Throughout his 12-year career, Steven Kolber has embraced technology as a fundamental teaching tool to help transform his classroom into an interactive, inclusive learning environment. This led to his nomination as a top 50 finalist for the Global Teacher Prize in 2021.
As an English Language, EAL and History teacher at Brunswick Secondary College in Melbourne, Australia, Steven is also passionate about sharing his knowledge and empowering other teachers around the world.
“When used efficiently, technology can transform education by giving teachers the time they need to be more human, more present, more empathetic, more collaborative, and create a better learning environment for all.”
This idea is supported by UNICEF's State of the World's Children report, which states: "If leveraged in the right way and made universally accessible, digital technology can be a game changer for children being left behind – whether because of poverty, race, ethnicity, gender, disability, displacement or geographic isolation – connecting them to a world of opportunity and providing them with the skills they need to succeed in a digital world."
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Steven was more than prepared for the world of remote teaching. He had over 700 lessons on his YouTube channel, and was familiar with several tools that he could use to enrich his online lessons.
To help other teachers adapt to online teaching during the pandemic, he created an extensive catalogue of free training videos on YouTube. Steven also ran online gatherings called ‘Teach Meets’ where educators shared their innovations and adaptations for remote learning.
Recognising the need for teachers to have better access to scalable solutions for professional development, the World Bank Group and HundrED (a global education non-profit) teamed up to develop the Teachers for a Changing World Spotlight. The platform identifies and shares access to leading solutions from around the world that are helping teachers thrive in an ever-changing classroom.
Contributing to peer-to-peer support, Steven co-hosts a bimonthly podcast, the Teachers' Education Review. He discusses various teaching practices, and transformational solutions with a range of education experts from diverse backgrounds.
To help teachers access quality research, and share their knowledge of teaching innovations, Steven also established an interactive online reading group for teachers called #Edureading.
“Every month, we discuss a different academic article on education. It’s not about who’s right and who’s wrong, it’s about building connections with fellow educators, and collaborating with them,” says Steven.
“When teachers feel more confident in their personal tech skills, they feel more empowered to experiment with digital tools, and use them in their classrooms,” says Steven.
“Technology makes learning more accessible to our students, and it helps us do our work more quickly and effectively. It gives us more time to do the ‘fun stuff’ including interacting with learners face-to-face and getting them to interact meaningfully with each other.”
A paper commissioned for the 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report, Inclusion and education, confirms this idea. “ICT can be used to support inclusion by providing different ways of representing information, expressing knowledge and engaging in learning, including assessment.”
The paper also notes the importance of using technology to help make learning more accessible to students with learning difficulties. “ICT tools can be used to support creative and cooperative learning environments where disabled students are included in learning activities and have class or group roles or responsibilities.”
Steven uses a number of assistive technologies to strengthen the learning experience for students and teachers both in the classroom and online.
“I use a lot of assistive technology in my classroom including transcription and text-to-voice software to ensure learners with dyslexia or other disabilities are able to share their thoughts, and participate in the learning process.”
“Instructional videos are a great way for teachers to supplement their lessons. For example, when we cover Macbeth, I have face-to-face lessons in the classroom, but I also have a whole lot of video summaries of each act and scene that my learners can access on my YouTube channel.”
“Learners with hearing disabilities can access the subtitles and transcripts. And those who have attention difficulties can go back and rewatch the video as many times as they need to.”
Steven even uses video to provide feedback to his learners. He records his comments on video while reading through an essay or project that a learner has submitted. “It saves me a lot of time.”
“Teachers notice the small things. They can see when a learner is struggling with something beyond the classroom. As teachers who genuinely care about our learners and their overall wellbeing, COVID made us realise just how critical those face-to-face social interactions in the classroom actually are,” says Steven.
“While technology can transform the way teachers share their knowledge, it can’t replace them. There’s no substitute for a great teacher who can establish a solid relationship with their students and deliver content in a way that makes kids excited about learning. Technology, by itself, simply can’t do this.”
Videos to help teachers build their skills:
Top sources for free audio books for learners:
For discussions on education, and connecting with other teachers around the world:
Assistive technologies:
Steven recommends software such as ClaroRead, Dragon Speak, Pen Readers, Read-aloud settings within documents, enabling subtitles within Zoom and PowerPoint.
Learn more about the #TeachersTransform campaign as part of the Transforming Education Summit.
Photo credit: Steven Kolber
From the start of this global pandemic, my aims have been to help protect the health and wellbeing of my students, to maintain some continuity in routine, and to meet my students’ learning needs. As I have adapted and evolved, four principles have framed my teaching response:
I know that the learning experiences I design on campus cannot be easily replicated through distance learning. In a short space of time I have learned how to: use the tools online learning offers; balance synchronous and asynchronous connections and collaboration (if you have ever watched a YouTube video for 60 minutes you will understand what I am trying to avoid!); and establish trust and cultivate engagement in an online environment.
At the beginning of each week, I post the instructions for learning on the school learning management system. A weekly videoconference check-in is followed by a series of short assigned prompts or projects, classes are divided into smaller online tutorial groups on discussion boards, and office hours are made explicit to respond to questions and to provide feedback.
The transition has been challenging and the superhuman efforts demonstrated by the entire global teaching profession under trying circumstances have been impressive. There have been teething problems and I have trusted my professional judgement. I am, after all, learning how to teach via distance in the middle of global pandemic.
There is a steep learning curve in the first week, online fatigue needs to be managed, and I have had to rethink how to engage students and have empathy for their experience. It is really important to connect with students online and design tasks that are interactive. It gets easier after the initial learning curve.
My students are also adapting the ways in which they learn and this has been a large adjustment. They have been brilliant, demonstrating independence, developing their ability to self-regulate, and coping with frustrations. When I asked them for one word to describe their feelings about distance learning, replies included: “neutral”, “open-minded”, “curious”, “different”, “interesting”, “excited”, “isolated”, “relaxing”, “flexible”, and “unsure”.
Parents have modelled patience and partnership. Two examples from emails I received:
“We are very appreciative of everything the school is doing to keep our children connected and moving forward. Thank you to all the staff for their amazing work.”
“Our three children have had to manage the changing learning environment without us being physically present to support them. Despite the rapidly changing environment, they have coped extremely well and I am proud of their resilience and the positive perspective they are bringing to this difficult time. I attribute much of the ease of this transitional period to the approach and support provided by the school.”
I am providing opportunities for parents and students to give feedback as I navigate and fine tune my distance teaching techniques. My teaching skills are evolving and I am enjoying the stimulation, collegiality and creativity of this steep professional learning curve.
Cameron Paterson
Cameron Paterson was one of the finalists of the Varkey Foundation's Global Teacher Prize.
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This piece is part of the Teacher Task Force’s #TeachersVoices campaign, created to bring forward the experiences of teachers working every day to ensure their students continue to benefit from a quality education despite the COVID-19 pandemic. To participate, go to our dedicated webpage.