Posted for Belizean Teachers.

Video Script:

Hello everyone! Today we will be talking about tech integration and the usage and benefits of different models. I’ll first be introducing myself and then we will talk about internet and tech usage in different countries and what that means in terms of tech access and student usage in Belize. We will then delve into some tech integration models. We will have a discussion. I’ll be providing some examples as we go along. We will give each other feedback. And then finally we will conclude. So let’s get started!

Hello everyone. My name is Asuncion Martinez. I am a Belizean living abroad. I’m currently a teacher at an international bilingual school in Taiwan. Let me tell you a little bit more about myself. I have a bachelor’s degree in computer science and information engineering, and I have a master’s in education with educational tech focus. I’d like to start us off with a quote by David Warlick, and it reads, “We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teacher’s hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world.”

Would you mind sharing what you use tech for in your classroom? Here are some examples. Students use iPads to do some textbook reading, or they are using the apps installed in a tablet, or you, as the teacher, are using the projector screen to project a PowerPoint or show them a video. Kids are playing games, or students are using computers to create documents or presentations. And if you have any others you can share with someone next to you. So let’s take a few minutes to do that. Pause the video and we’ll come back. All right. Now based on this we will be making groups. So in each group there will be 3 to 4 teachers. And for each group there should be at least one teacher whose students get to use tech devices. So if this is not achievable, if there’s not at least one teacher whose students are using a tech device in their lessons, then at least one teacher who has used their own laptop or a projector for PowerPoint in their lessons. So let’s get into groups and then we’ll move on to the next slide.

Now that we’re in groups, we are ready to talk about some statistics. And the first one is from Hamilton et al from the US. This study found that in 2016, more than half of the US was already using internet. And the study then was to encourage teachers to start using tech integration models in their lessons On the right, there’s a report from Taiwan in 2017 that shows that mobile, individual and household internet usage was already in the 80th percentile. Now, in 2024, it is expected that these countries are nearing 99% internet usage.

Let’s throw in Belize’s internet usage. As you can see, ever since 2020, which is roughly when Covid started, internet usage has only been rising in Belize. So by 2022, Belize was above 60% internet usage. So what does that data mean for our Belize? It means that just like those very developed countries in Belize, internet usage will increase. Our students will be continuously exposed to tech, and tech is bound to be part of their work and lives in the future, whether we are ready or not.

As educators, how do we prepare Belizean kids to be ready for a world of tech in their lives, where they can use it with ease and have a good digital citizenship?

One of the ways that we can prepare is by understanding how to use tech integration models. Let me talk about two famous ones briefly. One of them is the TPACK model and the other them is the Samr model. Not ASMR. Have any of you heard of any of these models? If yes, give me a thumbs up or a nod. All right. So on the left hand side here, we have the Tpack model. And this model came to life in 2006. And it was intended to combine pedagogy, content, knowledge and technology all in one. This was aimed for teachers, students who will apply their pedagogical skills using tech in the classroom Tpack is a good model to assess teachers during teacher training Then there is the summer model that came a little bit later on in 2009, and it it is also used as a common language across disciplines for tech integration. So S stands for substitution, A for augmentation, M for modification and R for redefinition. This means that using this model, you can see whether technology is being used to substitute a traditional method to augment teaching, to modify teaching, or to redefine teaching.

The previous two models became very popular with teachers in the US and even many countries around the world. However, those models were criticized for being vague and for not having clarity when it came to teacher usage versus student usage In 2020, the Picrat tech integration model came to life, and it came to aid teachers to help them differentiate between a teacher using tech in the class versus students using tech in the class, and then how to guide these teachers Now this, the PICRAT model is a simple guide for teachers to see what they are using tech for in the classroom. It is easy to double check what the student’s roles will be during this application of tech. So let’s take a look.

