As for Evernote, I believe that this program will be most helpful to me as a student and may also be an aid to my students for note-taking. This idea is founded on the tenuous assumption that my students will have access to laptops or computers. For those students who struggle with the fine-motor skills needed for handwriting, this might be a great solution! Gooru, a teacher resource database, is something that I look forward to exploring, as the need for demonstrations, class activities and lesson plans begins to loom larger. Overall, it seems as though these three programs form a nice complement for a teacher intern such as myself.
Returning to my hesitancy about laptops in the classroom, our class recently discussed the idea of BYOD: Bring Your Own Device. That is to say, we are beginning to consider the how learning and classroom environment would be impacted by students using their phones, tablets, etc. in their learning experiences. For me, ideas beyond note-taking don't quickly spring to mind. This isn't surprising to me, since note-taking has been the extent of my "device" usage in the classroom. I also feel somewhat limited because I don't have a smart phone and don't plan to get one. How can I model something to my students that I have little experience with myself? This seems to be an example of the "digital immigrant" trying to lead the "digital natives".
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| Note: This isn't me teaching. :O) Accessed from: mrhillchemistryclass.blogspot.com |
The child's own instincts and powers furnish the material and give the starting point for all education. Save as the efforts of the education connect with some activity which the child is carrying on of his own initiative independent of the educator, education becomes reduced to a pressure from without (p. 1).While Dewey was referring the psychological side of the educational process in this passage, I believe that his thoughts could also be applied to these technologies that students use in every context of their daily life except school. Will students find school to be increasingly contrary to their understanding of the world and their place in it if we continue to tell them to leave their phones in their lockers before they can come into their learning environment?
As I have discussed in another blog post, I would prefer my classroom to be a place for my students to wonder and to be creative in their experimentation. I believe that students do need space from these devices and the constant connectedness that these devices provide (or saddle?) them with. I would like to give them space, but also want to help them to learn how to intelligently use these devices in their exploration of ideas. I would want them to understand that their minds are more powerful than a computer in so many important ways and that a computer should be an aid to their thinking, not a substitute for it.
I have no conclusions on these ideas. The most I can say for now is that teachers need to balance relating the classroom learning experience to the student's life outside of school and helping students to develop their own strong critically thinking, creative minds!
Laura,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your quote, "I would want them to understand that their minds are more powerful than a computer in so many important ways and that a computer should be an aid to their thinking, not a substitute for it." You delve into this idea of not being too technologically savvy yourself but I think you're right to say that your students might be able to teach you a think or two about those devices they all seem to have--and that shouldn't be considered a bad thing. I think it's fun to give the students an option to become the "teacher" occasionally! It helps to make us not look so pretentious and high and mighty if we are willing to learn a bit from high schoolers.
I liked how you want to give your students a break from their technology while they're in your classroom so they are more free to learn. I think that this will help to show them that they can think, create, and deduce educational activities without needing to be connected all the time. They actually have brain cells that are capable of working! This will certainly uphold the quote I liked so much in your post. I think you have lots of really great thoughts on these topics and can't wait to read more!
Hi Laura,
ReplyDeleteI really liked how you tied the BYOD together with ideas of Dewey! On that note, I'm in the same boat as you when it comes to conclusions on the subject. Your question of "Will students find school to be increasingly contrary to their understanding of the world and their place in it if we continue to tell them to leave their phones in their lockers before they can come into their learning environment?" is something I found myself questioning as we discussed this too! I think that its interesting to think of a world in which students (or people in general) can't function without technology. I think, like your question seemed to be introducing, that there is something to be said about having students think, be creative, and learn without technology. I believe that understanding how to think without technology is really important and I really like how you expressed your ideas about this!
Laura,
ReplyDeleteYou're asking all the right questions. After eight years of teaching, here's my stance on technology: We have to teach them how to seamlessly move from hi-tech to some-tech to no-tech. So, just like in the college classroom, a student needs to know when to shut his or her laptop and focus on the speaker, then transition into a group activity that may require just one of the laptops be open, then to an individual activity where everyone has a laptop open. The trick is to model these routines just as you model how to enter class, how to have a class discussion, etc. To do that though, I think you need a solid tech philosophy that you are fully convicted in. The hope is that this class helps you arrive at that.