The New Dawn of Education - Tablet Technology
KEY WORDS: #pedagogy #formative assessment #bloom's taxonomy #tablet technology
Tablet technologies
the world over are fast becoming the “it” devices and a stand out solution for
the fast, no fuss integration of ICT into the classroom. As we strive to keep
up with the changing face of education, tablets allow teachers to incorporate a
tool that has no significant impact to their existing program. This notion has contributed
to the ever growing popularity of the tablet device. However, there is a real
risk of the tablet just becoming a tool like pencils and paper. By this, I mean
drawing pictures is drawing pictures whether paper-based or digital.
Essentially, busy work is busy work. We are now responsible for reflecting
carefully on the quality of the tasks we set as the shiny, black tablet technology
serves to mask an educationally low-grade quality task.
In the Cook Islands
we have been very fortunate to have a major injection of tablet devices
available to schools and I have been one among many who have enjoyed the hype
of their use and arrival. Watching the school children, teachers and parents pour
over the apps busily exploring and creating has been exciting and a necessary
step on our journey to delivering 21st Century education. As the
hype of having such devices subsides it becomes necessary for ICT leaders,
principals and teachers to focus on the pedagogy of tablet integration so that
we avoid the stagnant abyss of nothingness that occurs once the children have “become
bored” with the apps they use.
Our responsibility is to now continue to move through our
stages of tablet integration with a focus on pedagogy. Watch this video about how integrating technology is not really about integrating technology at all. It's about our practice (pedagogy) and using technology how we use it in the real world.
There are thousands upon thousands of apps available for these
devices with many being heralded as “essential” for the classroom and thousands upon thousands that are less than sub-standard. How do we become discerning users? Teachers can be forgiven for becoming overwhelmed with what is actually required in order to
support and enrich the classroom program as well as improve learning for the students.
Schools can adopt an auditing system that allows teachers to assess whether an app is suitable for providing high
quality task opportunities or merely a tool for enrichment (practice). By linking the apps to Bloom's Taxonomy we can also assess an apps ability to facilitate higher order learning experiences.
How to Audit an App
1.
Make a list of the apps you use in
the classroom and ask the following questions of them
-
How will the students demonstrate their learning
using this app?
-
Can the learning
be published to the school website/blog/print/portfolio easily?
-
What
formative assessment data can I get from the app?
2.
Decide whether an app is used mostly
for
-
Presentation/collaboration
-
Problem
solving
-
Enrichment
(practice)
3.
Use the following chart
to place your apps and their activities against blooms taxonomy chart
Consider
the following:
How many
apps are sitting at the knowledge level?
How could an
app move up the taxonomy pyramid?
Auditing apps is easy for teachers to do and can be done after a set amount of time
to ensure that classroom practice is high quality using the tools available in
a creative and flexible way.
Are tablet
technologies the answer to creating a modern, engaging 21st Century
classroom? I think no, credit must go to the innovative teachers who use these
technologies in a quality way by modifying their current teaching practice to
include a range of tools.
No comments:
Post a Comment