The final round of government funding is currently being distributed to schools all around Australia. So far over 967,000 computers have been bought, infrastructure built and (most) teachers up-skilled to benefit from the acquisition. But as the funds come to an end, many school principals are wondering if the process has been beneficial, and how can they continue to support and progress the Digital Education Revolution?
Have you ever felt that your online students needed more direction on how to approach a discussion board? Have you thought that with just a bit more assistance students would really engage in the forum and take it to the next level, rather than just do the minimum required to get points?
I strongly believe that technology is going to completely revolutionize the classroom. But when are we going to start addressing the negative aspects of the one-to-one classroom? When are we going to acknowledge the fact that just because every student has a device it does not mean that they will get a 36 on the ACT? I have seen videos of babies that can play with an iPad, but that does not mean that high school students intuitively know how to use one to effectively collaborate and communicate in the classroom.
When socializing or communicating with Facebook here are some resources to support your understanding of the environment, a few tips to ensure for a safe experience, and some links to keep up you up to date on changes and privacy settings. The concept to be aware of is that anything online is not private. So be cautious and thoughtful about what you say, share and post. It will be associated with you
on the internet and you may never be able to get rid of it. Think before you post!
device, I'm concerned that most one-to-one implementation strategies are based on the new tool as the focus of the program. Unless we break out of this limited vision that one-to-one computing is about the device, we are doomed to waste our resources.
From 8th January - 22nd March I chose one class, my First Year class (aged 11-12) to give up using exercise books, reading books and textbooks. Instead, they would use only digital mediums that were available to them through an iPad that they were supplied with during each lesson.
The model of inquiry I chose to use was the LADDER model, which I developed several years ago in an attempt to create a model which had an easy to understand language that both students and teachers could understand.
"There are tons of great apps available for the iPad which can be used to teach digital storytelling. I downloaded a few and, so far, my favorite is Toontastic. The app was designed with kids in mind but adults will love using it too. This is not only a great app to use in the classroom but also provides parents with a great tool to spend some fun quality time with their children. "
You thought the $199 Kindle Fire was a good deal? You thought OLPC was doing the right thing with cheap laptops? Archos is going even further with the announcement of the Child Pad, a seven-inch kid-friendly tablet that runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich right out of the box.