Sort Out The School Tech Mess (Techlife Australia Article)

The April Edition of Techlife Australia has an interesting article for parents on selecting the right device for student learning given the myriad of options now available such as laptops, netbooks, ipads and tablet computers.

With the future of the laptop rollout in schools in doubt after this year, it is likely that parents will pick up the bill in providing the technology needed to aid student learning in the classroom. Some schools already bill families levies for the hire of laptops for example schools managed by the  Catholic Education Office Sydney have various levies associated with the hire of laptops to students.

To cut to the chase, the article recommends that for the time being, the humble laptop is the recommended device for student learning given that the programs and applications can operate more smoothly. The computing power needed on a laptop is there as opposed to the tablet and Ipad. Also keep in mind that tablets and Ipads are more for consuming content as opposed to creating content. Yes students have to consume content, but they need to also create the content to demonstrate to us as educators that they are indeed learning.

The article also provides useful consumer advice on selecting the right laptop, the essential features of a laptop needed for learning e.g processing speed, batteries etc, several laptops are reviewed plus options for either buying or leasing a laptop.

Technology & Classroom behavior: Do they cause kids to misbehave?

Being a casual teacher, this is an interesting question that I want to take some time to reflect on. Obviously the use of laptops allow for greater teaching and learning opportunities in the classroom on so many fronts whether it may be in the presentation of information or making the use of the world wide web to research for information.

As a casual teacher, I try and encourage the students to use the laptops for their learning. With many youngsters wired up to technology, it is fair that if they enjoy the technology, that should be utilized to allow them to learn. As teachers, we do need to focus on student interests if they are to learn effectively. Obviously there are some who want to opt for more traditional means of learning and I try and accommodate that too.

However I find that using the laptops in the classroom can cause students to disengage from learning and end up off task. This is a common issue that has been raised with colleagues that I work at in the various schools that I am employed at. This becomes more challenging if you are a casual teacher.

For instance, some will end up surfing the web, visiting websites not related to learning. They will listen to music from youtube and/or have music stored on their laptops, some of which contain offensive content.

Gaming has emerged as another challenge. Some have downloaded games or simply can access a website that contains games.

I have found that the only way to control the class is to effectively stand at the back of the room where the screens can be seen and moving around regularly. At the front of the room, you cannot see them so there is little point in remaining down the front at all and ensuring that they remain on task.

Then some will want to test my expectations relating to appropriate use of laptops and that of the school’s e.g. play music aloud or simply not comply with instructions even though those expectations were firmly provided.

Taking away the computers from the students may be a short term solution but then the student cannot learn. A few years ago when training as a teacher and even in my first year of casual teaching, I did that and at the end of the day the situation is not really resolved. If the task requires internet research, to sit there and doing nothing will not work. They do not learn at all and miss out on learning the information and communication skills that they will need as part of curriculum requirements.

Will conventional punishments such as a “work” detention (where the student stays back to finish the work) work? Maybe that is the effective way. If a student wastes their learning time doing recreational activities on the computer, maybe sacrificing some of that time after school might do the job. In the workplace, if we waste our time, don’t we have to make up for the time lost at some point, either directly (staying back at our desk) or doing it in our own leisure time.

I plan to answer this further in my next blog post.