OTAN News

Giving Students a Voice in Your Classroom

Photo by fietzfotos

Among the hot topics discussed at last week's ISTE Conference, one that drew a lot of attention was student voice. The Glossary of Education Reform says that student voice "...refers to the values, opinions, beliefs, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds of individual students and groups of students in a school, and to instructional approaches and techniques that are based on student choices, interests, passions, and ambitions." The many presenters who focused on student voice discussed how to use technology in the classroom to give students a voice, amplify that voice, and give students more ownership over their learning.

As the presenters and others have noted, there are many benefits to giving students a voice in class, including:

• Students who are shy or who are not as vocal as others in class are invited to participate more by giving them the tools to share their voices

• Providing different ways for all students to give feedback and share ideas, rather than always calling on the smart kids or the ones who always raise their hands, empowers students to feel like their voice matters

• Flipping the learning gives students time to dig into the material at their own pace and be better prepared for how they will spend time in class

• Giving students a voice allows teachers to take better advantage of technology, including the discussion forums in an LMS or social media

• The teacher creates an environment where it is ok to fail and learn from failure – the classroom is a safe space to make mistakes and not be perfect

• The teacher gets to know the students better and see the authentic side of students, strengthening the relationship between teacher and students

Some of the ISTE sessions that focused on student voice that you can review with many tools and their application include:

• Amplifying Student Voice with Technology: Diverse Approaches from Diverse Districts

• Giving Students Voice and Choice in Technology-Based Literacy Instruction

• Diminishing the Digital Divide: Amplifying the Voice for At-Risk Students

• Be BOLD: Take Student Voice to the Next Level

• Creative Student Voice: Visual Design and Learning

• Amplify Student (& Teacher) Voice: Tech Tools to Strengthen Student (& Teacher) Communication

• Beyond Student Voice

Using technology to give students a voice in your classroom is an important way to honor your students and empower them to take control of their learning. If you would like to schedule a training on student voice, please contact us at support@otan.us or call our office at 916-228-2580!

Article: Exploring "Tech With Heart" With Stacey Roshan from EmergingEdTech

Article: The Best Uses of EdTech: Giving Every Student a Voice from EmergingEdTech

Articles: Student Voice from Edutopia