This pretty impressive. It certainly shows a creative approach to high school and if what the item describes is really what goes on, then I'm all for it. But read a few of the comments for the Luddite perspective on the topic.
High School Goes Digital
Let's be objective on this. Today's student will be working in a digital age. If they don't have those skills, they are going to have a tough time competing at the top tier. So, if these things are going on in that school, then they are getting a great educational experience and an incredible preparation for life in the 21st century.
But, I have been in a small college classroom and I see how the partial introduction of laptops can fail. A year ago we finally progressed to a campus wireless network. Some classrooms have workstations and an instructor console that allows student interaction and monitoring, but most don't. What do I see?
Without an instructor console or an agility to command the class attention while simultaneously prowling the aisles to see what is actually on laptop screens, you really don't get students doing what they are ostensibly bringing the laptop to class for. They aren't taking notes. They aren't grabbing research. They aren't gathering supporting information. They aren't following your PowerPoint with the online edition to add their comments.
They are Facebooking, playing Freecell, checking email, shopping for T-shirts, and generally distracting themselves. Those without laptops are texting on their cellphones in their laps thinking they aren't seen by the instructor and knowing that they stand a good chance of being embarrassed by the mean old fat guy in front of the class who will ask them to leave.
Now if we consider the folks who commented that it is too expensive or impractical or not traditional or somehow subversively progressive, let's note that they apparently don't have familiarity with the cost of textbooks today. The average high school or college text costs a tad north of a Benjamin. Take the average student course load of six classes that covers the cost of a nice netbook or laptop.
The laptop is lighter, more likely to come to class then a backpack of books, more accountable at the end of the semester, and less likely to be unusable from doodling, dog-earring, page-ripping or abuse. The potential for interaction with both local and distant educational sources is incredible, if the instructor is creative and innovative in application.
I don't like some aspects, such as the mention of peer-editing for writing assignments. That can be helpful occasionally, but it can also mask total illiteracy from free-riders in the classroom.
Overall, I think it presents some great potential. I think it is definitely a portent of future education. I would like to see more of it sooner and I do think it is cost-effective.
5 comments:
As an adult student Ive seen some really great systems and some really bad ones. The last Community College I attended had a set up that each student had a workstation in the class room, the instructor, controlled what was available on the screens and could monitor what each position was doing from his instructor console. Homework was brought to class on thumb drives and uploaded to the instructor via the class room workstations....it was all very slick, better even that the set ups we use at my employment...and ostensibly "Professional IT" Outfit. But that places a lot of pressure for the Prof or instructor to learn so they are able to fully utilize the system.
The problem with (internet-connected) computers in classrooms is usually the computer-ignorance of the administrators. Combine it with the customary laziness of the IT guys ("one size fits all, but only if it is something I'm familiar with" - and "there can be no custom setups; you are not authorized to use the control panel") - and you have an expensive system with more drawbacks than advantages.
(Dead giveaway of incompetence? Using MS Word for note-taking.)
If you ask me, why aren't we eliminating the classrooms completely (HS and above)?
Seriously: "perfect" lectures (by the best instructors)- infinitely replayable - freely-accessed on the internet; 'matriculating' students paying low fees to 'attend' class question-and-answer sessions, take the exams, and electronically turn in assignments, quickly receiving feedback. Ed could instruct from his home. Oh, you'd still need a brick-and-mortar building to house the science labs, gym, and some other things - but not much more.
I probably won't be around to see my grandson graduate from college - but I'd love to know that he had accomplished it, mostly from his home - paying his way from a part-time or full-time job, without any school loans.
The problem with recorded lectures, no matter how good....there needs to be a live person to interact with, questions answered in real time. Canned lessons are great only if there is absolutely no need for any amplifying information and no one has any questions.
Dweezil, I agree and disagree. Familiarity and training, plus control of the environment are critical. I scream in class when a Java update pops up mid-lecture and of course I'm not in control of when or if that ever gets done.
Nothing wrong with note-taking in Word. It is totally integrated with all of Office, readily formats in HTML, reads virtually all formats seamlessly, and is the default word-handling software of the world. Sure, I could use OneNote or even NotePad or something simpler, but why?
And, I could indeed teach from home. That's precisely what I'm doing this semester for American Government. The college uses ANGEL, but I've also worked in BlackBoard and both are powerful. Recently I've stated using SoftChalk for HTML formatted presentations that import easily and open instantly in ANGEL. And I only access a portion of the functionality which is available in those interfaces.
I use threaded discussions, embedded videos, web-links, PowerPoints, online exams, automated scoring and grading, etc.
I still laugh at the end of the semester when I walk the halls and see some dinosaur with a loose-leaf binder of check-boxes wrestling with attendance/grade reports using stubby pencil.
There are short-falls, most obviously the feedback of live communication. Misunderstandings abound if you aren't careful. And motivation is a lot tougher online.
You're right, Ed.
I was still in college when laptops really came into being and while I never had one (last one in my law school class to still use a typewriter), I saw what my peers were doing on their laptops and it was usually anything but taking notes.
Unless the internet can be kept out of the classroom and off the computers and phones, those devices need to be kept out if we're going to keep pretending that the classroom is still a learning environment.
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