What an interesting class today. I am not sure what I was expecting, but
meeting previous MACers was well, very enlightening. Listening to their “real world” perspectives
about smart boards, Ipads, laptops and anything else that was electric and
computed, how they were paid for and how they were used…who had them and who
wanted them…very interesting! Having
children who are in school in A2 I see the influence of technology and thought
it was odd to hear not every school had the same access…I was not surprised,
just thought it was odd.
What I found personally intriguing was the discussion of
cell phones and their use in the classroom as an educational tool. I guess I never really thought about how you
could use a smartphone in the class as a way to augment learning. It gives the students a way to use a piece of
technology as a learning tool…what a great concept…My oldest is probably going
to be happy because now I actually want him to get one, something I did not
want before btw…
But using the phone as a way to increase learning is
amazing…especially in my discipline, social studies, more specifically history,
or econ, or geography, or politic science.
I have always been a big believer in not memorizing the dates but
focusing more on the era and what was significant about that period of
time. After all, you can just look dates
up, so using the smart phone, as a way to facilitate this just seems
natural. Suppose an idea is discussed
and you, the teacher, are not really sure of something, giving the students the
opportunity to help and be part of the learning process seems like a brilliant
idea to me! I think it also allows the
student to see the process of discovering the answers of what you do not know. I believe it is empowering to show you do not
know everything, and are not afraid to show that, but also to let people take
charge in their life. Here is “how you
find the answer” should always replace “here is the answer.” What happens when the person, giving the
answer, is not around anymore?
The old adage, give a man a fish and he will eat for a day
but teach the man how to fish and he will eat forever just popped into my head…
