Well, if you are an edtecher and haven’t seen the story about Richard S. Fowler Catholic Junior High School, here is your chance. Just some thoughts as the program starts in September so we won’t really know how things are going for at least six months:
- Good on the school for providing a class set of devices for those who can’t afford to have or bring their device to school (St. Albert is higher SES, but that doesn’t mean that every family can drop $300 for a device)
- Good on them for taking a look at their population and choosing the most popular devices to support – iSlates – but what about other devices? Are they just not willing to accept that there are other devices that are just as capable? Nah, I think it has more to do with the fact that to get teachers comfortable with one device takes a fair amount of time and effort – to try to get them familiar with Android, Chrome and every other mobile device interface out there will take … well, quite a bit. We just won’t mention anything about jailbroken devices… It likely also helps that they are using PowerSchool and their SIS – a former Apple product.
- Bad on them for thinking the worst of their students for what they “might” do on the ‘net – the SA Gazette has a bit of a write up as to how the WiFi network will still protect the children from the hazards of FaceBook and the like. One of the interviews that I heard on the radio said that “good teaching is good teaching… and that is enough to keep kids away from extra distractions that come through these devices”
From the Gazette:
In recent years, school officials have struggled to keep a lid on inappropriate classroom use of devices like cellphones, but the Catholic division is trying to flip that thinking on its ear.
“We won’t support the idea that these devices are counterproductive to student learning. It’s learning how to use the tool well,” said division superintendent David Keohane.
There is a growing array of educational applications available for smartphones that can be used to better engage students and improve learning, he said.
“Any technological device can be used irresponsibly. Our challenge is to enable kids to use these responsibly and offset the tendency to text about something else while the teacher is talking,” he said.
If seems to me that they are almost trying to say two things at once – that they will let the students be responsible, but at the same time limit what they can do…
But at the end of the day, I can’t complain, this is a start and it’s something that has moved the mobile learning idea forward in Alberta – riding on the popularity of Apple devices and taking advantage of the fact that schools will not be able to keep up with the technology on their own – realizing that they have to take the lead from the kids.
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