Creativity and Technology

Today's class is one that will stay with me.  We had Martin Ingenmey and Bryce Ridgen from Minnedosa Collegiate come to present to our class on Initiative and the Classroom.  They talked a lot about how they are a 1:1 high school.  This means that every student has a device provided by the school.  The students use this device through the years.  When graduation comes they can either buy the device or return it to the school.  This concept is great in theory.  It would limit the headaches of booking computer lab time or the reserving the portable laptops.  This is an issue I have run into during previous placements.  Having all your students have their own device would open up so many more options for assignments you could create or implement in your classroom.

http://www.schrockguide.net/samr.html

During the presentation Bryce looked at how teachers need to create assignments that reach the higher levels of the SAMR model and Bloom's Taxonomy (the picture to the right connects the two models).  Technology can greatly impact how a student is able to demonstrate their understanding of their knowledge.  It was great to see some of the exemplars from Bryce's students, past and present, as he has challenged them to think creatively, allowing them choice in how they demonstrate what they have learned.

One concern that came to mind during this presentation was how to use some of these ideas with younger students.  My next placement is in grade 4.  With the age restriction for some sites or apps my students would be limited to what they could do to publish their work.  I have been hearing more and more about the use of Twitter in the classroom, but it is the teacher who publishes the posts. Students do not have their own accounts, it is the classroom account.  I agree with the statement that students take more pride in their work when it is published, but I believe that they would have even more pride if they, themselves were able to publish their final product.

One other concern that was in the back of my mind was "what if I end up working in a division where they are not supportive of using technology in the classroom" or "what if I end up working in a division where technology is very limited?".  The second question is the direct result of one of my placements.  I was at a school where the wi-fi was blocked to students.  There were no iPads, or netbooks, or laptops for the classrooms to share.  There was 3 computer labs, and one was a teachers classroom (ICT).  This made it challenging for one of the assignments I had created.  Thankfully, my students were able to use the app, but they had to download it at home.  Also, to submit their assignment they either had to connect their phone to the computer or email it to me outside of school hours.

With these thoughts in my head, I had to remind myself that teachers can modify anything to work with there resources, laws, and students.  Teachers just have to get creative, especially when they expect their students to be creative.

~ Miss Laing