As you can see, we have on the left of it, we have pic and P is for passive. This means that students are passive recipients during for let’s say a PowerPoint presentation. Now if students are in the interactive level, it means students are part of interacting with technology or with the teachers or with peers and collaborating while using tech. Now, if the students are in C creative, it means students are using technology to construct learning artifacts and using higher levels of thinking At the bottom you see Red rat is for teachers, the rat area is for teachers, and it is for the R starts from replacement and teachers. Basically, when they are using technology in R, they are replacing traditional methods with technology. When teachers are using tech in A, they are amplifying their teacher practices or the students outcomes by using technology. And if teachers are using technology in T, it means they are transforming education with technology. And this kind of activity or lesson wouldn’t be possible without the usage of technology.

Before we discuss more, let’s do a quick review of pedagogy that we’re all familiar with. Bloom’s Taxonomy Here is the pyramid of Bloom’s Taxonomy. As you can see, the bottom is where students usually start and we hope they can reach the top. Let’s give an example for an English class is when we are planning an activity, we think, what is the purpose of this activity Am I, for example, testing my students to see if they know how to spell a word Am I giving students the choice to choose from many words to input in the best fitting sentence? Or am I asking kids to take a vocabulary word and create a sentence? This is all part of Bloom’s Taxonomy. Now, I like for you to share with your teachers in your group how you have used Bloom’s Taxonomy in the past, how you have used it in your lessons, and then your activities don’t necessarily, um, need to have had tech just share. How have you used Bloom’s Taxonomy in your classroom before? Pause the video and once you finish your discussion, let’s come back to the other part.

Hopefully, while you were discussing with your teachers the whole idea of first teaching them something and then asking students to engage came about, whichever level of Bloom’s Taxonomy you shared, you tend to find out that you find yourself talking about the whole I do, we do, you do. And this can be applied when using technology as well. So as you can see, I have placed these words next to the different levels of the PICRAT model. Since the RAT is for the teachers, whenever the teacher is using R,A or T, but the student is P passive, then that’s the “I do” level. Whenever the teacher is replacing, amplifying or transforming their lesson with technology and the student is interacting with the technology, that’s the “we do” level. Whenever the teacher is replacing, amplifying or transforming technology, and the students are also creating elements while using technology in that that’s the “You do” level.

Here I also have a flowchart to guide you on how to know where you are in the PICRAT model. So given any particular lesson that where you are using technology iPads, computers, laptops, you need to think are they achieved outcomes of the activity clearly better than they would have been without the technology or via a lower tech solution. If your answer is no, meaning they have the same capabilities as using pen and paper, then you are simply replacement. Now if it’s yes, it feels better, it works better, it’s more efficient. Then you can ask yourself another question. Could the activity have reasonably been done without the tech that you’re using or via a lower tech solution? For example index cards? If your answer is yes, then you are amplifying your education And if your answer is no, then you are transforming education by using tech in your lessons.

After reviewing Bloom’s Taxonomy and comparing the PICRAT model to the whole idea of AI, do we do you do I like for you to think, where would this scenario that I’m about to give you? Where would it go? Choose one box from the nine available on the right, and you don’t have to share your answer. If you feel like you will forget it, you can write it down. Think about the role of the teacher in the RAT level and the role of the student in the pics on the pic side. Pause this video when you’re ready. Come back for the answer. All right, so the answer is CR, and the reason is the teacher is replacing using journals or pen and paper to write. But the student is the one creating something using tech. So this would be CR or RC.

I would like for all teachers now to think of a way to use tech in the classroom and practice thinking where this activity would go and the PICRAT model in your groups. Think of different activities you can plan in your subject areas of expertise. So if you teach science, think about how to use tech in science or tech in math, etc. you can also use Bloom’s Taxonomy to think of the different activities. If these activities are for understanding, how are they related to the PICRAT model? If these activities are for analyzing how, how is tech being used in accordance to the PICRAT model? And if it’s for evaluating or creating the same idea… Please discuss three or more activities you can plan using iPads computers, or tablets. And after that, categorize where these activities would fall on the PICRAT model You will then share your activities with others when you are done. Now when you share, feel free to get feedback from other teachers because maybe they have done something similar or the same activity in their classroom, and they can provide you with some valuable insight. Let’s remember today as we are giving feedback to keep our comments constructive and positive.

