60. The Art of Teaching Digital Skills to Children with Debbie Tannenbaum
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Hey Designers,
Our younger children may be digital natives, but they still need explicit instruction in using technology. Designers, let's welcome our special guest, Debbie Tannenbaum. Debbie, a passionate advocate for digital literacy in young learners who shares her insights on teaching children to navigate digital tools, fostering critical thinking, and sparking creativity. Learn how she ditches traditional, algorithmic instructions, and uses a unique approach combining picture cues and rubrics, empowering students to understand the functionality of different digital tools and pick the one that best fits their purpose.
Debbie also challenges the common assumption that children are natural digital natives and underlines the significance of actively teaching them digital skills. She shares intriguing anecdotes from her classroom experiences, discussing her effective approach to teaching collaboration and communication skills. Get drawn in as she talks about the "three seeds of creation" - choice, collaboration, and clickability, and how these serve as guiding principles in her teaching. Whether you're an educator or a parent, get ready for a trove of strategies to prepare your children for a future that hinges on digital skills. Get ready to revolutionize your approach to digital literacy!
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This transcript was developed using A.I. There may be errors.
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
00:00
When you look at the fact that 65% of the jobs that the kids are going to have in the future don't exist yet. We really need to get our kids learning how to create and how to be critical thinkers, how to collaborate at a young age.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
00:11
Welcome to Design Lessons, the podcast where we design our teaching days to be fulfilling for us and irresistible to our students. I'm Dr Michelle Schmitt-Moor and instructional design is my superpower. In each episode, we will take actionable steps to create great teaching days. We'll focus on mindset, real world opportunities and critical and creative thinking for us and our students. So, whether you're on your commute to school, walking your dog or doing the dishes, let's start designing.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
00:45
Hey, designers, today we are listening to Debbie Tannenbaum Now. This episode is geared toward educators, but is also helpful for those who are parents and are navigating how to provide choices for your kids that help develop their critical thinking. We recorded this episode at the Teach Better conference last October, so the audio will be a little different or in the midst of the conference. Debbie shares with us how she boosts critical thinking of her littles by moving away from step by step directions and algorithms and toward showing students what tools do and then letting them choose the best tool for their purpose.
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
01:28
It really lights me up helping our young learners create with technology, when you look at the fact that 65% of the jobs that the kids are going to have in the future don't exist yet. We really need to get our kids learning how to create, how to be critical thinkers, how to collaborate at a young age, and so that's something that it's what I presented on yesterday and it's something I feel really, really passionate about, because I feel like a lot of times when you come to conferences especially I presented a lot of technology conferences you hear about our older learners and not often enough do elementary school teachers get the tools that they need, because it's not as simple as saying, okay, here's an app, go ahead and try it. But it's a really intentional process and that's what I found through the last five years really working on this that I've been working on. I have intentional steps that I put in place now that have helped my learners to be more successful. I love that.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
02:18
So what are some of those steps?
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
02:20
So one of the things I've noticed is that the icons are a really big thing. When I first started trying to work with my young learners and trying to help them, I would be like I was probably playing whack-a-mole because I could never get them all down. I learned that I was listening to another podcast and I learned that if we teach our students the icons, that it really helps them to build that agency. So instead of saying to students, okay, we're going to do this, this and this to get to this program, intentionally saying to them like, for example, if they're going to school edgy, okay, we're going to click on the school edgy, we're going to click on the S icon. It doesn't matter what they call it, they just need to know its function. Then, once they click there, I'll be like oh well, now you're going to go to the waffle.
03:00
And teaching them those picture cues has been really key, and so that's something that I've worked a lot with. But recently I've also been working with the idea that we can take those picture cues and I have something I've created called an edu Rubicon, where I mix that with a rubric. So on the left-hand side are the icons and then on the right-hand side are the criteria for success. It's matched up Now. The kid it used to be. I would give the kids an algorithm where they'd have to follow it to get somewhere. Now they can see I'm going to use the paint tools because I'm doing this. I'm going to use them a select tool because I'm doing this and it's really been. It's really helped my students and and it's usually taken.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
03:39
They can take a. Assume that kids know those things.
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
03:42
Yeah, they think they're digital natives, and so they have to you were saying we really have to actively teach those skills Absolutely, and it was something I would have never thought of either. Like I said, I was listening to a podcast and Panna Asapetana was. She was speaking on it and she was sharing this and I, as soon as I finished listening to it, I reached out to her and I was like how did I not think about this before? And you know, since then, you know I continue to work on this and it's really helped my students and they. And the interesting thing is, I always tell the story because I think it's so funny.
04:12
I use a program called Wixie a lot with my students and I had shown my students how to use Wixie in my kindergarten class and my kids, my students last year had a library before me and I go to pick them up at the library and they're like Mrs Tana, mrs Tana, I'm like what is going on? They're like we used Wixie, but it was with a pair and they had done Pear Deck for the first time with their teacher. Now, the teacher had done it because during virtual learning, my teachers became very familiar with Pear Deck, but they had made that connection between those two programs. And that's what it's all about because, let's be honest, programs are going to change over the next 10, 20 years. But you know how many one of my students gave me on floppy disc coasters for a holiday gift last year and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. I looked at, I looked at my, brought them home to my kids. They're like, why do you have the save sign? Oh my goodness. But they still understand what that function is. And so really helping our kids to navigate those digital environments has made a big difference and it's something that I love to share about.
