Retrieved from https://tea.texas.gov/about-tea/laws-and-rules/sboe-rules-tac/sboe-tac-currently-in-effect/ch111a.pdf