Technology is and important part of education–both in and out school. As important as technology is, it’s also very important to think critically about how and why we use the technology in our lives.
These checklists can help.
For students:
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For parents:
Click to download printable version
A lot can change in a year, including education. That’s never more true than right now, with technology continually ushering in new ways to connect and learn causing the educational landscape took look a lot different that it did just a few short years ago.
The Flipped Classroom--this experimental approach flipped the traditional model of lecture-in-class, homework-at-home on its head and saw students learning via You Tube at home, and working on assignments and group work in class.
Blended Learning–rapidly growing in popularity, in a blended classroom, students spend a portion of their in-class time self-learning using computers.
Twitter in the classroom–social media became a large player in many classrooms, helping increase student engagement.
Cursive is removed from the curriculum–Some school boards remove learning cursive handwriting from the curriculum, saying it’s an outmoded lesson.
Cellphones in the classroom--once banned from classrooms, some school classrooms actually require students to have cellphones to participate in discussions.
Is there such a thing as too much technology?–a new study shows that too much online time can actually change brain structures and cause poorer test results.
Stop texting and go to sleep– research shows that technology use before bed can disrupt sleep habits, causing students to struggle in class.
Longer days, shorter weeks–schools experiment with a shortened school week to see if a day off gives students more of a chance to complete work.
What were the biggest changes to education that you experienced this year? We’d love to hear from you!
There’s been a lot of talk about how technology in the classroom can enrich the learning experience, giving students multi-sensory, hands-on learning time. New tools such as iPads and even tools with fewer bells and whistles (such as cellphones) are becoming part of many schools’ classroom teaching and learning experience.
The argument is that it just makes sense to teach using the tools and methods that students are already using to communicate and learn.
The supporters say that it engages the students and can break down learning barriers crating greater student interaction.
In fact, some schools are experimenting with a new instruction model–the flipped classroom–which has kids listening to lectures via You Tube for homework, and using class time to complete assignments and interact with fellow students. They say that the traditional model is passive, and doesn’t challenge the students using the tools that the student is already using.
However, not all schools think that technology in the classroom benefits learning. Some research actually suggests that the traditional instruction model–teacher lecturing at the front of a classroom while students take note–actually promotes better learning. Some schools firmly believe that traditional is best–going as far as banning computers from the classroom.
However, for public schools facing budget cuts and staffing problems, the blended learning model–incorporating both lecture and self-teaching into lessons–seems to make the most sense. It encourages independence and provides guidance while still giving the structure that students are familiar with.
Is your family up to the challenge of going Internet-free?
How much does your family use technology for entertainment? How many hours are spent killing time surfing the web, playing video games, watching YouTube videos?
Some studies show that kids are using technology up to 7 hours a day. While this might suggest that kids would be more reluctant than their parents to unplug, a recent “technology abstinence” experiment in a Chicago school showed that 90% of sixth graders chose to go technology-free for the experiment.
The students weren’t completely restricted however—they could access some technology … whatever technology was available in 1983 when their teacher was in 6th grade.
Both parents and students rediscovered love of technology-free time. They spent more time doing crafts, reading, exercising, and simply engaging in good old-fashioned conversation.
While kids need to be techno-competent for school, they also need time away from technology to engage their brains in different ways. In fact, studies show that technology usage in the hours before bed can disrupt sleep patterns, which in turn can have a negative impact in the ability to learn.
Despite the UN declaring Internet access a basic human right (or maybe because of it), groups are springing up to help people deal with “media addiction.”
The website Good.Is has even issued a 30-Day Internet-Free Challenge that suggests that families unplug at 8 pm every night.
Will you participate? Let us know!
Thanks to Good.Is for the great idea!
Call it what you want—script, cursive, handwriting, cursive writing—School boards in Indiana and Georgia now have the option to eliminate it from the curriculum.
But, do we even care? In today’s techno-literature culture, where kids can operate computers before they can read, is teaching cursive writing a nostalgic throwback to a bygone era?
Some school boards think yes: they’d prefer to use the class time—which is at a premium—to focus on keyboarding skills.