05:14
I really want my students to, because once we've done that, then we can get into the really creative part of it. And you know I talk a lot with my when I use tech tools about how we I call my three seeds of creation. To select tech tools. They have to have a lot of choice, especially for our young learners. They have to have that collaboration feature, which not all tech tools have, and then they really have to have that clickability which is going back to those icons. So it's something that's really helped me working with my learners, because now I used to be afraid to let my young learners collaborate, but if you give kids the proper scaffolds, they can do it, and so I think that that's what's so important and one of the reasons why I love sharing that message, because far too often we're trying to have our young learners do tasks for them, but we're trying to have them do it as if they're older students and we have to give them those building blocks so that they can become independent.
06:13
I don't want my fourth or fifth graders to be learning how to use a program. They're going to learn how to do all those things when they're in kindergarten and first grade and second grade, so then when they and they're going to be able to create. So creating and collaborating isn't going to be a new skill for them when they get in those higher grades. Because we have enough to. There's enough. We have to, you know, focus on right now.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
06:33
So it's a way of actively teaching those sort of collaborating and communication skills at the same time?
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
06:39
Absolutely, and it's so funny because a lot of times when I before I was doing this work, I would be rushing to help students, like I said, and I I didn't ever really realize that I was giving them these messages, that I didn't believe they could do things.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
06:53
And now it's like here follow these steps.
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
06:55
You know okay, here, where are you, here are all the tools, here are, where are you right now? Oh, you're, you're, you're a number three. Okay, let's see what you did. Okay, now let's look at number four. Can you find that? And it's a different conversation. And so this year I switched them in a new building and it's been interesting. The building I was at, I'd been doing this work for three years, this new building, this is all new to them. So it's been so fascinating for me to see the way they've responded, because it's like a whole new group of students to like see how that goes.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
07:24
It really empowers them to make choices.
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
07:25
Absolutely.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
07:27
And I need this tool for this task.
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
07:28
Yeah, absolutely so far. And this, you know, I think, during COVID, so many of our students, you know, they didn't get, they weren't used to making learning decisions and so really getting them to understand, well, here's a tool and I have five or six ways I can respond. Which way is the best way for me to respond to share my, my, my knowledge and making those things? And one kid would be like, okay, I'm going to make a video. Another kid might be like, well, I could make a video, but I'm really good at drawing. And really, you know that whole idea of universal design for learning and giving kids different ways to respond, because far too, that's the beauty of technology. If we're just going to have kids, you know, write on a piece of paper and use text, then there's no reason to get that computer out. But when they can, you know, add video and or they can do text, speech to text, and they can do those things, that's where the real magic comes in.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
08:20
I love that. So if there's one thing that you want to leave everyone with, one thing that's going to make them happier for the next, day what would that be?
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
08:28
I think don't do it alone. I mean, we're at this amazing conference, which is probably one of the most amazing ones I've ever been to, and it's the thing that makes us so beautiful is we're all here as a family and we're all here to learn together. Most of us have never met each other in person before, and yet we act. We all feel like we feel this connection and for far too long I was afraid to be part of that. Don't be afraid to be part of a community, because if you're doing it by yourself or you're doing it without that support, you're missing out. And you know one of the things that becomes so clear as we all talk we all have the same struggles, we all have the same joys. We can all help each other. It's not about this district or this state, it's about all of our kids, and we all have the same purpose. So that would be my one thing.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
09:18
If people want to connect with you and be part of your community, how can they connect with you?
Debbie Tannenbaum
Guest
09:22
Absolutely. The website is tannenbaumtechcom, and then I have a Facebook group, which is also Tannenbaum Tech, and then I'm on Twitter, facebook, a little bit on Instagram. I try TikTok. I'm there, but Tannenbaum Tech is pretty much the best way to get in touch with me.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
09:40
Hey designers! Chatting with Debbie reminded me of the importance of helping our young students match the tool with their purpose and giving them multiple ways to represent their learning. If you've been enjoying design lessons, please take a moment to rate and review the podcasts on Apple Podcasts. Until next time, designers.
Dr. Michele Schmidt Moore
Host
10:06
If you love the investigation that we have been doing around the LEADER mindset, I’m offering an intro course to the LEADER mindset called Project You: Design Thinking for a Better Life. It’s similar to what we have been doing here on the podcast, but it includes a community and feedback and help from me to you personally. I’ve collaborated with Poppd.co to bring you this course. It’s a new platform to explore professional learning for educators by educators.
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An educator with over twenty years of experience, Debbie Tannenbaum has worked as both a classroom teacher in various grades and as a technology coach. These experiences have helped her to develop her TRANSFORM Learning framework that she shares as she delivers keynotes, concurrent sessions, workshops and more around the country.
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