Purposeful technology integration and

implementation
Purposeful technology integration and
implementation
 Primary Years Programme
Purposeful technology integration and implementation

Published October 2018

Updated December 2018

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Technology learning in the PYP

Setting the scene

Learning goals • To know some examples of technology integration and implementation

• To know how technology can be used to monitor, document, measure and
report on learning
• To understand how technology can support inquiry
Learn about Technology in the PYP

School context
Firbank Brighton Junior Campus, Victoria, Australia
In this teacher support material, Eleni Kyritsis of explores some of the key themes of technology learning in
the PYP, and how these are brought to life in her school.

Purposeful technology integration and implementation 1

Technology learning in the PYP

Bringing technology to life

Eleni Kyritsis is a year 3 Primary Years Programme (PYP) teacher from Melbourne, Australia. Eleni believes
that when technology is used purposefully, it can transform learning and teaching.
“Our focus as teachers should always be on the learning, not on the technology. If you find that
technology is driving the learning, instead of the other way around, then it’s time to rethink your
approach. Technology integration and implementation should always be authentic and purposeful. We
pick up a pencil when it’s the best tool for the job, and technology should be the same—it’s about making
decisions about the purpose and potential to support and extend learning.
Although we are fortunate to be able to resource new technologies at our school, it’s worth remembering
that a lot of technology literacy and learning happens without the use of digital tools. For example,
students are engaging with computational thinking every day when they create and follow steps,
processes and routines to bring projects together.
Technology tools are changing all the time – don’t be afraid to try something new! If I’m not sure how
something works, I give it to my students to play with and ask them to tell me what they can do with it. I
learn from observing and listening, and get my ideas from their inquiries. Trust your students as capable
agents of their own learning.”
In this teacher support material, Eleni explores some of the key themes of technology learning in the PYP,
and how these are brought to life at Firbank Brighton Junior Campus.

Technology constantly evolves our ways of thinking and doing

Multimodality
GSuite from Google Cloud is an example of how technology plays a part in our evolution of learning and
teaching as we continue to look at ways to improve collaboration.
GSuite’s Docs or Slides are great tools for students to document their learning and work collaboratively—
they can share ideas and wonderings with each other and upload snapshots of their learning. The platform

2 Purposeful technology integration and implementation

 Bringing technology to life

Technology constantly evolves our ways of thinking and doing

supports multimodality, integrating print, image, sound, video and email to communicate content and
make meaning. Students use the tools to reflect on their own and each other’s ideas, capturing self-
reflection, peer feedback and teacher assessment all within the shared platform. The Docs or Slides can be
published to our blog or uploaded as a digital portfolio to share with the learning community.
Global scrapbook project
The global scrapbook project idea evolved through collaboration with my students. I had experienced
something similar a few years before, with schools posting a physical scrapbook around the world to
connect students from different countries.
We were inquiry into the transdisciplinary theme “Where we are in place and time” when I remembered
this project and explained how it worked to the students. Together, we explored alternative ways of
communicating and collaborating with the digital tools available to us, and the students suggested we
use Google Slides as it was free and accessible to schools all over the world.
We co-designed a GSuite slide deck and shared it globally via Twitter, Google+ and Facebook, asking
schools to create a summary of their location, along with some collaborative artwork that represented
“where they were in place and time”. Classes from Australia, USA, New Zealand, Germany, China, Russia
and Canada came together to share their culture through text and images.
This example demonstrates how technology can extend learning by opening up the world by providing
opportunities for exploring the perspectives, ideas, interests and languages of students from different
countries, and developing intercultural understanding for everyone involved.

Technology helps us to connect with learners and experts worldwide

Video conferencing
Technology offers many wonderful opportunities to connect and collaborate with classrooms and
students all around the world. This can be achieved using the following.
• Blogs
• Twitter

Purposeful technology integration and implementation 3

Bringing technology to life

Technology helps us to connect with learners and experts worldwide

• Online surveys
• Skype or Google Hangouts for video calling
• Mystery Skype
The collaborative nature of these tools really highlights student voice in learning and helps to nurture
learner profile attributes such as communication and open-mindedness. Mystery Skype is an effective
example—students from both schools are only allowed to ask “yes” or “no” questions as they inquire into
where in the world their Skype companions are located. Once both classes discover this, they continue to
build the relationship through shared learning and peer mentoring.

We use technology to find innovative solutions to a range of challenges

Design thinking
During one of our units of inquiry linked to the transdisciplinary theme “How the world works”, we
inquired into the following central idea.
“Scientists are finding new ways to transfer, transform and store energy.”
Technology supported the students’ research skills as they investigated different forms of energy,
including renewable energy. They used Microsoft’s Class Notebook to store, revise and share their
knowledge, including any data they had gathered, notes they had taken and presentations they were
working on.
Following a design thinking process, students attempted to solve an energy-related challenge they had
identified following their research. This involved ideating, creating, prototyping and testing energy-
efficient solutions to share at the final “energy summit”. The use of Class Notebook enhanced the design
process and encouraged some original and innovative thinking as students were able to document their
research, theories and findings in one place, allowing for easier synthesis of their ideas. This process
helped one group explore a theory about the potential of converting the enzymes in chocolate into a form
of electricity by melting—really creative thinking!