However, what about those times when technology isn’t available to us, and we have to rely on our foundation in the educational basics—reading, writing, and aRthimatic? If kids were to find themselves in a situation where they had to leave a handwritten note, wouldn’t a printed note suffice?
Do kids need to use in-class time learning script?
Cursive supporters say, yes, it’s still a needed skill, especially when it comes to writing tests and in-class essays. Cursive is fast, fluid, and more automatic than printing due to there being less stop and starting, and it tends to lead to more creative expression in written essays.
If time is of the essence when writing essays, then cursive is quicker. But in order to get a point across, handwriting needs to be legible, or students can lose grades. So students still need to practice their penmanship; after all, if a teacher can’t read it, it can’t be graded.
And, there is evidence that the manual act of writing helps to stimulate cognitive processes.Wheter it’s printing or cursive, the pen-to paper act of physically writing helps the cognitive processes and can improve memory.
Researchers say that this might be because forming the letter by hands requires more steps than simply recognizing a pre-formed shape on a keyboard—it requires a more dynamic mental process.
However, if teaching your tech-savvy kids a scrolled script using pen and paper seems too low-tech, well, there’s an app for that. Students can practice their cursive using a stylus on iPads and iPhones.
The irony of using technology to practice a supposedly out-dated skill is duly noted.
Read more:
When you think of your child being in class and learning, do you picture a teacher at the front of the room, lecturing to the class, or do you picture students at computer stations doing exercises and working through coursework on their own?
More and more, classrooms are beginning to look like a combination of the two.
Technology has become ubiquitous to learning, but does having more technology in the classroom mean better learning? As teaching tools, computers are being used to help struggling school boards deal with budget constraints and staff limitations. But, it’s not just computers that are changing how class time is organized; iPads, smartphones, cellphones, and tablets—as well as social media such as Facebook and Twitter—are all being used to change how students are learning in the classroom.
Supporters of technology in the classroom say that students have never been more engaged; that technology helps shy students participate, and students who don’t know each other collaborate; that social media is increasing motivation and grades.
However, other studies show that the more traditional, less technology-based lecture-style classroom, allows teachers to cover more of the curriculum, and actually helps children perform better academically.
Without a doubt, technology in the classroom breaks through some of the common downsides of the lecture model of instruction:
The blended learning model is becoming more and more popular as it bridges the gap between the traditional and the virtual classroom. It allows students to move at their own pace and gives them a sense of ownership in their education. Some schools are offering full high school courses online to help with scheduling conflicts and lack of teacher resources.
How much technology do your kids use in the classroom? We’d love to hear from you!
According to an article on CNN, recent study is showing that too much online time can actually change brain structure.
The study looked at college students who spent about 10 hours a day online in comparison to those who spent less than two hours a day. The study showed that the heavy Internet users actually had different brain structures in the “thinking” part of the brain.
Research says that the constant online stimulation can activate pleasure centres in the brain, and that the brain is wired to crave the instantaneous pleasures that online multitasking can give. But, the brain also needs the downtime—the slower pace of being offline—to process and rest.
Not so surprisingly, a surplus of online time didn’t just have cognitive implications— social ramifications of spending too much time online were observed, such as not being able to properly identify the emotions of people in stories.
While it can be difficult to cut back online time, the article offers tip to help heavy online multitaskers reduce their reliance on technology, which is important for parents and children alike. These guidelines can go a long way to helping establish Online Guidelines in your home that everyone can follow.
Forget about turning your cellphone off before you enter class.
Forget about having it confiscated for texting during lectures, or for browsing the web while you should be listening.
Your cellphone is now part of your classroom experience, so you better make sure that your battery is fully charged before you head to school.
Many school districts have bans on cellphones in classrooms, citing them as learning distractions or tools for social harassment.
Schools in the Toronto area have lifted the ban on cellphones in the classroom and are looking at the different ways that cellphones and other hand-held technology can be harnessed to make class time interactive.
Across the US, school boards have been have been researching the effectiveness of iPads as learning tools for students of all ages.
