Allowing mobile technology in class has an "inevitable march of progress" feel to it, like when calculators were first allowed. And in classrooms around the country, this change is already occurring.
She says allowing the devices has actually decreased discipline issues. Several teachers interviewed for this story say a combination of allowing devices, and setting aside times where texting is OK, has led to a dramatic drop in "pocket texting" or "sweatshirt texting" in class.
For three years, Oyster River Middle School in Durham, N.H., has been letting students use their touch-screen devices in class. The kids learn how to make presentations on iPads, how to keep track of their homework on a smartphone, and what they should and shouldn't post on social media sites. The devices can be their planners, agenda books, and pocket reference libraries all day long.
More than ever technology has played a vital role in educating and
connecting students to learning opportunities
high schools are presented with many new
opportunities for enhancing and supplementing classroom instruction through
technology.
Through the use of online curricula, social
media outlets, virtual learning academies and assistive technology devices
there is greater access for all students to enhanced education.
assistive and
learning technology offers great promise in helping these students. Special
education delivery now happens more often in the general education classroom,
not in segregated special needs classrooms.
Tremendous advances in technology in the past decade have led to the development
of speech synthesis and recognition technology, interactive software, and
miniaturization and portability that help these students achieve and thrive