Here's an article written by a teacher with experience in a 1-to-1 classroom. After reading it, open a word processor and reflect:
1. How ready do you feel you are for students to learn with laptops in your classes?
2. What specifics from the article strike you as most important for your classroom? Include a quote.
Save your writing, then copy it and paste it into our blog as a comment.
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13 comments:
Ok well the article was overkill… no one teaches like that anymore, at least that I have seen. Being dynamic is essential regardless what you are teaching, modeling, etc. Kids now-a-days expect high excitement/entertainment value for “their” tax dollar…HA! Hopefully they get their moneys worth with me, more importantly that they are more susceptible to learning in a more dynamic classroom. This of course necessitates student involvement and hands on activities. Technology is key to drawing kids in. Not to mention the use of technology in the work world, is. It just is and will be.
This last quarter I leaped forward for my own personal technological practice by making my SAT Prep course 85-95% online and computer based (http://behssatprep.wikispaces.com). I've changed the existing curriculum from being more teacher-centered (lecture-based) to being student focused and based on the individual learner. That said, I felt limited in what I knew how to do. As luck would have it, I sat in a workshop with Alan November (www.novemberlearning.com) and was introduced to Jing, which got my mind rolling as to how to implement some of this new curriculum. I feel that I am ready to plunge deeper in to making my class fully integrated, based on my existing classroom management techniques and preliminary understanding of the culture that exists with students & the technology they use, yet I just need more and more tools to be able to access "on a whim" so that I can implement the best program for my students' learning. I work with a lot of tools on my personal time (construction, carpentry, etc.), and I know that in order to to the best job I need the right tool for the right job. "The classroom needs to respect and use the computer as a tool, and not a toy" tells me that if we create the culture that technology, laptops, etc. is the tool and platform to do the job, then they'll be better prepared to be a fully functioning member of the globalized world.
This article was reassuring. I realize that introducing laptops into the classroom does not mean that I have to learn a new set of classroom management skills. I like the slow approach. Easing into the use of the computers makes sense. Short, well controlled activities to begin the year can establish classroom computer etiquette and rules. Note taking does not have to happen on the computers either, which is great. I like the idea of one note taker in the room, having the students focus on the information without trying to type it makes sense to me. I also agree that the class period needs to be broken up and not all lecture. This gives opportunity to use the laptops to apply and or synthesize information.
I guess I'll try to make laptop use a part of the physics class. I'm just not yet sure as to how I would be comfortable with “what” to use it for.
I will be using a layered curriculum. The laptop seems useful in an upper layer assessment, so it is here that I would push to use the laptop. Perhaps a research paper or lab report.
I agree with the premise that a good amount of thought needs to go into managing the use of the laptops. Some of the things stressed in the article are simply sound teaching practices that someone who runs a class should be doing anyway(setting clear expectations, have specific tasks you want them to achieve with the laptops) . I like the point the author makes about having the students take ownership in the process of making the rules for use. Any teacher who is competent will be moving around the room monitoring student progress regardless of whether or not the class is using technology.
Cliffdawg
"Teachers need to feel in the driver’s seat, and the kids need to know that use in the classroom is a privilege and not a right."
I agree it's important that we (as teachers) need to feel in control; I bet most students don't view laptop use as a privilege, especially considering that most of our students have been using laptops in school since middle school.
With regarding to classroom management, I believe it's a difficult balance trying not to play "gotcha" and also providing students the freedom to explore.
Richard R
One of the comments below the article mentions rescuetime.com. The teacher wrote:
We have encouraged students to create rescuetime.com accounts so they can monitor their time usage. It isn't a control software but it does offer some perspective on just how many minutes a day they IM, play games, surf the web etc. Basically it is a little systray app that monitors the active window and the compiles stats on a website for you. I use it myself just because I like to keep track of where I'm spending my time without having to think about it.
I am ambivalent about this. I know that businesses are measuring seconds per transaction so I suppose that software recording time on task is truly vocational training. At the same time, I am leery of anything that suggests we can evaluate performance by time & task statistics alone. I’d resist using this as much as I would resist similar evaluations of classroom activity time. The Taylor Efficiency movement of the late nineteenth century should be a caution to us.
I agree with this article that teachers need to enforce classroom management of computer use just like other classroom rules. I also like the idea of having students shutting their computer lid down to thumb size opening when asked so students using their computers when they should be listening is obvious.
Julie
Like apeterson, I think that the author intended the article to be reassuring. I think that point 7 should have been point #1 -- in fact, it is probably all that needs to be said.
7) Don’t forget your established classroom management skills. We’ve been amazed by career teachers who seemed to “give up” on years of established classroom management routines as soon as the kids have computers. All the same tools work for managing kids—the computers simply need to be put and kept in their place and used as you want them used.
This should be very reassuring to folks beginning one to one laptop use within the next school year. The point regarding good classroom management skills ought to be emphasized when Professional Development around one to one use occurs in schools. The issue will remain a problem for those without good management skills. One to one laptop introduction will probably make the classroom management issues more pronounced initially since it's an unfamiliar process.
Classroom management of laptops
I agree with starting slow with use in classroom. Good to hear this!!! I can see that this will work for my purpose. Keeping it topic specific and focused to begin and working in pairs will work best for me and be my first approach. I also like the note taking practice idea. I do not think many students are doing this as yet but it is coming. Getting kids to know how to utilize their lap top for this purpose will be great going off to college. Along with the students I will continue to learn and I know I do not have to be the master. It is all about management!!!!
This really supported my ideas of what I had already thought about when it comes to computers in the classrom. It was great to hear someone write the same thing that I had invisioned about ways to “control” computer use when it becomes one-to-one. A few of the ideas were new and sound like interesting methods for different uses for computers in my classes.
The more I think about the future the more excited I am. At first, when I was told that we were going to have one-to-one computers, my comment was “I probably will not use them very much” I do not want to have to fight with the students about being on “other” sites and not doing their work. Now, I have come up with mulitple uses for them. I think it will be great! I also like the part of the article that states, “Start small, and then grow”. I think many people feel it may be an “all or nothing” process, when really it is more what you feel comfortable with.
I also liked the part about “If several people can’t manage to use the laptops correctly on Tuesday, then perhaps non-laptop projects should be done by everyone for a few days,” this might be a good way to train the kids about what is the best way to use computers productively.
How ready do you feel you are for students to learn with laptops in your classes?
What specifics from the article strike you as most important for your classroom? Include a quote.
I'm not very confident about my own abilities, but I want to make better use of IT in the classroom. I plan to start with small steps so neither I nor they are overwhelmed and we can experience completion of what we start.
“When you first begin using laptops in class, make sure it’s a focused assignment all kids are doing at once, and that you have time to actively circulate as they do the assignment (such as writing a paragraph about something, or visiting a specific website for information).”
By using a focused assignment(s) early in the school year I hope this will set the tone of expectations of IT use in our classroom. It will also give me an opportunity to assess student ability levels and raise my own comfort zone.
Bill
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