I would like to talk about drawbacks and difficulties. I believe that we ought to analyze and discuss the points that those people reluctant to introduce technology into classrooms usually say. Maybe I am going to reflect some ideas that arise during a friendly talk with peers.
In the EDTEC 467 Discussion Board it has been mentioned the use of tablets and Smart whiteboards. I dare say that whiteboards have got a great acceptance between us. And I agree that this is a very useful tool, since the teacher can catch the attention of pupils.
On the other hand, what about the tablets? I compare it with the laptops that the authorities have given to 10 years old students for the last four years where I live. And as far as I see, this can easily be a disaster for many of the students…
At this point I have to clarify that I work in a sex-single boys schools (as you can see in the video). Obviously, there are almost so many kind of boys as individual boys are. In spite of this, most of them tend to distract with lots of things. When it is so, if we provide each individual student with a tablet or a laptop, which has about thousands of apps, programs, options and possibilities (apart from the Internet connection), we might have condemned him to a perpetual distraction during classroom.
As I see it, Web 2.0 tools will hardly be useful if we not provide a solution to this problem: terminals must be a tool for learning in classroom, and consequently it can not be an unrestricted device.
The main needs that I want to remark are:
- The teacher has to be trained, supported and provided with the content that he chooses. If the content or material is ready, the children do not experience time-outs and she or he will keep learning. In this case, I think that e-learning software like Moodle is a great tool even to use into the classroom.
- The terminal should be designed for class working. Being so, it would be better if the device just have as many options, apps, etc. as needed. No more. So please, uninstall Minesweeper!
- The teacher needs to have a enough control over terminals. Although we can not forget that she or he is not a cope, nor a spy, and more important than control is to make the child want and learn to be responsible.
Only if we succeed using a terminal as a learning tool, we will be able to discover the possibilities of Web 2.0.
Information related:
http://www.educationnews.org/technology/study-laptops-in-the-classroom-can-distract-hinder-learning/
What about concentration in classroom?
Great blog, and so true. These are concerns we definitely need to be aware of and ensure that our teachers are trained properly. We also have to have a way to ensure accountability for what the students are doing. These are areas that can surely hurt a learner, and cause teachers to not want to use Web 2.0.