Disruptive Innovation in Technology
5305

Literature Review

   Eddricka King 

 Disruptive Innovation in Technology

    EDLD 5305

 Dr. D. Harapnuik

         September 19, 2021

The Pandemic of 2020 taught us as a nation how important the use of technology really is. This new generation of students are considered to be technology babies as hard as it is to believe technology has become the base of how we go about our daily lives. From our phones, to social media, to sending a simple email are all forms of ways how we are using technology. 

 Technology has grown so rapidly in the past recent years that we cant run away from it but instead we need to embrace these changes and apply them as they come especially when it comes to the way our students are learning. After going through months and months of virtual learning, and realizing how important it is for our students to be well rounded. Implementing blended learning in our  now traditional learning will help our students become well rounded not only in their school life but outside of school as well. Adding blended learning to the curriculum will not only be successful for the learners but the teachers as well. 

This Literature Review will look at why digital learning is needed, implementing blended learning into the current curriculum, how blended learning will benefit the students learning capabilities, and how to keep the students motivated while ready and willing to learn.

Looking Back….

Switching from face to face learning to online learning during the 2020 Pandemic was a rough transition for the majority of the school districts throughout the State of Texas. Being in the district this past year has been an eye opener for the district's administration, instructors, parents, and most importantly the students. Most students in poor districts were unable and didn’t have access to computers or the internet during the time COVID hit, which caused the districts to step in and provide computers with internet access so that students would not miss out on their work. Teaching and learning during the time of COVID was very difficult and studies show that even though students were given access to computers they were not completing the work. Due to not having face to face interaction, home life, low motivation, difficulty reading and understanding, just a numerous of things that could cause the students not to succeed in their studies. (Means and Neisler, 2021). 

At home life became different for entire families because COVID had caused many shutdowns across the nation, not just in schools but jobs as well. If you were not an essential worker you could not work and was asked to stay inside during lockdown. Which caused high tension because now parents had to take on the role of not only their child/ren home life but school life as well. Parents were not only parents but full time teachers. Who had to continue working to provide for home while teaching their students. COVID caused a major delay in education and learning. Everyone knows that when a child turns 4 they are ready for school. School is the place where all children go to be taught basic educational learning skills such as math, reading, science, and social studies. Parents sent their students to school to get face to face learning plus more and when face to face learning was no longer available during COVID students and parents slipped into depression. With COVID shutting down schools the place where students felt safe, could escape from abuse from home, or whatever the student faced caused students to disengage, not completing work assigned, not logging in for class and since parents had to work most were not paying attention to their students and the students had to fin for themselves causing grades to slip tremendously. (Swaby, 2020).

With everything going on around us it will be best that all instructors, parents, and students be introduced to blended learning in the classroom.

What is Blended Learning?

According to the Oxford Dictionary Definition Of Blended Learning: a style of education in which students learn via electronic and online media as well as traditional face-to-face teaching “integrate online with traditional face-to-face class activities in a planned, pedagogically valuable manner.” (TeachThought).

When implementing blended learning, take into consideration that blended learning  has several parts and all parts give online learning and the learners a new look and is easy to understand.a) Part online – online learning with some element of student control and flexibility over the way they learn including the time, place, pace and the path they take. b) Part away from home – in part or in combination of a brick and mortar location away from home (instruction at a physical classroom/school or on-campus). c) Through a learning path – a personalized learning path that offers students the opportunity to learn through activities that capitalize on different learning modalities. (Raouna, 2021). 

 As the classroom begins to change from traditional learning to online learning Blended learning plays a major role in getting students prepared for the switch making it an easier approach to help the learners better understand the assignment, more flexible giving the students more independent learning at their own pace. When it comes to their learning and their ability to learn, leads to creating learning experiences, finding methods that cater to their personal needs, while helping reduce cost for the school which can help the school use funding for other things the school may need. This will also give freedom to the instructor to be able to assist other students in need of assistance. Not only will students benefit, so will the instructors and the parents of each student. Benefit #1 Flexibility, Benefit #2 Effectiveness, Benefit #3 Personalization, Benefit #4 Greater Reach, Benefit #5 Reduced Cost.  (Raouna, 2021).  Since every student has a different way that they obtain information it might be difficult at first to transition to blended learning from traditional learning because traditional has been the educational system go to and it has brought us along way. But after facing so many hardships from COVID-19 blended learning is a necessity that needs to be set in place for things such as this and when there is another mandatory lockdown the educational system will be ahead of the game. 

Making Learning Better?

