horizon report reflection

Mobile devices and apps are discriminatory against people that don’t have smart phones or even mobile devices at all. I don’t see how apps could promote academic discipline when having the ability to use mobile devices in the classroom would just tempt students to be off-task. Tablets would be better because of a lack of texting capabilities. Maybe someday textbooks will be accessible on school-provided tablets for students, certainly solving many of the younger generations’ tendencies to develop back problems. I definitely think game-based learning is incredibly beneficial to students’ willingness to learn and practice what they have learned. I personally remember using many online games to learn about the solar system when I was younger. And as a student that always struggled with math, using online games to practice what I was learning in class probably would have proved equally, if not more, beneficial. Being able to work in groups also allows students to get something more out of what was said by the teacher when the students also hear their classmate’s perspectives. In biology, many times when I do not understand something, someone in my group is able to explain it differently than the teacher did, and it begins to make more sense. I feel like students engaging in personal learning activities wouldn’t get as much out of learning that way, because most will pick the easiest way out and try just get by, by doing the bare minimum, if they are allowed to teach themselves. Most won’t push themselves in the way a teacher would push them. Augmented reality sounds like the way that I learn best. If I am interpreting it correctly, augmented reality is making the connection between what is being taught and how it relates to the real world. This is not only beneficial to understanding, but to remembering, information. This is definitely the most intriguing technological option to me because I think the whole point of everything we learn in the classroom goes back to how we will one day apply it in our careers. So I definitely think augmented realities is the form of technology I would most like to implement in a classroom. Natural user interfaces are very beneficial to students with disabilities, to make learning easier for them and for their teachers.

Giving the child to learn wherever and whenever they want may not necessarily be helpful. What about the children that have questions? Who are they going to ask their questions to if they’re just watching an informational video? What about children with behavioral problems? Who is going to encourage them to focus and learn if they’re just watching an informational video? Parents may not always be around or qualified to serve as a secondary teacher to the online teacher. I agree that it is important for a teacher to prepare students for the real world since the Internet doesn’t. BYOD programs are unfair to students that don’t have either mobile devices or smart phone mobile devices. I do think it is important, however, to teach students of their available network connections other than they petty texting and social networking most are currently used to, and that students with technology skills have the potential to be more successful than those who do not. I also agree that active learning where students can make connections to life outside of the classroom is highly effective.

I know first-hand how challenging it can be to have so many technological options in front of you, but not knowing how to use them or not knowing teachers or mentors or even peers that do. YouTube tutorials and the like are always something to think about when trying to overcome this challenge, but I think it would be very beneficial to have more than just that. Maybe in schools that agree that technology is important, there should be mandatory instructional courses that teachers are required to take where someone tells them about and teaches them how to use all of their options. These instructional courses should also happen annually to not only refresh teachers, but to explore new options. I agree that teachers must do more than lecture and test in order for their students to get the most out of their class, and flipped classrooms just may be the way to go about doing so, if daily access to the Internet is possible for all students. I agree that personalized learning is important, but how to go about implementing it is a very tricky subject. I think school systems changing the way they have and continue to do thinks is a given in order to adapt, and that finding a way to connect classroom information to real life practices should be one of the changes. It is always important to understand, though, that it is the quality of technological options that is so important, not the quantity.

- megan singleton