Before I start with my comments on the lesson itself, I just want to say that I am having my husband watch this video. Our school just received laptops for the highschool class, which he teaches, and this might give him some ideas. It was a good overview of what to expect if, or when, you encounter one-to-one computer teaching and learning. I am sure that not every school or school district will be set up the same way even as it seemed that not every class was using the laptops to the same extent at Denali.
Negative:
Who trains the trainer?
Many of the students like the speed of the responses they get when they submit their assignments electronically. The teachers must be willing to adapt if the program is going to be a success. The training did not seem to be addressed in the video from Denali (unless that is what the service learning person does) but I think this would need to be a cooperative item. Teachers need to help each other but they also need to be willing to learn from the experiences of their students. Age does not always translate to wisdom or ability. Even if you only use computers in a computer lab, you still need to know how to use them. You still need to have a tech department; it would just have to be bigger.
How can you use the computer for more than research?
Students use the computers with photography to learn how to take pictures and then submit them without having to process the film or print the pictures. Easy to share what each student has done. Computer technology is good for PowerPoint or movies. Computers give the students a chance to expand on what they learn is art. The students still have to learn how to keep their projects within the requirements of the assignments even though it is on the computer and not on paper. That has not changed.
How do we know if the information they are finding is accurate?
The instructors still need to monitor where the students are getting their information. That is part of the “teaching” that goes on in the classroom. Just as a teacher has to monitor whether or not the students are just cut and pasting others’ work into their assignments.
Do we have to change all lesson plans to include technology?
When the students move on to the real world, they will be using technology. Having a computer available all day helps them practice all of their skills so that they are fluent in those programs when they graduate. Many of the activities already in your lesson plans still need to be done but many of them can now be done on the computer using a variety of programs. The Internet should be seen as another resource to include in your lesson plan when it is appropriate.
What about broken equipment?
In Denali the hardware is taken care of by two seniors that repair the computers as needed. Cheaper for the school district and gives the students important training that can readily be used in the real world after graduation. This repair work gives extra training for students that have fulfilled the requirements for education instead of just filling their days.
Positive:
A new world of technology!
The students are interested in their work even if only for the excitement of spending so much time on a computer and even better since it is their individual laptop. Gets the students ready for the real world where many things are done on computers. Gives the students a chance to use a large variety of programs. They open up an opportunity to participate in distance education. The students can then take classes that are not available in their school. Computers are a great way for teachers to stay in contact with their students through a medium that the students are into. Working with the computers at school gives the students a chance to learn the hardware technology to use at home immediately.
Less paperwork!
The students do not need to print out their work. They can electronically send it to the instructor in final form or over and over again as rough drafts. Online quizzes from the internet provided resources can be submitted directly to the teacher.
Assignments available from anywhere!
Students like that fact that they can take their computers home and access the assignments over the weekend or at night when they may have forgotten what they need completed for the next day’s class.
Availability of computers for all students when needed!
No more waiting for an opportunity for your class to get into the computer lab. You may want to do an extensive assignment that needs many hours of computer time which you may not get if the entire school shares a limited number of computers.
Fewer out-of-date books!
Resources on line are more up-to-date than the textbooks that are out of date before you get them in your classroom. More resources available than you would have if you only used textbooks in paper form. There are good programs available for school districts that use “internet text books” such as Beyond Books. These programs are cheaper than continually buying textbooks that can be forgotten at home. It is easier to carry around one laptop rather than six textbooks.
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5 comments:
Thank you for the very thorough analysis of the One to One video. It's always good to look at that project through another set of eyes.
I very much appreciate your comments about finding accurate information and the notion that we, as educators, have a primary responsibility to teach our students how to discriminate between reliable and non-reliable sources that they might encounter. It's emblematic of the kind of role that teachers need to assume in a ubiquitous computing environment. We sometimes assume that since students know a lot about technology that they'll be fine on their own. The reality is that they still thoughtful guidance from us in areas like this.
I also agree with your observation that the video does not address the question of professional development for teachers. This is a critical issue and one that is often overlooked by districts when planning one to one implementations. Although the video did not mention this, I did learn that the Denali Borough School District sends their students home every Wednesday at noon and uses the rest of the school day for staff development in technology, standards-based assessment, new software, and other aspects of their program. It's a very effective way to keep teachers in the loop with district goals and to make sure that they can use their resources to the optimal extent.
very nice observations. I learned a lot. Thanks!
I liked how you set up your blog. There is a lot of good information about the positive and negative ways computer use is good or bad. The local highschool here also has the laptops for every student, but I am not sure if the teachers actually teach with them. Overall, I agree with how students can use their laptops to get their homework. That helps with not having any excuses about losing the assignment or forgetting books.[=
Alice, your comment about the students liking the turn around time for graded assignments sparked a thought in my head. That is one of the things I love about distance learning; i don't have to wait a week to get a paper back from my instructor. It also made me think about how the one to one program and distance learning are very similar, we just aren't all in the same classroom (and unfortunately I had to pay for my computer).
You did a very thorough review, thanks for all of your input! I have a question about a negative you had posted...
You have photography and other things students could do with computers as a negative thing. I would think it would be positive.
In the initial class the comment was "What else can you do with a computer other than research?" thinking that they might be expensive encyclopedias. However, after reviewing the DVD, it was obvious that there are other uses such as photographing, etc.
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