using digital technology in a student-centred classroom

Where is a good place to start with using digital technology in a student-centred classroom?

SMARTPHONES

Students will already have a piece of digital technology in their pockets - and they can do a lot with them:

• take a photo of the board to look at for homework
• record your voice to compare with a model
• use voice-recognition technology to reproduce sounds correctly

What other ways are there to make use of this device for learning language in the classroom?

Using smartphones for ESOL learning | ENGLISH FOR SPEAKERS OF OTHER LANGUAGES

Whitepaper-mobiles-in-class.pdf

10 Ways to Use Smartphones to Teach English

TINKERING

Students like to be given problems to solve, to fix or build something, or to work to some sort of final result, for example:

Jay Doubleyou: questioning and problem-solving

Jay Doubleyou: task-based learning

Jay Doubleyou: play and learning

Here's another example - where kids are playing with dangerous things:

Gever Tulley teaches life lessons through tinkering - YouTube

Jay Doubleyou: tinkering school

How can this be done using digital technology?

Try doing things with your digits (or fingers!) and doing things digitally:

• students build a lego model in a team 
• an observer takes notes on their mobile and takes video shots
• following feedback, the team write up a report on a laptop and create a presentation on teamwork
• the team repeat the exercise, with observer and report-writing

(PDF) Conversation PDF - PDFSLIDE.NET (page 117, activity 67)

We like lego because it's something very different from 'technology':

Easy to Use STEAM Lesson Plans for All Ages | LEGO® Education

Ways To Use Lego In The Classroom | Teaching Ideas

STUDENT-CENTRED

The point of all these activities is that digital technology can enable student-centred learning in the classroom - which is quite critical of traditional ways of learning:

Jay Doubleyou: student-centred learning

There's quite a lot of theory behind it: 

Through peer-to-peer interaction, collaborative thinking can lead to an abundance of knowledge. In placing a teacher closer to a peer level, knowledge and learning is enhanced, benefitting the student and classroom overall. According to Lev Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development (ZPD), students typically learn vicariously through one another. Scaffolding is important when fostering independent thinking skills.

Student-centered learning - Wikipedia

But it's actually a very practical approach:

A “student-centered” approach shifts the focus of activity from the teacher to the learners. The teacher moves into a facilitator role and pays close attention to each student’s interests, abilities, and learning styles. Common student-centered learning activities include:

• active learning (problem solving, answering questions, discussing, formulating questions, debating)
• cooperative learning (collaboration with classmates)
• inquiry-based instruction
• project-based learning

Technology In The Classroom: A Student-Centered Approach - Knowing Technologies

The technology to help this happen has been available for some time now:

Using Technology to Create Student-Centered Learning Environment (from 2013)

And through technology, students can learn better:

Below we’ve listed ways in which adopting a student strategy that makes judicious use of technology in the classroom environment can improve engagement and pushing up student success rates:

• Helps connect students to the real world:
• Prepares students for the workforce:
• Encourages collaboration:
• Supports different types of learners:
• Access information more easily:
• Teaches students how to be responsible online:
• Adds a fun-factor to learning:

7 Reasons Why Students Need Technology in the Classroom

And so we are back to tinkering by using smartphones:

Inquiry-based learning - Wikipedia

Project-based learning - Wikipedia

GETTING TECHNICAL:

To finish, the terminology can be a bit too much - but here's a handy overview:

Digital technologies in the classroom

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