It is astonishing at how many teachers/schools restrict the
use of student’s personal technology devices in the classroom. I, on the other
hand, am always trying to figure out ways to incorporate them with my lessons.
It is a goal of mine to, little by little, flip my classroom. The ONLY way this
is possible, is through the use of technology. I strongly believe that
technology HAS to be a part of the student’s education every day. Maybe not
every class period, but enough to keep students engaged and interested in their
learning.
There has been a video shared across Facebook and other
social media platforms against the “overuse” of technology and our NEED for it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7dLU6fk9QY
I did take the time to show this to my students last year and implied that we,
as members of society, need to find a balance between productivity with
technology, and getting lost in our technology. I feel this could be applied to
our classrooms as well. Teachers, and students, need to find a balance between
using technology to engage and enhance a lesson, and using it just for the pure
fact of incorporating it because it is the “in thing”. As it stated in the
video “Pay Attention”, students use their technology every day and know how to operate
these devices. So the question remains, why NOT use them in an educational way
in the classroom?
I agree with you that technology should definitely be a part of education, especially at the junior high and high school level. By this point in their lives, your students are like us...very comfortable with technology, and using it as a part of their daily lives. I mentioned this in my post, but I feel that my perspective is a little different just because I teach younger kids. My kids are not old enough and have not had enough experience with technology yet that it is easy for them. I still have to "teach" them how to use each new technological tool that we utilize, which can be very time-consuming. For that reason, I feel that it is more difficult for me to utilize it in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteFor example, I love my Ipads, but to be honest, they can get a little frustrating at times. I have ten of them, so imagine 10 kids who are practicing addition facts on an app while you are working with other students in a small group. The kids on the Ipads don't know how to go into the settings to turn off the volume on the game they are playing, so it's either 1)very loud, or 2) you are interrupted 10 times by students bringing their Ipads to you so you can turn off the volume. Either way is a major distraction to the students you are working with. Then, a box pops up on the screen. Regardless of what it is or what the box says, they bring it to you to fix it. I'm glad that they do, but again, it's a big distraction. At my age level, I feel that it is much easier to incorporate technology into whole-class lessons than by having students use it independently. That's what I struggle with most going forward. How do I get my students to be more independent with technology?
Finding the balance is definitely the hard part. It is up to us as teachers to show our students how to use technology tools in a way that is appropriate for the classroom. Currently, I am teaching preschool so my students do not have phones yet. The technology that I do have, iPads, smart board, smart table, and computers are all used in an appropriate educational way. I think it would be neat to some how get an iPhone for the classroom. This way, I could teach my students from an early age how to use the iPhone as an educational tool as well.
ReplyDeleteI have young students as I am teaching 2 year olds. We have touch screen computers in our room and a Smartboard that is shared for the building. While the computers are great it can be difficult because I can tell which kids just sit in front of the computer at home and it can be tough to get them off and reengaged with something that isn't the computer. Like you said, it's all about the balance!
ReplyDelete