7A. Discussion
Teaching Scenario:
You meet your principal for the first time and get the keys to your classroom. Upon unlocking the door, you fumble for the light switch. Harsh florescent light fills the room as your eyes adjust and quickly survey its contents? There's an old desktop computer on the teacher's desk. Two older desktops are in the corner that look like they're for student use. Under a sheet at the front of the room, there's is an LCD projector on a cart with a pair of speakers. In your previous district, there were interactive whiteboards in every classroom, but not here. You place your belongings on your new desk and take out your smartphone to see if there's a wireless network available... fingers crossed tightly. Whatever the answer, this is what you've got to work with and the tools you have to help your students achieve. You've gotta make it work and you will.
The specific learning environment of a classroom or school is typically outside of a one's control. Maybe you work at a school within a less-affluent district with nothing but desktop computers for teachers and one computer lab for students with ten-year-old PCs. On the other end of the spectrum, maybe you hit the technological jackpot and your school just passed a one-to-one initiative and every student is equipped with a brand new laptop or tablet.
Every classroom is a unique learning environment with varying levels of technological integration.
Types of Learning Environments:
You meet your principal for the first time and get the keys to your classroom. Upon unlocking the door, you fumble for the light switch. Harsh florescent light fills the room as your eyes adjust and quickly survey its contents? There's an old desktop computer on the teacher's desk. Two older desktops are in the corner that look like they're for student use. Under a sheet at the front of the room, there's is an LCD projector on a cart with a pair of speakers. In your previous district, there were interactive whiteboards in every classroom, but not here. You place your belongings on your new desk and take out your smartphone to see if there's a wireless network available... fingers crossed tightly. Whatever the answer, this is what you've got to work with and the tools you have to help your students achieve. You've gotta make it work and you will.
The specific learning environment of a classroom or school is typically outside of a one's control. Maybe you work at a school within a less-affluent district with nothing but desktop computers for teachers and one computer lab for students with ten-year-old PCs. On the other end of the spectrum, maybe you hit the technological jackpot and your school just passed a one-to-one initiative and every student is equipped with a brand new laptop or tablet.
Every classroom is a unique learning environment with varying levels of technological integration.
Types of Learning Environments:
- One-Computer Classroom
- Computer Stations / Stand-Alone Computer Lab
- One-to-One Environment
- Interactive whiteboards, student responder techniques
- Tablet Computing
- B.Y.O.D. [cell phones, etc]
- Cloud Computing
- Blended Learning / Flipped Classroom
- Online Learning
- No Computers in the classroom [by design]
Discussion Question
How do the number of devices, student access technology, and 'classroom' setting influence one's pedagogical approach? What steps can an instructor take to best leverage the technology in his or her classroom?