Saturday, February 14, 2009
ICT in the classroom...
…a cyber center in the high school, a section of the cafeteria where students can lounge and have access to laptops for surfing and working together — social learning. (Warlick) Wow! What more can a person say? That is pretty impressive use of technology in the school and here we are not allowing cell phones in the classroom…we must be insane! In the post Yates, a K-6 tech integrationist briefly discusses his use of Nintendo DS in the classroom as a communication tool. I wonder if the students felt any urges to play a few games in between what they were learning about? I’m not being cynical here but until I can truly get used to this idea I think use of such things such as Nintendo DS might be a bit distracting.
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I understand where you are coming from; I too wonder how the gadgets (tools, electonic learning devices) fit in with the classroom. Maybe we are asking the wrong question though. Perhaps we need to ask ourselves what should the classroom look like? Surely with the changes in technology, we should be saying good bye to the traditional classroom. I don't know if you read this blog, but it gets you thinking about what we should be doing with technology in the classroom. This is a must read for anyone with doubts about using 21st century technology:
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It is weird isn't it, I mean there is such paranoia about some technology and yet it can be so helpful/supportive of learning if used appropriately. The big key, to me, is appropriate use, and to realize that it doesn't replace the teacher. Interestingly, one day I had my ipod on in the early morning, before school had started and was verbally reprimanded by admin. I use my ipod in the classroom, connecting it to an old pair of computer speakers as it is much more reliable than the "educational quality" cd player that is classroom equipment. Anyway, I had my ipod on & a staff member spoke to me so I immediately removed my headphones. It was then that I was reprimanded - because there was a student in the office - secretary's grandson, in back behind the desk, poking at the fax machine while whining to his grandmother. I simply responded to the reprimand by saying that when I had entered the office there were no kids there and that it was off now - maybe I should have said more, but I wasn't sure what to say or how to say it. I think that blanket rules against types of technology are not the way to go. Teachers need to be judicious in what they use and how they use it with their students, and be aware of what their students are doing to the best of their ability. While it is impossible to monitor everything going on in a computer class, the teacher is still employed to teach at that time and should not be tending to personal business and ignoring the class.
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