I hope you had some fun learning from each other and seeing how other teachers apply technology in their lessons. I would like to provide some further examples. Maybe they are the same that you mentioned, maybe they are not, and where they fall into the PICRAT model. So as you can see here, if a teacher lectures using a PowerPoint, this is replacing and the students are passive. However, if a teacher is teaching but uses videos and the and the students listen, it falls over here [PA]. And then if a teacher invites an expert on let’s say, bugs to do a Skype call with the kids and chat with them, the teacher is transforming the lesson. Now, [when]the students don’t necessarily ask questions or talk with the person. It would be passive, but if they actually interact and ask questions and then it will be over here by] T On digital flashcards like using Quizlet would be replacing, and while the students interact with it. So that falls here [IR]. A PBL game. It is transforming because we couldn’t have a video game without a computer or without technology. Students creating a PowerPoint presentation is also CR, and if students create a documentary by video filming what they’re doing, then that will be CT as they’re creating and transforming again.

So I encourage you to use this model to self-assess your activities in the future, and to see how you want to plan your activities using tech in the classroom

Now, I know some of you might have the question, what if my school doesn’t have enough iPads or tablets or computers for 1 to 1 usage? What I mean by that is I want to teach a lesson where if every single student in the classroom would have a device, it could happen and it would run smoothly and it would take no time. But that’s not the case because we understand the limitation of resources, right? So what could be other ways to still include tech in our lessons with the limited resources that we have? So one of the cool options that I like is that Kahoot is a very interactive game. Kids love it, especially for review, and they have a printable option, so you can take a look into that and see how you could use printables while still projecting the game maybe on the screen. And if that’s the only thing you can use. If, let’s say you have a few devices, kids can take turns using the devices available. Maybe weekly, maybe by lesson you can take. You can decide on that and if no devices are available, at least teach them that they exist. At least teach them about it so that if and when they see it, they are aware that these, these things exist and can be more prepared to face them.

Please take some time to share with each other about the educational accessibilities that you have at your school, and then give ideas to each other, how flexible you can be, or in what ways you can incorporate tech in the classroom with the resources that you have.

I’d like to leave you with some reasons why the PICRAT model is recommended when integrating technology into the lessons. First, it provides pedagogical samples to use in the classroom. Second, it considers the student aspect beyond just pedagogy. Third, it allows for reflection and methods used by both the teachers and the students. It is a mature model that thinks like how teachers think pedagogically, and there’s much more clarity overall in comparison to TPACK and SAMR model. Now, I’ll also like to invite you to watch this video that summarizes the idea of the PICRAT model.

“Let’s get creative with the PIC RAT model for trainers. It structures methods and tools of our training processes.
PIC stands for passive, interactive, creative and RAT means replacement, amplification transformation. Pic describes students relationship to technology. It comes from being passive to getting interactive and finally becoming creative In a first step, students passively watch films or read texts.
Secondly, students are interacting with the technology, which means tests, games, collaboration, and finally, students create artifacts and solve problems applying technology The Rat describes trainers use of technology. It comes from replacement of analog media over amplification of the range of media, and finally to transformation of totally new results.

Firstly, trainers replace an existing pedagogical practice into a newer medium. Then trainers amplify their practice and use technology to improve learning practices or outcomes. And finally, trainers use technology which cannot be substituted for the process Let’s check our methods and tools Let’s get creative!”

If you have any further questions or would like to get in touch with me to talk about tech integration in the classroom, please feel free to email me at my website address, which is ask at Miss Martinez answering questions.com or msmaq202@gmail.com. Any of those will do. These are some of my references of the PIC RAT model and Bloom’s Taxonomy. Teachers, I’d like to thank you for your participation throughout this workshop, and for your constant sharing and helping out each other. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be live there today with you guys, nor in person due to my current position and because the semester has started for us. However, you know how to get in touch with me if you have any further questions or if you would like to share any other ideas. And remember, please keep in touch with each other and learn from each other. Thank you so much!