It has come time for us, as educators, to bridge the gap between our students’ learning environment and recreational environment. By shifting our perception from this idea that social media and personal devices have a negative affect on the development of children and adolescents, we can eliminate the dichotomy of school versus home. The children we are teaching are 21st century learners who have grown up in a digital world – so, to ask them to power down when they get to school, bolsters the misconception that technology does not belong in a classroom (Academic Partnerships, 2013). As a teacher-to-be, I plan to do my best to shine a light on this long living fallacy and embrace technology and the connectivity that accompanies it. Here are the three main advancements I would like to make in the long-established technology-free zones called classrooms.
BYOD
The first advancement is to adopt the “Bring Your Own Devices” concept piloted by Peel District School Board. For learning purposes, it is crucial that each student has access to some form of personal device, whether it is brought from home or borrowed from the school. To do this, parents would have to be on-board. So, I would post an open letter the parents on the class blog I already had set up, as well as I would send them each an e-mail, outlining the importance of these devices in our class. Once, BYOD is in place, my classroom would look much different than a traditional classroom. Rather than having the students turn off phones, iPods, iPads or laptops and put them away during class time, devices would be turned on and accessible throughout the day. Students would be using these devices to run classroom approved apps (Peel District School Board, 2015).
For more information on BYOD, click here.
For more information on BYOD, click here.
My Big Campus
After cruising around the internet, searching for “education-friendly” apps that would allow students to connect, collaborate and learn, I stumbled upon my second advancement - a gem called “My Big Campus.” This app is available for Apple devices, Androids, desktop computers and even works on a Blackberry. It is a learning management system that promotes an independent learning experience within an educational community and it will be a staple in my digital friendly classroom. Similar to Twitter, there is a live feed, which students can contribute to. In my classroom, I would have a Smartboard on the wall and when I was not using it to teach a lesson, I would have the app running so students could see the task-related conversations happening all around them. I think this will create an open discourse in the classroom, and may even generate teaching moments for students. If a question is asked and I haven’t responded, another student may choose to answer the question based on their understanding. This app will allow students to connect at any time of the day and access assignments posted by the teacher, create discussions and share resources with classmates all while maintaining their safety with content filtering. If you ask me, this app is a must have in any 21st century learning environment (Lightspeed Systems Inc., 2013).
Cel.ly for Education
I could go on and on about all of the other great digital and social upgrading I would like to implement in my room, like Skype, Facebook and Twitter; but I think my third advancement deserves a little more limelight than those, already dated web 2.0 tools. On my hunt, I came across an app called cel.ly, which is also available for every personal device imaginable. Cel.ly allows students to text the teacher, each other, and their parents without displaying any phone numbers. Since this app is accessible on every kind of network and device, the students do not necessarily require a phone to “text.” This app would allow me to communicate with my students about upcoming tests, homework assignments and field their questions quicker than e-mail. It also could be used as a channel for communication between parents and myself. Sending a quick message to say, “Hey Susie is doing great in class today, ask her about the moon when she gets home,” would improve relationships between educators and caregivers and keep the students learning outside of the classroom (Celly, n.d.).
Click here for more information on how Cel.ly can be used in the classroom.
Click here for more information on how Cel.ly can be used in the classroom.
References
Academic Partnerships (2013, May 24). Rethinking Your Online Classroom with Connectivism. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from http://facultyecommons.org/rethinking-your-online-classroom-with-connectivism/
Celly - Instant Group Text and Polls | Mobile Learning | Text to Screen. (n.d.). Retrieved January 15, 2015, from https://cel.ly/education/examples
Lightspeed Systems Inc. (2013, March 14). My Big Campus Explained. Retrieved January 15, 2015, from http://youtu.be/0_2zgrATWAM
Peel District School Board. (2015). BYOD - Bring Your Own Device. Retrieved January 16, 2015, from http://www.peelschools.org/aboutus/21stcentury/byod/Pages/default.aspx