Pedagogy Before Technology

    

Pedagogy Before Technology

“Hey Google, Hey Siri, Alexa…” These words are said in a majority of homes today. In 2025, an estimated 86.5 million people in the US use Siri, 77.2 million use Alexa, and 92 million use Google Assistant. This means that a significant portion of US households, roughly 35% of the population aged 12 and above, possess a smart speaker.  (Mosby, 2025) For children, it’s another member of their household. For a child, discovering technology's limits is as awe-inspiring as an adult discovering its potential. Children's current technology beliefs revolve around questioning why certain things cannot be achieved. While there are others my age who say, it can do that? The difference is how our lives started with it. When I was 6 years old, we got our first computer, but it was only for emails and my dad's work, if needed. For the kids, we attempted to play (mostly guess) Minesweeper and paint. Kids today play Minecraft and can create their games. I was born when technology was becoming a household item, and as I grew, technology did too. Kids today were born with technology in their hands because it's that accessible. Comparing my views to my students' views today would be like comparing oil and water. Yes, they are both liquids, but they are very different. For children, technology is needed for entertainment, apps, and streaming. For me, technology is not so much for fun but for work and relaxing. My main uses of technology are my phone for communication and e-readers, my computer for work and school, and my TV for entertainment.

Merging the two generations' views of technology can be a fun challenge, but it can be frustrating too. You might think a child hasn't done certain things, but videos give them a false sense of experience. They think because they have seen a video, they have already done it. This is the main challenge in the classroom that I know teachers are facing, especially for elementary age students. This, to me, is a differing view of technology because we are having to teach reality versus virtual. Students’ views on technology are that it is real and it is a part of their everyday life. Trying to convince them otherwise can be very difficult. As teachers, we need to teach students that technology can be used for more than entertainment purposes..  

Technology is a tool to enhance the learning that is going on, and the main reason I state that is because technology is a resource that must be available in some way. Either on the person by phone, or tablet, or laptop, or accessible in the location that they are at. Our world is surrounded by technology, but there are days when even technology can not be fully available. I have two examples of this, I was a mentor teacher last year to a bright, young, first-year 21-year-old teacher. During the day, the Wi-Fi went out, and she panicked because she did not know what to do with the kids. She was 100% dependent on technology in the classroom, even though she had the resources in front of her. It was a great learning experience for her and for me. I spent that day with both of our classes and showed her how easy it was to adapt. We pulled out her Teacher Additions, and we pulled out the manipulatives. Not only did she learn a lot that day, but her students saw a day without having a quick video or her modeling through the camera. It is not only children who have been in a technology-filled world, there is currently a small group of adults too. After students acquire the background knowledge on a lesson, then technology can be brought in.  Bringing the technology piece for students will “ bring it to life” or to allow them, once taught correctly, to go more in-depth independently. 

As a librarian, this is where we can model for both students and teachers how to bring the two worlds together. Examining how Bloom’s Taxonomy has evolved is a small sample of how librarians can adapt to all the changes to stay relevant as well. Lorin Anderson, with D Krathwohl revised and published Bloom's Taxonomy in 2001(Churches, 2008). They changed it from nouns to verbs, which makes sense because our ‘I can’ statements and TEKS are all actions that students need to complete to master the grade level. The examples of digital technology fitting into Bloom's are as simple as commenting, posting, emailing, which is something that we all do daily. We do not need to change our ‘why’ just because technology seems to be taking over. Librarians need to adapt technology to fit their why and to keep students and teachers at the front of our minds. Without our stakeholders, we can not exist, so it keeps us motivated to stay involved and bring in the passion of the “old” and “new” generations. 

References

Common Sense Education. (2015, August 5). Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy. Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/videos/blooms-digital-taxonomy

Churches, Andrew. (2008). Bloom's Digital Taxonomy.

Marist University. (n.d.). The First Marist Mindset List is Released. Marist College. https://www.marist.edu/w/marist-news-the-first-marist-mindset-list-is-released

Mosby, A. (2025, May 21). 62 Voice Search Statistics For 2025 (Data, Users & Trends).     

   Yaguara. https://www.yaguara.co/voice-search-statistics/

Schrock, K. (2025). Kathy Schrock. Kathyschrock.net. https://www.kathyschrock.net/home

Toolkits. (n.d.). K-12 Blueprint. https://www.k12blueprint.com/toolkits