I liked how the school could given learning practical applications that could also be used in the communities and how location played a part in what the students might study.
I am from a rural area, and many of the students aren't exposed to much outside of our area, but with technology we could go on virtual field trips. The students could be exposed to so much. The use of videos/movies would also encourage their creativity, which sometimes gets lost in high schools.
I agree that writing becomes so much easier on a word processor. Today my students took a writing test that is going to be used by a research company. By the end of the hour, their hands were so tired from writing. During the hour, the pencils kept breaking (they had to use #2 pencils). I know the students weren't just breaking them either because I had sharpened the pencils the night before, and I had to sharpen all 72 pencils in the box to get about 20 that were somewhat decent. I am not sure where the school bought these pencils, but I definitely would not recommend them. Monday I am taking them to the computer lab to do a writing assignment, and I know that the students will find it easier, and I am willing to bet that they will do better on this assignment, too. I will be using some of the suggestions that were in our textbook.
I also agree comment in the article about the downside of the laptops. The students won't have them when they go into high school, which means they will have to revert to the old ways of doing things. I think that will really frustrate them!
I will also say, though, that giving students laptops does make me a little nervous. Our students are given calculators for some of the advanced math classes, and I have had several either dropped in my room or left in my room. I know that this has happened in other classrooms, too. I would hope that the students in my school would take care of laptops the way that the students in Maine took care of theirs.
But I think I would be in heaven if all of my students had laptops, preferably Macs, and we wouldn't have to rely on the computer lab being available for our use. I have a few Macs in my room for my publications students, but I don't have enough for a regular English class.
Could you imagine being forced to revert back to old ways? I think about how challenging it would be to have to give up the few technology resources I use daily and depend on greatly. In fact, earlier this week I was in the middle of a lesson which I needed my LCD projector to demonstrate to my students how to navigate through our on-line textbooks so that when they were at home, they would know how to use this resource. All of a sudden--my LCD projector went haywire. From there it was extremely challenging for students who were watching me to see where they needed to go next. It was insanse--I felt like I was running from one laptop to the next because it was difficult for students to follow the verbal directions. My teaching would change dramatically if I had to revert...But I guess my teaching will continue to change dramatically as new technology is added too. But at least it will be for the better! :)
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine how much easier it would be for me to instill a joy of writing into my students if they could use word processing to complete their writing assignments. It's apparent to me that children are becoming more and more focused on immediate positive reinforcement. This makes it difficult for them to realize that good writing happens in three or four long steps. It's very difficult for my students to feel a sense of accomplishment when they show me, or another student, a first draft that must be rewritten after the editing process is complete.
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