I find myself in a very different place than my classmates this week. As I am a 3rd grade teacher, my students don’t have the privilege (yet!) of being a part of a 1-to-1 program. So, while most weeks the articles that I read directly relate to my classroom, this week, it was interesting to look into the challenges and expectations of classrooms that have these programs in place.
The article Classroom Management of Laptops shared some good examples of what may become my reality as the 1-to-1 program makes it way down to the lower elementary grades. Looking at the list, I felt that a lot of these ideas are things that I already strive to do in my classroom as far as management is concerned. It was nice to read them through a technological lens.
I also enjoyed Jeff Utech’s article Why I still want MS and HS to Have a Laptop. Most of the technology that I have been integrating into my classroom has been through the use of iPads. It’s nice to see an article that looks into the limitations, purpose and realities of both devices. Keeping in mind of what Mr. Utech believes would be the ideal , “Now if you really want to plan for the future, and by that I mean the next two years, then students should have both an iPad and a MacBook.” I look forward to finding out what devices the future might bring to upper elementary students.
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- Image by Sean MacEntee
Right now at SSIS we are lucky enough to have two iPad carts in the Elementary School. It is with this in mind that we plan our units, looking into how we can integrate technology in a meaningful way. Our goal is to for the technology transform what we are teaching. I still find this a challenge at times but it is what I strive for as I don’t want the iPad to simply be a substitute for pen and paper. So far we have been able to integrate technology into the majority of our units. As this is the first year we are teaching many of these units, we are being mindful of taking steps that are realistic with the hopes of continuing to build on our ideas in the years to come. The use of TPACK to effectively teach with technology will be of great assistance to us as we continue to plan throughout the year.
