Finding "High Quality" Technological Integration- Evaluating Teaching With Tech

The data (and meta analysis of that data) is in: effective use of technology can better learning outcomes for students. You can read more about technologically supporting at-risk students by clicking this link or explore a literature review from the Nation Institute of Health regarding the use of information and communication technology in education at this link.
The positive reviews come with qualifiers about what kinds of programming provide positive results and actually support student achievement. So how is an educator to make sure their class's iPad time is actually stimulating learning or their Kahoot! session isn't just killing time? Let's dive into a great tool for lesson plan reflection and challenging program assumptions.

The Triple E Framework

The Triple E Framework is designed to help educators measure technology integration in their lessons along three prongs: engagement, enhancement, and extension. Created by Dr. Elizabeth Keren-Kolb of the University of Michigan's Marsal Family School of Education, the Triple E Framework aims to give K-12 educators guidance on how to integrate technology into their classrooms in research supported ways to support student learning goals. More information about the framework and a wealth of open source resources can be found at this link, but I'll also walk you through some more information here. 

Let's look at the first "E" in the trio: Engagement

Image Source: tripleeframework.com

The goal with the engagement is to check if the use of a technology tool is promoting genuine focus on the task(s) at hand, encouraging self-motivation and an active role in learning. A student can seem "engaged" with a program because they are looking at and interacting with it, but if they are actually trying to rush through an activity to reach the point where they can change their avatar, the program is actually distracting them from their learning rather than empowering them. Another goal of actual engagement is fostering social interaction through co-use of an edtech program, allowing students to share the learning process with their peers and mentors.

An Engaged lesson might look like:

• Pairs or teams of students co-using devices to collaborate on assignments
• Working digitally with other classes using shared tools to instantly update group work
• Working on a coding assignment where the results are the reward
• Having students write and edit questions for gamified review, investing them in the learning goals
• An educator providing specific goals to help students focus while interacting with potentially distracting programs

The second "E" is Enhancement

Image Source: tripleeframework.com

Enhancement looks to see what the use of technology can bring to a lesson or activity that would not be possible without that tech. Rather than using an app to practice and review previously covered skills, can an app help students deepen their understanding of a concept and apply it in new ways? Enhanced edtech usage follows modern educator practices by providing scaffolding for learners, customizing the amount of support they individually need and connecting with that earlier step by engaging them in their zone of proximal development (you can find more information on the zone of proximal development by clicking this link).

An Enhanced lesson might:

• Have students explore sources in highly visual (virtual reality, image galleries, interactive maps) or auditory ways (recorded lectures, videos, or music; sound mixing tools)
• Use genuine student discovered sources instead of teacher-produced examples to ground exercises in actual circumstances
• Provide many online sourcing options and ask students to use critical thinking to select the best ones for the project at hand
• Allow students to present their work in multi media formats, stretching their creativity and demonstrating what they are learning beyond using only words
• Differentiate software features to support and challenge students as individual learners 

The final "E" we'll look at is Extension

Image Source: tripleeframework.com

Extension in this framework is all about connection: keeping students connected to their learning outside of the classroom, connecting their lesson to their everyday lives, and connecting the skills they are building to skills they can use today and in the future.

An Extended lesson might:

• Use apps that are available in school and virtually so students can work at their own pace
• Teach digital citizenship guidelines and draw connections between different types of online interactions
• Connect students with individuals with different backgrounds through video or text so they can share their perspectives and life experiences
• Have students take photos of things in their life that connect to the lesson goals and share those photos with their class 

Helping educators apply the Triple E Framework is a rubric for assessing lesson plans (available in digital form here or in a printable PDF version here) guided by each of the three E's. With three categories under each subsection, scoring becomes an easy matter of adding together between 0 and 18 points. A lesson that is very likely integrating technology to meet learning goals will score 13-18,  lesson that might be missing a key integration category scores a 7-12, and a lesson that is not adequately integrating technology in service of lesson goals scores a 6 or below. A strong focus is also placed on how good pedagogical practices can make adequate tools good and good tools great, offering suggestions of instructional strategies that can grow engagement, enhancement, and extension. Overall the Triple E Framework is dedicated to living up to its slogan: "Learning First, Technology Second".

Evaluating My Own Lessons

When I started my career in education, I worked with some of the youngest learners for whom technology use often boils down to "screen time", something which is heavily frowned upon in day care and preschool setting; the most recent guidelines as of Autumn 2023 from Illinois Department of Children and Family Services regarding day cares are found on page 44 of this PDF link. There is growing recognition that not all time in front of screens is created equally, but I have encountered many family who are squeamish about their young child's time with technology.

Currently my first graders get most of their explicit technology integration twice weekly in the school's excellent project-based library classes; a quick overview of projects they've done in this program in past years in reference to the Triple E rubric leads me to conclude most projects would easily be scoring 15-18. However in my own room our use of technology is considerably more limited. While I mostly consider this age appropriate given our curriculum's overall goal; looking at my own scores on the rubric makes it clear that there are often times when technology is not so much integrated as deployed for teacher convenience.

For examples, one of the regular times my students use their school issued iPads is during our weekly "book shopping" period. my teaching partner and I pull a few students at a time to refresh their individual book bags with 8-10 new books and the rest of the class plays on a reading app called Raz-Kids. This activity is solitary and while it seemingly engages may students, their eagerness to go to the "Star Zone" for prizes at the end of the time belies where the gamification fails to actually promote connection. Overall this use of technology would score around a 4 on the Triple E rubric and I am definitely considering trying to wean off of our reliance on this time.

However one of the things I love about this framework is that analysis is for a single activity and not a condemnation of my class's entire process. When looking at another activity we've done in past years with a pattern blocks application, that lesson plan scores an 11. While that is not a top tier score, it does show that a range of integration already exists and by pinpointing the more successful aspects (this app lets students expand beyond the physical materials we have in the room, there is a co-working element, the program is taught explicitly with an "I do, we do, you do" structure), I can see not only the room for improvement, but what is working in the class that could be spread to other programs. 

The teaching strategies connection in this framework is also particularly helpful to my growth as an educator. Because of my role in my school, I am often not at liberty to make decisions about what programs my students will be using, so finding better ways to integrate the ones we have is extremely valuable for me. This back to school season it's time to learn something new.

Image Source: Tenor