Edtech in Ridgewood Public Schools

What is DISRUPTIVE Educational Technology?

Educational technology, sometimes referred to as edtech, combines tried and true educational strategies with digital tools that facilitate learning by leveraging data, automation, and student engagement. Edtech is not only student engagement-focused but empowers teachers with immersive and data-generative tools to meet the needs of the most diverse learners.

Educational technology meets students where they are, allowing teachers to more easily oer students choices in their own learning journey according to their interests, learning styles, or differences, while still meeting rigorous content standards.

Using technology in this way is DISRUPTIVE in that it fundamentally shifts the traditional top-down dynamic of teaching and learning.

Provided that most current digital platforms, devices, and technical support are available to all stakeholders, educational technology means powerful learning is accessible, data-driven, personalized, immersive, and automated, freeing up time for teachers to devote precious time and resources to more meaningful learning strategies for their students. (Marr, 2020)

How Ridgewood Teachers Use EdTech

Teachers employ multiple strategies and platforms from formative assessment tools that collect data to drive instruction, applications that inspire creativity, to virtual programs that enable students to collaborate, think critically and problem solve. Teachers automate some tasks (for example grading multiple choice quizzes or sending mass communications), creating more time and space for developing relationships with students or developing innovative strategies.

The Top 5 Tech Trends That Will Disrupt Education (Marr, 2020)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2020/01/20/the-top-5-tech-trends-that-will-disrupt-education-in-2020the-edtech-innovations-everyone-should-watch/?sh=7101b0532c5b

Where can we improve?

Clearly, technology usage in RPS is consistent with some of the top trends that disrupt traditional classroom education. (Marr, 2020) It is accessible, data-driven, and automated. It is also often personalized to some extent, however to the degree to which students use technology to be more independent in their choice of learning strategy, instructional pace, and depth of delve, we can and must improve.

What's more, Ridgewood students are missing the immersive experience that technology can provide, including Augmented and Virtual Reality programs and devices. This aspect is needed to improve the level of engagement, increase attention span, and develop more worldly experiences and understandings that would otherwise be impossible.

The focus of Ridgewood’s ever-expanding technological plan must include the integration of immersive technology for all students and continue the tradition of strong professional development for teachers and administrators so they may continue the excellent work they are already doing to inspire the next generation of learners.