Thursday, March 1, 2012

Textbooks vs. iPads

As I'm driving to class tonight, I'm thinking of my search of various websites last week in preparation for class and I'm thinking about the video I watched on the teaching channel website.  Regardless of my opinion on what I watched, what I realized is this:  the first click someone makes on your website is key.  It can keep people coming back or it can scare them away.  

Tonight's speaker filled my head with thoughts. So many thoughts I don't know where to start.  Let's start here......

Textbooks vs. iPads? 

 I'm intrigued by the discussion this evening about what textbooks can do for learners and what iPads can do for learners.  I agree with our speaker that books won't go away, but what we know about teaching and how students learn is changing right in front of our eyes.  Who would have thought that you could blow into your iPad's microphone and cause the windmill on the screen to actually move?  I would never have imagined that when I was younger, but I can see why my 7 year old's eyes light up.  He's learning.  He's engaged. It fits his learning style.  And that's the key.......

A student might learn better with an iPad. Another student might learn better with a traditional textbook.  Who says we can't have both in the room and meet the needs of every child? 

That brings my thoughts to a speaker I heard today at the conference I went to.......she was telling the audience the story of how her daughter needed to have snack at 10 and 2 during her school day for a specific legitimate reason.  She explained to the audience that the leader of the school said her daughter would need to go to the office at these times to have that happen. Of course, the office was on the opposite side of the school. It was the teacher of the classroom who mentioned having snack in class. The leader was afraid all students would want snack then.  The teacher sent home a note and told all students they could bring snack.  The first week, everyone brought snack. It was new. It was fun.  It was novel. Three weeks later, only her daughter was having snack.  Why? because her daughter needed it and the novelty for the other kids had worn off.

I wonder then, if you had a choice for your students, if they first all chose the iPad, if three weeks later, as the newness wore off, if all students would still choose the iPad?  Would some return to traditional textbooks?

Which brings me to the beginning of my brain dump on what an "ideal" classroom/school would look like to me....just a concept I've been playing with:

Individual classrooms:
The room is engaging
The colors are warm and inviting
The teacher greets each student at the door and welcomes them into the room
A table by the door has traditional textbooks, iPads,  and who knows what technology by that time
The class lessons are videotaped and posted to a webpage the teacher maintains for students to watch. Perhaps the lessons are "flipped" and the teacher gives the lessons as "homework" at night and uses class time to do the assignments
Perhaps the desks are in a circle one day, in a square the next and so on
The teacher presents the lesson and while she is talking about what the class is going to be doing, she has powerful pictures popping up on the screen for students to see.  (ex: perhaps we are talking about an art teacher who will be doing painting that day and behind them is a screen showing google art gallery.  The teacher can go to the specific artist she is teaching about and show the students their work).  You get the idea.......
Each kid has a special space (aka desk), the chairs they use might be a therapy ball, a couch, a cushion, a blanket. 
Shoes off/shoes on/shoes optional-whatever helps you learn-I don't care, as long as they are engaged and learning.  That's the key.


The School:
The school doors open early and remain open into the early evening
A computer lab is open from the time schools ends into the early evening-run by parents, volunteers, teachers, the school leader (rotational basis)
There is artwork in the halls
Children who are late aren't "tardy" but they carry a "we're so glad you're here" slip from the office

The staff:
Are engaged
Do personal invitations to events to engage families
Get paid what they are worth.  Aside from parents, teachers have the 2nd most important job in the world.  No offense to any coaches out there, but if a university coach can get millions for taking a team to the NFL, perhaps a teacher can make a great salary and get "bonuses" for helping get student A to school consistently or for teaching student B new concepts which they then took and applied elsewhere.
Post their class assignments and lessons on their individual webpages contained within the school's webpage.  They are easy to read, they show parents what the assignments are, and students can easily print them out or complete them online if they miss school. 


What would learning look like in a school like this? 

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