It's another Tuesday and it was another busy day! I left Mason City at 6:40 this morning to head to Waverly Middle School to see how they are using iPads in their classrooms. I learned a lot and came back excited to share things with my building since we'll be getting iPads in the fall. After getting back to school at noon I still had an afternoon to teach along with our after school tutoring program - not to mention getting my lesson plan ready for my final official observation for the year tomorrow!
Here's what I'm staying focused on though:
Dream Big by Ryan Shupe
I'm very optimistic about the future of tablets in our education system. In a few years textbooks won't need to be lugged around. But most importantly, well designed software will provide a personal tudor for each student. The software can identify where the student is at in each subject and automatically adjust the assignments, while providomg helpful tips and additional lessons. All while being linked and providing feed back to the teachers and parents. Technology could very quickly close the gap in learning disparities across socioeconomic classes where we know factors such as parents education, household income, and parent involvement affect a childs ability to learn. Furthermore, the technology will insure the students have a deep understanding of the material before moving on. As the education system stands now a child can have a poor or even mediocre grasp, of a subject like math, early on in school and will continue to struggle from then on. Because they don't have a strong foundation in that subject to properly grasp more advance ideas. Even when teachers recognize students struggling they often don't have the time and resources to provide enough one on one instruction, this can easily be solved with technology. I'm curious to know to what extent they are using Ipads today. Also, what the short term application and planed use for you and your students?
ReplyDelete