I see this time and time again as a parent volunteer and a pre-service teacher; an entire classroom of kids waiting for "their turn" at the computer. Do you know what happens when you have a classroom of 3rd graders chomping at the computer bit? Chaos, frustration, and crying.
Of course, the come back to the previous situation is, computer lab. Good luck getting meaningful time in the computer lab. In my experience in elementary classrooms, the students see the inside of the computer lab once a week, at best, for 30ish minutes. So once the teacher books the time, herds the kiddos in, gets them settled (they are usually ecstatic to use computers), and reiterates rules/expectations etc, how much meaningful time is left? No to mention that the kiddos are starved for creative tech time, so the last thing they want to do is what you, the teacher, want them to do.
In an ideal classroom I envision one iPad for every student---- one they can take home and functionally use. An iPad takes the place of flip video, camera, dictation/read back software, Smartboard (in many cases), laptop, desktop, books (in the case of free classic literature), flashcards, homework aids, calendar, agenda, and worksheets. The list goes on and on, surely I haven't dreamed-up 5% of what an iPad can replace in a classroom.
As for the Bring Your Own Device... I am a lower elementary person, so in grades K-3 I don't think that is a viable option. Grades 4-5... I would be open to it. I'm not sure how to handle the logistics: 1 student has an iPod touch and 25 don't, the liability of the school in case of theft damage, etc. I would need to see what my students possess.
If I am plunked down in middle school, well, I don't have much functional experience with middle schoolers and personal devices, as the middle schools in our district have a ban enforced. Personally, I would rather use their penchant for tech to my advantage instead of driving it underground. Ahhhh, the politics of local education.
Admittedly, I realize my vision of an iPad for every student is ideal; serendipitously, I am an idealist.
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Hi Amanda I like how you got to the heart of the matter on worldwide collaboration. The "us vs them" mentality is certainly an ignorant wall that would be best smashed. As far as difficulty in collaboration projects, I feel that if you take the whole "do it for a grade" part out, collaboration works much better.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it can be difficult to get quality access in a computer lab. I personally don't think we are to far away from seeing 1:1 in the classroom more often. I agree that BYOD is not viable for the grade levels your looking to teach. My personal opinion is, it would be tough to do at any grade level. Not every student is going to have the same resources and be able to provide a device in your classroom.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were in grade school there was no such thing as computer labs and compared to today the amount of resources was probably quite limited, but yet we turned out fine and educated. Perhaps I am just too old school but most kids are so "plugged in" for the majority of their time that a break away from computers could be a good thing. Just my two cents worth.
ReplyDeleteOpen mouth, insert foot. I realized this is about using technology in the classroom, so my comment is pretty stupid. Doh!
ReplyDelete