Classrooms already using personal electronic devices (PEDs) to teach and learn all report success:
Cellphones—or other PEDs—are tools to access social media, which can be harnessed as a benefit to the classroom, and might help students who might be too shy to interact in the classroom otherwise.
Universities are already using personal technology and social media to interact with students. A recent study shows that up the 30% of profs use social media regularly.
And other studies are showing that social media site Facebook can actually help increase grades.
It will take a few years to implement a district-wide cellphone policy in Toronto, but certain teachers are embracing the technology ahead of schedule and engaging students using the technology—and the ability to learn—that they already have in their hands.
Read more:
Time they are a changing…especially in classrooms
Today’s students don’t send notes, they text. And, they don’t need to cart heavy textbooks around. They can download their class notes off the Internet.
They use iPads and other hand-held technology in class. They don’t need to go to class to “hand-in” an assignment when it can be emailed, or uploaded to a class page. They use social media to confer about homework, and gadgets of all sorts to research.
New technology has ushered in not only new ways to communicate, but also new words to talk about this communication. Lingo formerly used in texting has gone mainstream–they have made their way into the lexicon and are widely accepted. In fact, the OED has added “initialisms” such as lol and imho to the acceptable lexicon.
Language and education are changing rapidly… but it’s where these two intersect that is slower to adapt: grammar.
Educators and grammarians (and purists) still cling to tried-and-true rules of grammar—they way things always have been. And students, who are masters of communication outside the classroom are struggling to conform to a rule set that doesn’t seem relevant.
The rules of grammar are based on rules that were created decades ago. When it comes to grammar, unlike when it comes to words, change does not come so easily or with as much acceptance
However, maybe it’s time to accept that some of the hard-and-fast rules are ready to be bent, or at least ready for a classroom update as well?
If the goal is teaching students how to express themselves clearly—even display some style—using today’s technology and lexicon, then it’s quite possible that the “old” rules might not be appropriate anymore.
Outside of the classroom, in much of the printed material that students encounter, the “rules” are being broken—even encouraged. Some of the most common “broken rules” that students will come across in books, blogs, magazines, and across the Internet in general include:
• Starting sentences with AND or BUT.
• Splitting the infinitive
• Sentence fragments
• Ending a sentence with a preposition
• Turning nouns into verbs.
However, students still need to know the rules in order to communicate clearly and effectively. Grammar sets the rules of our language and provides parameters to guide comprehension.
Don’t fail that English test! Understand the basics first, and then add in style and creativity. Start a sentence with a conjunction (but know what a conjunction is). Use sentence fragments—they add punch. Impress your teacher. Break the rules, but be smart about it.
Just don’t write lol in your essay. The OED may have accepted it, but it’s doubtful that teachers will.
Put your hand up if you like to watch TV before you go to sleep.
Put your hand up if you’ve sent texts, answered emails, or answered a phone call while in bed.
Now put your hand up if you have had a bad night’s sleep, or have woken up tired.
New studies are showing that using technology during the hour before bed can significantly disrupt sleep patterns.
The research shows that artificial light from screens—even small ones like cellphones—disrupts circadian rhythms and causes poor sleep.
For students, the lack of sleep can affect learning ability. 55% of 13-18 year-olds surveyed were using some laptops before bed, which means less-than-optimal classroom performance. That’s because the brain recharges during sleep. It’s when the brain is moving and storing information—specifically moving fact-based memories from the hippocampus where they are stored temporarily, to the prefrontal cortex, which is essentially the brain’s hard drive. This means more room for learning. But in order to make room to learn more information tomorrow, you have to get a good night’s sleep.
That means no pre-bed video games. No late night text-a-thons. No falling asleep with the TV on.
The Takeaway:
Don’t make technology part of your sleep routine. Log off at least an hour before bed, and choose activities that will help your body get into sleep mode.
Here are some ideas:
1. Dim the lights
2. Read a book
3. Skim over school work
4. Organize your bookbag
5. Write in a journal
Read more about sleep and learning: Sleep Habits and Academic Performance, Why We Need Sleep to Learn
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