Technology Essentials in Education Episode 2:
Classroom Management Challenges in a Digital Age

Welcome to Technology Essentials and Education Practical Ideas for Educators. I'm your host Dr. Monica Burns. This week's episode is titled Classroom Management Challenges in a Digital Age with Lori Gion.

Lori is a New York educator and author who I've known for a long time and she spends a lot of time working with teachers and students. I knew she would have plenty of classroom management tips and tricks to share and this conversation is packed with ideas. Let's dive in.

This episode is part of a special bonus series presented by Jotform. Jotform Enterprise provides an all-in-one solution to streamline administrative tasks, enhance community engagement, and foster innovation using their no-code drag and drop form builders and workflows. Your teams can securely collect and store data, automate routine tasks, and collaborate on team resources.

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Welcome to the podcast Lori. I am so excited to have you back and to chat about classroom management challenges in our digital age if you will. So before we jump into all of that, can you let listeners know a bit about your role in education? What does your day-to-day look like?

Great, thank you so much for having me Monica. My name is Lori Gion. My role is as an instructional coach type of position. My title is Lead Coordinator of Instructional Technology Programs. I work at WSWH BOCES which is a BOCES at Upstate New York. My role really is helping teachers with technology in the classroom.

Every day I'm either running a professional learning session or I'm pushing into classrooms modeling, presenting on anything to do with the tech tools that we have in today's world. I'm also on the NYSCATE board, I'm the Capital Region Director. I have a book called Smile Learning where we talk about leveraging the power of educational technology and have a podcast of my own called Smile Factor. So yeah, anything to do with technology I'm in.

I'm glad you mentioned NYSCATE. I've seen you speak there a million times probably. I don't know how many times we've both been there together and that's one of the reasons I reached out to you around this topic because I know that you have such a wide range of experiences looking at classroom technology integration and you're having lots of conversations with educators in classroom settings around making the most of the digital tools that they have access to.

So what are some common classroom management challenges you see in classrooms that are tech-rich or have lots of technology?

I was just in classes yesterday as a matter of fact. I was in with seventh and eighth graders in a STEM type of class, a Project Lead the Way program where they were learning about sensors on different tech tools. They asked me to come in and bring a whole bunch of different tools and we explored sensors on all of them.

What you notice is that students really enjoy using technology but they really want the hands-on experiences too. So when you're thinking about technology in the classroom, what I'm seeing is finding that balance between what to do with the technology and what to do off the technology can sometimes be difficult.

This teacher happens to be a high flyer using all of the different tech but sometimes that's hard for teachers to try to find that balance. For students, the big thing is how they're using the technology. They're much more likely to take out their Chromebooks or iPads if they know they're going to do something that's really engaging and something that they're interested in versus a pure substitution type of experience where they do the same thing every day and it gets repetitive.

So the big ones are definitely how the technology is being used and how much the students are interested in doing whatever it is that you're asking them to do.

Much of that takes planning and routines, really having a feel for what is going to not just be something novel or bright and shiny that won't last in terms of engagement but really ask for kids to get in the zone, whatever that might mean in a particular learning environment.

When it comes to setting up for success, can you share some strategies that have helped teachers streamline their organization, like managing lesson materials or tracking student progress in these digital spaces?

I find the most successful classrooms with that management is the routine. Students know as soon as they walk in the door what's expected of them. The repetition is not always the same but there are certain routines that help students know what's going to happen when they come in. It lessens their anxiety if they know what they're going to be doing when they come in.

Even when I was in the classroom teaching sixth grade for many years, I found that having a task list or something that when they come in they know exactly what is expected helps a lot. It could be a technology tool where you have some sort of display every day or just writing on the whiteboard the things we're going to be doing over the course of the time they're with me.

That really helps students get right into whatever it is you want them to do and get them excited. If they see something on the list and they're not sure what it is, they get excited and want to know more.

I had a really neat experience pushing into a fifth grade class. When I opened the door rolling some things behind me, the students started to applaud. I hadn't been in this classroom before but had seen them other years and in other classes. I asked why they were applauding and they said because they knew that my coming was going to be something fun and that whatever tech I was bringing we were going to have a really good time with it.

You can build that excitement by setting up those routines of what's going to happen and what to expect while they're with you.

It's so interesting as you're framing that because right as a classroom teacher I started my career with an overhead projector and a chalkboard. It's such a big shift in terms of both of our careers and what's available for kids to use.

Those best practices we know around classroom management in general can really scale to these different situations, particularly where there's something that might pose a distraction or help students refocus. There's a lot of variables when bringing anything new into a classroom, even a tub of math manipulatives.

I like how you're emphasizing leaning into those best practices like posting expectations, being clear and transparent on what's about to happen. That structure can really set up kids for success when something new is taking place or something they are excited about.

How can educators balance the benefits of using technology thoughtfully with the need to limit distractions and keep kids focused with the everyday challenges in classrooms?

I was in a class yesterday and just the way the teacher set up the routine, as soon as students came in there was a seating chart. Every beginning of the week the teacher sets up a new seating chart so students know they will have a random selection and their names will be on the screen.

Immediately they come in, see where they are, find their table, sit down, and then they're ready to go. They know to pull out their Chromebook and get started. That matters, making sure they know what to expect the minute they come in because they can get going.

Sometimes Chromebooks can be a distraction, so letting students know they don't need their Chromebook right away can help. I used to teach with iPads and would tell them 'apples up' whenever I wanted their attention. Same thing with closing the Chromebook when you need their attention.

If you do that every time and put those expectations in place, it can be really helpful. When you're on the devices, what you're doing matters. If students always do the same thing like watching a video and answering questions every day, it can get monotonous and some might go off task.

