Having laptops in a classroom is a wonderful thing, that is, if you're lucky enough. I know from personal experience working with the London District Catholic School Board in London, Ontario, because we had 2 computers in our room. With the pendulum swung the other way, management of just the 2 computers was very difficult, because so many children wanted access to them and it required a lot of coordination to try to make this happen. Needless to say, it was very frustrating, too!
Laptops in the classroom enables students access to the world beyond the 4 walls of our room. It allows for collaboration, word processing, design, reflection and much more. With this in mind, a teacher needs to maximize time when using the laptops by making transitions smooth and safety a top priority. For example, in my class, Room 227 a simple thing that I have done is assign each student a number, that is taped to their desk, along with their name. Each number corresponds to a laptop in a cart. Our carts have 12 in each, so the first 12 students have a number ranging from 1-12. Students who have numbers 13-21 will use a 2nd cart and a student who has the number 13 will be #1, a student with number 14 will be #2 and so on. This encourages students to use the same computer each time, and allows the teacher to target a student if suspicious or inappropriate behavior occurs on a particular computer.
As students can be easily distracted, well, at least mine are, I always ask the students to lower their laptop lid to 45 degrees while I am giving an instruction. This encourages the students to give respect to the teacher by looking at me and not at their screens. I find this really helps.
Here is a wiki on classroom management of laptops. It gives very good tips on how to manage a classroom with a tool such as a laptop. For me, one of the most powerful tips they give is #10:
10) Victory is different for different kids. Some kids will blow you way with innovative uses and processes and results. Other kids will have more basic achievements. Some will really struggle. Try to find ways to celebrate all sorts of different successes. One of my favorites is to share a screenshot of a student’s desktop who has really organized his/her work in a clear, logical manner. I’ve seen students use over a hundred stickies, grouped by color for different projects and needs, to organize notes and work. Pretty brilliant, and I was happy to share it. Such celebrations build the culture, and also enable students more ownership in the process.
Great wiki and I think this is what technology real is about. It's about giving students opportunities to do things in different ways. You make a video, I'll write, you sing. You stay organized this way, I do mine that way. It's about giving choose, and what technology allows us to do is have customized choices for our students....that's the true power of tech!
ReplyDelete