Today it has been one month since I have posted a blog entry; the tablets are but a memory, the news stories have died down, and I have run my cycle of emotions with this whole situation. I will have to admit. I have been living in the land of disappointment and uncertainty; watching the news articles come out day after day with their pointy finger subtleties and their patronizing whispers of blame. It's enough to crush your inspiration and creativity to death.
I have been back and forth on what to do with my blog now; abandon it, change the title and focus, or continue to write it with the same focus of personalized learning minus the tablets. There is the sure fact that the tablets are coming back so in the meantime it is imperative that I continue to explore personalized learning for my students, with or without 1:1 technology.
Last year we toyed with the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) concept with our students. My team designed a contract with expectations that the students and parents signed allowing the students to bring their own android and apple products to class with them each day. In Language Arts class, they were mostly used for reading personal texts, research, and the occasional use of the Socrative APP. (which does some of the same things the interactives did on the tablet) As you could probably already guess, the problem was every student having a device. And there was a glaring difference in accessibility between classes of different academic and socioeconomic levels. So how do you hurtle that obstacle; some students would share devices, I would often hand out my own device, and signing up for the computer lab was an option. Pursuing personalized learning through technology also requires students to complete online assignments/activities at home; assuming the students have internet access at home, which again, poses the same challenge.
So what is the next step.
My team will probably be bringing back the BYOD concept as soon as we define this clear vision for our students. In the meantime, I am in the process of collecting permissions for the students to use the Newsela website. Since we are beginning a non-fiction, informational unit, I am setting up my students to use NEWSELA.com to explore informational texts, gear their reading towards their interests, and read and be assessed at their own lexile level. I would also like to explore LearnZillion.com with my students, using this sight to flip some of my lessons.
All of which require personal access to a computer and wifi. Students who do not have access at home will be allowed to come to school early and use the computers available to complete assignments. I will also be scheduling more visits to the computer lab, just like everyone else (huge challenge).
So surely personalized learning doesn't lie solely in the arms of technology..????????
Time to tackle this from some different angles!!
Stayed Tuned!
I have been back and forth on what to do with my blog now; abandon it, change the title and focus, or continue to write it with the same focus of personalized learning minus the tablets. There is the sure fact that the tablets are coming back so in the meantime it is imperative that I continue to explore personalized learning for my students, with or without 1:1 technology.
Last year we toyed with the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) concept with our students. My team designed a contract with expectations that the students and parents signed allowing the students to bring their own android and apple products to class with them each day. In Language Arts class, they were mostly used for reading personal texts, research, and the occasional use of the Socrative APP. (which does some of the same things the interactives did on the tablet) As you could probably already guess, the problem was every student having a device. And there was a glaring difference in accessibility between classes of different academic and socioeconomic levels. So how do you hurtle that obstacle; some students would share devices, I would often hand out my own device, and signing up for the computer lab was an option. Pursuing personalized learning through technology also requires students to complete online assignments/activities at home; assuming the students have internet access at home, which again, poses the same challenge.
So what is the next step.
My team will probably be bringing back the BYOD concept as soon as we define this clear vision for our students. In the meantime, I am in the process of collecting permissions for the students to use the Newsela website. Since we are beginning a non-fiction, informational unit, I am setting up my students to use NEWSELA.com to explore informational texts, gear their reading towards their interests, and read and be assessed at their own lexile level. I would also like to explore LearnZillion.com with my students, using this sight to flip some of my lessons.
So surely personalized learning doesn't lie solely in the arms of technology..????????
Time to tackle this from some different angles!!
Stayed Tuned!
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