By MICHELLE ADAMS / Community Columnist

When students enter Jordan Pritchett’s world history class at Montevallo High School, they should expect to not only learn of historical events that shaped our present world condition, but also how to interact and collaborate through a variety of technological applications.

“I encourage students to bring a device to class daily,” Pritchett said. “We also often use iPads or laptops during class to access Internet-based applications for students to demonstrate content knowledge and understanding.”

Pritchett regularly utilizes Edmodo as a class management tool and a forum for students to submit work electronically as well as contribute to content-based discussion or connect with the teacher outside school hours. She also uses real-time assessment tools such as Poll Everywhere, Nearpod, and Socrative to check comprehension during a lesson.

Because of her consistent, effective use of technology, as well as her innovative practices with students, Pritchett received this past year’s Owens-Young Memorial Technology Innovation Award for high school teachers. She then attended both the International Society for Technology in Education conference and the Alabama Educational Technology Conference over the summer.

“At both conferences, I learned about new applications and Web 2.0 tools I can use with students,” Pritchett said. “I also spent time in workshops beneficial to my additional role as technology coordinator for our faculty. I am excited about Shelby County’s adoption of Google Apps for Education, where each student will receive a Google account with a shelbyed.org email address.”

Plans for this upcoming school year include a digital portfolio project for students that will span all units of study.

Pritchett’s commitment to incorporating technology in her instruction is a vital component of educating students in the 21st century, and her continued dedication to this end is not only evidenced in her work with students, but through her own continued education, as she is currently pursuing a specialist degree in instructional technology at the University of Montevallo.

“Of course I expect students to meet standards of learning the content, but they often exceed standards when skills are taught in conjunction with content,” Pritchett said. “This generation of students needs specific skills for future success.”