Making Classroom EdTech Transcendent

Play video: CoffeED: Sonny Magana 2018-08-20 (28 minutes)28:00

This is part 1 in a two-part series with Sonny Magana

When Dr. Sonny Magana was a graduate student doing research at Rutgers in 1984, personal computers were still new. Enthusiasm for the new teaching tool was high in the beginning, but Sonny discovered in his research that when the novelty of using a computer wore off, so did any gains in student engagement. He discovered that when technology replaces the teacher, gains are minimal at best; when technology is used to enhance proven teaching practices, however, there are positive impacts on academic achievement. This revelation led to Sonny developing the T3 Framework for Innovation in Education.

According to Sonny’s research, the integration of technology comes in three phases:

• T1: Translational – leveraging technology to translate analog into digital, increasing accuracy and speed.
• T2: Transformational – leveraging technology to transform the learner, the learning and its outcomes.
• T3: Transcendent – leveraging technology to ignite the creative spirit, allowing everyone to reach their full potential.

I recently sat down with Sonny to discuss the T3 Framework, and he talked about how it is a framework for educational organizations to shift from low-impact technology use in the classroom to integrating systemic technology use throughout the entire building. “School districts have been trying the simple ‘digitalization’ of curriculum for over 30 years, and it hasn’t worked,” Sonny says. “Some people think you have to choose either the technology or the human. That is a very simplistic and inane conflict; to say it’s either one or the other is ridiculous.” Sonny compares the two using a musical metaphor: “The pedagogy is the melody, the technology integration is the harmony, and together you get great music.”

“The standard teaching method has always been the ‘knowledge transfer model’ to transfer information from the teacher to the student,” Sonny says. Educators thought that the technology was just a new way to perform an old task, and Sonny says that was where the mistake was made. The T3 Framework is different in that rather than replacing the teacher, it’s a tool for the teacher that enhances a proven and effective lesson plan while (according to recent research) essentially quadrupling academic achievement gains in the classroom.

“We have to remember that technology has no inherent value as a teaching tool in and of itself,” Sonny notes. “The value is made manifest by how that technology is used, and by whom. That is what the T3 Challenge is all about.”

Further Reading

1. Education World – Technology Integration- Ideas That Work
2. TeachHub – The 4 Stages of Technology Integration: Supporting Student Growth
3. EdTech Magazine – Mobile Classrooms Bring STEM Where Students Need IT

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