Teach Like Finland: 33 Simple Strategies for Joyful Classrooms pdfdrive com

Leverage the tech
When I first visited my Helsinki school, my Finnish principal gave me a tour.
She showed me my classroom, the teachers’ lounge, and our library. She also
wanted to show me the school’s two computer labs, which were shared by my
colleagues and about 450 students. At this urban public school in the middle of
Helsinki, I think I had modest expectations about the technology I would
discover.
Years ago, before I became a classroom teacher, I worked at a complex of
four primary schools in a poor urban neighborhood in Massachusetts as a
substitute computer teacher, and although the district seemed underfunded—one
school even fired its only secretary while I was there—they possessed stunning
Mac labs with about twenty-five new-looking desktop computers in each one.
Every few years, these devices would be replaced. Annually, the complex would
employ two full-time computer teachers and an information technology
specialist, who would oversee all of the tech equipment and software. As I

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specialist, who would oversee all of the tech equipment and software. As I
walked with my Finnish principal through my Helsinki school, which was
located in a much wealthier neighborhood than those Massachusetts public
schools, I expected to find something similar to what I had seen in America.
The first lab I visited at my Helsinki school held about twenty laptops, which
looked as if they had been purchased about ten years earlier. Later, I noticed a
section on the blackboard where teachers could write down which laptops—each
one had a number—was out of service; several of them were completely broken.
Although this lab didn’t meet my expectations, I bit my tongue as we walked
through that room and climbed two flights of stairs to another set of computers.
That second lab, I thought, wasn’t much different from the previous one. There
were about twenty-five desktop computers, and to my eyes, all of them looked
like they were soon due for replacement.
Typically every classroom in my school had one desktop computer, an
adjacent “doc camera” and a projector that could display images on a pull-down
screen. A few classrooms had SMART Boards, but there wasn’t a discernible
push from the administration for teachers to use them. Unlike my experience at
those urban public schools in America, my school didn’t employ a full-time
computer teacher. Educators were expected to use the technology as they saw fit,
and when problems would (inevitably) arise, we were directed to contact a
couple of tech-savvy teachers who were modestly compensated for their help.
Technology integration, at my Helsinki school, wasn’t a major emphasis, and
this was something I observed at other Finnish schools. Before moving to
Finland, I expected that all high-quality schools would have the best and the
latest tech equipment. But I’ve changed my mind since spending time in Finnish
schools, where the investment in technology seems to lag behind what I’ve seen
in American schools.
In Helsinki, I found that it was easier to put learning first in the classroom
setting when my access (and my students’ access) to technology was limited. I
didn’t have the same pressure—internal or external—to integrate technology,
which meant that I was more likely to use tech when it enhanced the teaching.
I don’t believe classroom technologies are unimportant. Truly, there is a
digital divide in our schools that must be addressed, but in many schools the
investment of money and time seems too great. Those flashy technologies can
easily distract us teachers from working on the most essential things with our
students. I know this from personal experience, and research seems to suggest
this, too.
In 2015, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), the same organization that designed the PISA tests, published the
results of a PISA assessment of digital skills. It found that, “overall, students

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results of a PISA assessment of digital skills. It found that, “overall, students
who use computers moderately at school tend to have somewhat better learning
outcomes than students who use computers rarely.” But here was the kicker:
“Students who use computers very frequently at school do much worse, even
after accounting for social background and student demographics” (OECD,
2015).
But the OECD didn’t suggest that technology be ditched from schools in
light of this finding. “Technology is the only way to dramatically expand access
to knowledge,” said Andreas Schleicher, OECD director for education and skills.
“To deliver on the promises technology holds, countries need to invest more
effectively and ensure that teachers are at the forefront of designing and
implementing this change” (OECD, 2015).
The key to tapping into the potential learning benefits of technology, it
seems, rests in our hands as teachers. In Finland I saw my colleagues using
technology on a regular basis, but in modest ways. One of the most common
methods was the use of a “doc cam”—a simple piece of technology I’ve found in
every Finnish school I’ve visited. Picture something that looks like an old-
fashioned overhead projector, except that it’s equipped with a miniature video
camera.
On a nearly daily basis, I would observe teachers at my school using doc
cams to provide visual aids while they were teaching. Not only that, but it was
also a great way for students to communicate their learning to the class. For
example, I’d often ask my students to demonstrate their solutions to math
problems by using the doc cam at the front of our classroom. I’m not suggesting
that every teacher go out and purchase one, just that the classroom technology
that we use doesn’t have to be sophisticated to be effective.
“I think the talk about technology in education has gotten way out of hand,”
Jere Linnanen, a middle school history teacher at Helsinki’s Maunula
Comprehensive School, told me. “[Education technology] can help you . . . but
it’s not about the tool. Or it shouldn’t be about the tool.”
Linnanen often uses the Google Classroom suite with his eighth and ninth
graders to support the learning in his classroom, in which his students use the
free software to create slide shows and documents together. He calls these tools
“basic,” but he finds that they’re working well for his students. As a former
executive at a Finnish educational technology start-up with an international
reach, Linnanen has closely followed the technology scene over the last few
years:
[Politicians] want education to be a problem that can be solved top down.

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They want to be able to say that, “If we put this much money into
education technology, then we get these results. And we want to move up
[in] the rankings so we press this button.” But I think it should be more
like bottom up, like grass roots, like teachers connecting [with] teachers,
sharing stuff, and connecting to their students. That’s where the focus
should be.
Technology integration, when it supports learning, can bring joy to teachers and
students, especially when it allows us to do what educator Will Richardson
(2016) calls “the extraordinary”:
To connect live or asynchronously with people from all over the world.
To publish stuff to a global audience. To make things, programs,
artifacts, inventions that can’t be made in the analog world.
While it’s relatively rare, in my experience, to find Finnish schools where
technology is used to do “the extraordinary,” I think the common practice of
using technology to support learning, rather than distract from it, is wise. For
years, Finland’s schools have proved that their students can master important
content and skills without investing heavily in the latest tech gadgets. I think it’s
an important lesson for all educators. If we want to teach for mastery, let’s put
tech in its rightful place, as a tool for learning.