Sunday, July 18, 2010
Post-Class Reflection
Friday's class proved to me that maybe Twitter is not what is distracting, but laptops themselves. Due to the technical difficulties we experienced in class, it was difficult to focus on the Webinar, and I found myself thinking, "thank goodness I can play around on my laptop and zone out". Then I was a bit ashamed because I found myself guilty of taking a wonderful technology tool and turning it into something to distract myself with so I wouldn't have to pay attention to the task at hand in the classroom. Shame on me. So, I shut my computer, and did the best I could to focus. How can we, as teachers, allow our students to use these great tech tools (Twitter, cell phones, laptops, MySpace, Facebook) and ensure that they aren't abusing their privileges? The "honors system" is great, but really? With high school students? Hmmm. The easiest answer, I guess, is to do without them entirely. However, wouldn't that be a gross injustice to the students? There are so many learning opportunities that we can take advantage of with technology, and I hope I am able to find that "happy medium" as a preservice teacher.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Thanks for your candor, Hillary....you obviously weren't along in having your attention wander. I honestly don't know the ultimate answer to your question about dealing with temptations of laptops close at hand. A lot of teachers that I talk to will say that teachers are well served by laying some ground work with the kids..."you like having the laptops, I like seeing you on task, so long as one goes with the other, we're good."
ReplyDeleteI also think that there's something to having the kids involved in an engaging activity that requires some investment on their part. This will be something for you to explore, eh?
I think you made a great point about how laptops probably will do more harm than good in a high school environment (I think the same could probably be said for the college level as well). I think part of the problem is that it's so easy to just wander off and not pay attention when you have a huge source of temptation literally on the desk in front of you. While students will always be prone to have their minds wander its much easier to make that decision when you have a more entertaining and easily accessable alternative staring you in the face.
ReplyDeleteHillary,
ReplyDeleteI agree that in our classrooms we'll need technology policies. Laptops, desktops, cellphones, and Ipods can be used as learning tools but they can also distract students from learning. Last year, several of my English professors had a no cell-phone, no laptop policy. I think that's a little extreme, but we at least need to include one rule in our "five rule list" about laptops, whether it's "only use laptops when instructed to by your teacher" or "only use laptops when taking notes or completing in-class projects", high schoolers have even less control than we do.
Danielle
I think you are so right Hillary, I often get distracted, especially if something in class goes wrong (in whatever way) and then find myself on the internet, the real problem arises when class starts back up and I'm still reading Apartment Therapy. I also hope we can find a solution.
ReplyDelete