Learning up till this point has not been fun and not keeping the students attention very long. Matter of fact it gets boring and causes most children to fall asleep in class which then causes the student to miss out on important information needed to help with classroom assignments and grades. In order to make learning better for students instructors must create positive relationships. Creating positive relationships between instructors and students will allow the students to be able to open up and communicate more. Being in the classroom has allowed me to observe majority of my students, as i glance around for a read outloud assignment the same 5 students raise their hands to be called on and the rest of the students sit in silence praying that you don’t call them to read. And it should not be this way students should have more confidence when it comes to learning. Increasing communication skills will result in the ability for each student to be able to connect better with their instructors, peers, self, and parents on a daily basis. The fear of communication will be no more because students will feel better about speaking up while participating in classroom activities. Building  educational bonds with your students can be life changing for the student in more ways than one. (Cress, 2003). Once you have a bond built you will be able to get the students to the level you know they are capable of getting to and they will listen to you as their instructor. Next, it's time to make learning fun while keeping the students attention which can be difficult when you have a classroom with 22 kids but, with adding blended learning to the current curriculum  the instructors will be able to attend to all students without being overwhelmed, something that a lot of instructors are experiencing which is not having enough time to get through the entire lesson because of having to stop for a few students so they can catch up while others students have already completed one assignment ready to head to another but cant do to other students who don't move at the same pace. (Collinison, Cook, 2001). Blended Learning will be super helpful when it comes to making learning fun, not only does blended learning cover face to face it also covers learning from a computer device that can help with each student's social skills, building relationships, all while learning the lesson provided for the day/week. Blended Learning will also have a positive effect on the way each student obtains information. Making learning fun will have students more engaged when it comes to paying attention, learning, and making activities that are suitable for the age group in which you are instructing.  (Chu, 2015). Having fun while learning helps students hold information better. Students need more than one opportunity to apply their learning skills. When teachers create a fun learning environment students gravitate to fun things. Really it's all about being a kid and enjoying learning while participating in classroom activities and taking risks.(Fishel, 2020). Adding games to learning will not only give students a new way to learn but also keep them wanting more. Creating educational games suitable for phones and computers will have the students talking not only to the instructors, but with their friends about their scores, and will be more than excited to inform their parents of their new process when it comes to them learning and retaining information needed to help the student move further in their education. Since this new generation of children are so advanced in technology, coming up with a technology game that involves learning will help them be ready and willing to learn. (Prensky, 2002). Since the students are now willing and ready to learn they are no longer in a fixed mindset but a growth mindset. Because they are pushing aside all that could not go right for something that is right and can benefit them in their studies. Maintaining a growth mindset can be tricky but with the right tools the students will be well on their way to keeping a growth mindset while on their educational journey. To maintain a growth mindset you must recognize that you have control, focus on how far you've come. In order to keep students on the right track the instructor must have a growth mindset in order to keep the student positive and help keep them on the right track. According to Dweck, “ when teachers are judging them, students will sabotage teachers and themselves by not trying.  When students understand that school is for them and will help them to grow their minds without sabotage, they start caring. “(Dweck, C. 2006.) 

Current Curriculum!

Currently, the school district is having a hard time keeping teachers who are willing to work with the students. It has gotten so bad the schools are so short staffed thet substitutes teachers have to be called in to fill those voids. But instructors are not being paid properly and the school districts have a strict way of how they prefer the school to be run, and how they want the teachers to teach. Which is by the traditional way causing conflict with new ways to better the school and the students that attend the schools. Right now the schools are being run by the state who has continued to not get the right help needed for students to get the proper education that they deserve which makes it hard to teach the students basic education but instead teaching the students standardized tests. Teachers are getting burned out because they have to follow the rules when it comes to promoting the student to the next grade. This is something that has been happening prior to COVID 19, and no one has put a stop to it. Once teachers are all burned out who will be in attendance to assist the children? (Kotherja, 2013).

In Conclusion….

Not only will students benefit from implementing blended learning but so will the parents, and teachers as well. As a teacher yes it is hard to maintain what it is that the district is requiring you to maintain but at the end of the day its about allowing those who are willing and ready to move forward from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset all we can do is try

Works Cited Page 

1. Chu, S. L. (n.d.). Fun in Making: Understanding the experience of fun and learning through curriculum-based Making in the elementary school classroom. Journals & Books. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1875952116300283

1. Collinson, V. and Fedoruk Cook, T. (2001), "“I don’t have enough time” ‐ Teachers’ interpretations of time as a key to learning and school change", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 39 No. 3, pp. 266-281. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230110392884

1. Cress, C. (2003). Making Community-Based Learning Meaningful: Faculty Efforts to Increase Student Civic Engagement Skills. Transformations: The Journal of Inclusive Scholarship and Pedagogy, 14(2), 87–100. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43505840

2. Fishel, A. (Director). (2020). How to make Education Fun for everyone [Film]. TEDX Tyson. How to Make Education Fun for Everyone | Alan Fishel | TEDxTysons

3. Dweck, C. (2006.) Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Ballantine

4. Kotherja, O. (2013, July 14). Teachers' motivation importance and Burnout effect in the educational development. Albania International Conference on Education. https://core.ac.uk/display/152488196?utm_source=pdf&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=pdf-decoration-v

1. Swaby, A. The Texas Tribune. (2020, July 1). Warning of “COVID slide,” 

Texas Education Agency reports 1 in 10 students have disengaged during the

 pandemic. Paris News, The (TX).

1. Means, B., & Neisler, J. (2021). Teaching and Learning in the Time of COVID:

 The Student Perspective. Online Learning, 25(1), 8–27.

1. North American Council for Online Learning. (2008, April). Blended Learning: The Convergence of Online and Face-to-Face Education. Promising Practices in Online Learning. Eric. Retrieved September 19, 2021, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED509636

2. Prensky, M. (2002), "The motivation of gameplay: The real twenty‐first century learning revolution", On the Horizon, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 5-11. https://doi.org/10.1108/10748120210431349

1. Raouna, K. (2021, Feb 3). Blended Learning: What It Is, Why It Matters & How to Apply. Learn Words. https://www.learnworlds.com/blended-learning/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=dsa-usa&utm_term=blog-posts&gclid=CjwKCAjwqeWKBhBFEiwABo_XBivAsYXaw_FjWEdTWcv2go9WTnPTruNPGoAJ985FZ93GblUw_fdiyxoCz9QQAvD_BwE#classroom

1. Teach Thought Staff. (n.d.). The Definition of Blended Learning. TeachThought. Retrieved September 20, 2021, from https://www.teachthought.com/learning/the-definition-of-blended-learning/