4 Purposeful technology integration and implementation

 Bringing technology to life

We choose appropriate technologies depending on identified learning goals

Digital and non-digital tools

Technology implementation involves thoughtful and intentional planning on the part of teachers to
ensure the tools match identified learning goals.
For example, in a recent mathematics inquiry, the students were learning about angles, so I considered
three things.
• The questions and wonderings students had about angles
• Previous learning experiences in mathematics where students had experienced success
• The desired goals
Taking this information together, I felt that a combination of digital and non-digital tools was the best
approach to support and extend learning.
We started our inquiry into angles using paper, scissors, rulers, protractors, measuring tape, and so on. The
students designed mazes on paper and upscaled these to the floor using masking tape to map them out.
To navigate these mazes, we introduced Spheros—these devices need to be coded with angles, direction

Purposeful technology integration and implementation 5

Bringing technology to life

We choose appropriate technologies depending on identified learning goals

and speed, making them the perfect tool for applying and extending knowledge and understanding of
angles and measurements.

We are responsible digital citizens

Digital footprint board game

We explicitly explore students’ rights and responsibilities in an online environment. Here, student agency
is supported through making informed decisions and ethical choices as they learn to become responsible
for their actions.
We play the “5 Ps for a positive digital footprint” game and refer to its key learning outcomes regularly
during the year. Displaying this image (left) is one way to drive drive discussions around digital citizenship.
To further students’ understanding of these key messages, the board game takes a deeper look at the five
Ps, with practical examples related to the world our students live in.
Through applying social and ethical protocols of the online environment, students are developing
attributes of the learner profile and practising approaches to learning (ATL)

6 Purposeful technology integration and implementation

 Bringing technology to life

Coding
Supporting young learners’ development of computational thinking begins with algorithmic thinking—
following a series of steps to solve a problem.
For example, we use Bee-Bots in our early learning centre as digital tools that young learners can
manipulate through symbols and sounds to programme instruction steps. In maths inquiries, Bee-Bots
help students learn about directions, coordinates and compasses as they apply their understanding to
code the Bee-Bot to travel to a specific location. Students don’t just follow instructions, they construct
their own maps and challenges for others to solve.
Coding underpins thinking, communication and self-management skills. With trial and error comes
resilience and a problem-solving approach.

Technology supports our monitoring, documenting, measuring and reporting of learning

Purposeful technology integration and implementation 7

Bringing technology to life

Technology supports our monitoring, documenting, measuring and reporting of learning

OneNote
Microsoft OneNote is a great way to collect and organize student data and evidence of learning. At the
beginning of each school year, we set up OneNote to record individual assessments and anecdotal notes.
As students complete their learning, we use the Office Lens app on a mobile device to capture it and then
send the photo directly to the relevant OneNote page.
We can then annotate the learning using the inking feature. OneNote offers a multimodal way of
documenting student learning—for example, when monitoring students’ reading, I can insert a “running
record” of their progress, alongside recorded audio of the student reading the text. Documenting the
development and growth of student learning throughout the year ensures we can accurately measure and
report on student outcomes.

8 Purposeful technology integration and implementation

Technology learning in the PYP

Questions

First impressions
1. Eleni recognizes that resourcing is an area that helps to support the purposeful integration and
implementation of technology in her school. Is there anything that helps or hinders this in your own
context? How can you build on strengths and overcome challenges?
2. Many of the examples above relate to Eleni’s current experience of working with year 3 (aged 8–9) and
year 6 (aged 11–12) students. Reflect on the development of technology knowledge, skills and
conceptual understandings in your own context. Does this need reviewing? What resources or
guidelines might you draw on to do this?

Deepening your understanding

Eleni has a lot of experience with technology learning—but the potential for technology to support and
extend learning does not sit with one person alone. How have you cultivated a shared understanding about
the value of technology in learning and teaching in your school? In what ways is the agency of the learning
community supported through decisions about technology use?
The main headings for each example are drawn from key themes of the “Technology in the PYP” section.
Take each heading in turn and reflect on them in your own context.

Purposeful technology integration and implementation 9

Technology learning in the PYP

Next steps

Technology in the PYP immerses students in the interplay between learning technology, learning about
technology and learning through technology.
• Revisit the “Technology in the PYP” section and use this to help map Eleni’s examples against: learning
technology, learning about technology and learning through technology.
• Now reflect on technology in your school context.
• Map the ways in which students learn technology, learn about technology and learn through
technology, noting the interplay between them.
• Reflect on the representation of these three aspects within your curriculum, and on their impact on
student learning.

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Technology learning in the PYP

Further reading

Clapp, E, Ross, J and O’Ryan, J. 2016. Maker-centred learning: Empowering young people to shape their worlds.
San Francisco, CA, USA. Jossey-Bass.
Teaching in the Primary Years. Eleni Kyritsis. Accessed 11 August 2017. www.elenikyritsis.com
ITSE Standards for Students. Accessed 11 August 2017. www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-students
ITSE Standards for Educators. Accessed 11 August 2017. www.iste.org/standards/standards/for-educators
Project Zero. Accessed 11 August 2017. http://www.pz.harvard.edu/projects/agency-by-design

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Technology learning in the PYP

Acknowledgement and disclaimer

The IB wishes to thank the author and school for their time and effort in making this teacher support
material.
Appearance of branded products and well-known logos in this TSM is incidental. The IBO disclaims any
endorsement by, or any association with the Intellectual property rights owners of these products and
logos.

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