I think that this article provides good information for both
new and old teachers to understand the importance of integrating technology
into the classroom. While technology did not play a big role in my school
experience I have worked in a high school where it was the primary focus for
learning. Students read books from their iPads vs. a regular text book, use
Smart Boards, have virtual science labs, etc… and I truly believe that it
helped gain their interest in the subjects. Yes, some students get distracted
exploring the internet or playing a game but that is not different than a
student who is throwing paper airplanes, passing notes, or talking with a
friend. Since children today have grown up with technology it is something they
are comfortable with and enjoy using. As
stated in this article, Seymour Papert explained that “With computers, there is
a substantially bigger chance that you can lead the child with less effort into
something he really likes doing…. The intersection with the set of fun things
is sufficiently big so that you should be able to keep every student internally
motivated.” While this quote was from years ago I believe it is still true
today with the continuously progressive technology. These tools provide
students with endless research abilities and area for creativity. They also
assist the teachers in providing a lesson in a new, unique and engaging way. Technology
is something that teachers need to get comfortable using in the classroom because
it not only helps students succeed in school but also in their future.
How did you handle students who goofed off when they has iPads? Was there some kind of constant supervision to ensure they were staying on task? I would imagine that this would be difficult to monitor. I think you raise a good point that technology can help some students to achieve more while impeding other who choose to browse the internet instead of work. As i observed other teachers and got to see all the classrooms with an ipad per student, I wondered if they were worth the investment. Do they help students learn and achieve more? Perhaps. But how much do they help? Was it worth the investment. I hope there is some way to assess these sorts of things.
ReplyDeleteNot an issue at all! It is actually similar to what we used in class with Nearpod where you control what the students see and they follow along. The iPad is great because after each short lesson they can do a small quiz to show how much they learned. Students would often highlight points or issues that they wanted to remember and it would book mark them and create a page of notes for you to go back to later. I wish I would have been able to use them throughout school! We were not even allowed to highlight or pencil mark books in high school...
DeleteThere was a part of this post that I really got my attention. You made a reference to technology being a distraction in the classroom. You said that students can "get distracted exploring the internet or playing a game but its not different" than students being distracted in other ways. I never really thought about it this way. For the most part I think they will get distracted with technology and that is inevitable. For teachers I think its just important to monitor computer use and not let them abuse the technology.
ReplyDelete