Tablets, Smart Phones, PC’s, Laptops, Smart pens, smart boards … Oh, if only I had had just one of these when I was in college! I swear I could have changed the world. Or, at the very least, avoided hand cramps from excessive note taking as I furiously tried to capture Doc Johnson’s lectures on the Civil War verbatim.
I have taught high school social studies for over 20 years. To be honest, burnout and boredom were starting to impact my teaching. Then, in 2012 my school made the decision that every student and every teacher must have an iPad. This is a private boarding school so the policy was quite easy to implement. What wasn’t so easy was getting the teachers excited about using technology in the classroom.
I decided I would ‘lead the charge.’ I immersed myself
in apps, podcasts, and YouTube. And I got excited about teaching. Granted, to a large degree, it was like being a first year teacher all over again. When I chose to flip my classroom I had to recreate lesson plans – from scratch (no textbook with pre-made tests and PowerPoints). It was a lot of work and very time consuming.
But the results have been worth it. I’m excited. The kids are excited. Most importantly, they are learning. The world they will work in and raise their children in will not be the same as mine. Whether you love it or hate it technology is here. It is our responsibility as teachers to provide the very best education we can for our students and that means teaching them how to responsibly and productively use technology as a tool for learning – not just for entertainment value.
He was right. And the television executives sold out to the corporate advertisers and delivered what the masses were so eager to see … entertainment. We can allow the tablets, smart phones and other technology gadgets to become platforms for social networking – or we can use them to teach, illuminate and inspire.