I saw a student yesterday who was doing something other than what we were on but when I asked if he was ready, he said yes and was just waiting for the next step. He wasn't distracted; he knew where we were but was making good use of his time.

Building that relationship so students know what's expected and having that balance of setting everyone up, knowing what it means if we're on pause or if there's a phone call or something happens in the classroom, is important.

Clear communication is a big part of this, making sure kids understand the structure and expectations, especially in digital spaces.

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Do you have any routines or recommendations for managing communication with students and families, especially those who might need updates on what's happening with devices?

I actually met with teachers after school yesterday. Department heads in a middle school were concerned about how communication was going out. Parents were hearing information from different aspects and students weren't sure where to check for their work or what to do.

We talked about making communication clear and consistent. We agreed that everyone was doing it differently, which can be confusing for students and parents, especially if they have multiple places to find information.

You have to streamline and be very clear about how communication will be done as a team. If students see more than one teacher, it can be confusing. For self-contained classrooms, where you're the only communication between students and parents, make sure they know exactly where to go and don't change halfway through.

It's like not starting on day one with different tech tools for a student; it would be overwhelming. You have to build up to that. The same goes for communication: start small with something manageable and build on it.

When I was in the classroom, I would do a parent night early on where I'd invite parents to learn how students use their devices. Parents could come in with their students' devices, and we'd walk through the programs being used so parents could see what students see.

You don't have to do a full meeting; it could be a video or a bite-sized memo that explains what to expect for parents and students.

Those are great examples and really actionable for listeners. Making sure communication is clear and consistent for families is key. Setting up that night where everyone comes together or scheduling it during the school day helps parents see what they will hear about.

It's important not to overwhelm people from the start. You made a great comparison to what we do with students: not giving them all the things at once but layering on over the school year. You want families to actually read newsletters or open communication apps and know exactly what to do and where to go.

If a teacher is using a lot of tech tools and wants a quick win or something simple, do you have any quick wins or simple tools you recommend for classroom management?

Start small with what you have and take a look at tools that do similar things. You don't have to use all the tools. Consolidate information where possible, like using Google Classroom where you can have a calendar and to-do list.

Teach students the structures; they don't know how to use a calendar or planner without guidance. Start with engaging tools for students, like gaming programs with interactives or platforms that allow communication and collaboration.

When students are communicating, collaborating, and creating, you get wins and engagement. They're less likely to go off task if they find what they're doing engaging.

There are screen monitoring tools available to see if a student has gone off task, but you won't get distracted students if they see purpose in what they're doing.

Bringing in real-world scenarios, like gaming platforms or quizzes using AI to create real-world questions, helps students be more engaged because they see the purpose. Competitions or interactive elements also increase engagement.

I love how you emphasize keeping it simple by setting expectations and having intention for why we're doing something. Also, evaluate your tool belt to avoid overlap and use multi-purpose tools that fit different parts of your day or week.

One struggle I had as a classroom teacher was making sure students were engaged during small groups or stations when I was pulling a group out. How do you see digital tools helping with differentiation in those moments?

That's a big question now: differentiation and personalizing learning. AI has opened up that world. It's much easier to differentiate now.

For example, I was in a seventh grade Spanish class where students were learning to order food in a cafe. They had paper packets but also used an AI platform where they could chat in Spanish or English and get replies at their level.

The teacher had a dashboard showing conversations each student had with the AI tool, including highlights and information on how the student was doing. It also flagged red flags, like inappropriate words or repeated phrases needing redirection.

For instance, one student kept asking for 40 glasses of water, and the teacher was able to redirect him by pulling out his packet. Without the tool, you wouldn't have known he needed redirection because he looked engaged.

Meanwhile, another group was playing DJenga, a game where students answer AI-generated questions based on numbers they pull from blocks. Another group used Padlet to create rooms and describe them with words. This allowed differentiation with just a few easy-to-use tools that give insight into student progress.

These examples give teachers a window into what's happening and help manage classrooms with lots of technology. You wouldn't know what everyone is working on in real time without being connected in some way.

Looking ahead, are there any trends in edtech, maybe related to AI, that will shape how teachers manage classrooms over the next few years?

The shift I'm seeing is that we have to go back to pedagogy. We have to focus on good classroom routines, management, and lessons. The tools are there; we just have to leverage them the right way.

Tools can get rid of busy work that takes a lot of time. For example, if I needed 54 questions in the past, I had to figure them out manually. Now I can have them in seconds with AI or other tools. That barrier is gone.

Now we can focus on what really works in the classroom. It's a perfect time to revisit Universal Design for Learning, blended learning, and other research-based strategies.

The busy stuff can give us back the gift of time. If you asked me last year or the year before, the biggest worry for teachers was time. Now we can give back that gift of time because of the technology available.

That's such a great point about efficiency with instructional planning and running a smoother classroom. The efficiency we get with AI tools and streamlining different tasks is massive.

Thank you so much Lori for joining today and sharing all these great actionable strategies with listeners.

Lori shared so many great ideas. Let's finish this episode with a few key points: clear routines help students thrive in tech-rich classrooms; creative, collaborative tech use keeps students engaged; AI reduces busy work freeing time for effective teaching strategies; and streamlined communication ensures everyone stays informed.

Remember you can find the show notes and full list of resources from this episode by heading to classtechtips.com/slp-podcast. A big thank you to Jotform, the presenter of today's episode and this special series. To learn more about Jotform and how educational institutions can get a 30% discount on Jotform Enterprise, head to jotform.com/enterprise-sl-education.