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| My drawing of my ideal technological classroom. I didn't like the first one so much... |
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
My "Ideal" Classroom
We opened class today by taking a few minutes to draw a version of our ideal classroom, specifically with inclusion of technology in mind. It was really interesting hearing what everyone else had to say about their own! I don't think I thought out of the box enough, some of my classmates had iPads for every student when I still had plain ol' bookcases lining the back wall of my room! We're really looking forward to learning more about teaching with technology with this class!
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Love the bookcase background and like the bookcases in your classroom! I think books are an integral part to learning and should never be obsolete. There is something stimulating about flipping the pages, smelling the dust (on old books), and writing in the margins of an actual textbook.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Jeni on this one -- there are some aspects of books that can't be reproduced by any electronic copy or internet search. For example:
ReplyDelete1. If you identify a book that you think one of your students would really enjoy, it's a far more powerful act to hand him or her a physical copy of it. You could recommend an electronic copy or give that student a link to a website, but then that recommendation can get lost in the shuffle of choices. I'm guilty of it too -- too many times, Words With Friends or online poker win out over a friend's electronic recommendation. Books stand out from the flatland of internet media.
2. Ever been in a library to find a book, and you look a few books over on the shelf and find a better one? If everything gets Kindle-ized, I'm gonna miss that kind of serendipity.
3. I like the feeling of some types of paper, I guess.
I did come across an interesting point a while back though. There are some who think that reading a book on a Kindle or tablet is the closest that you can get to the "literary experience" of an author's work, since the medium of the words doesn't get in the way; there aren't any numbered pages, or nice papers, or definitive choices of font, etc. -- just a big chunk of text from beginning to end. I wonder how much of our reading of a novel is influenced by the number of pages we have left in it.
Also, what on earth is "ELMO"? I've seen it on another diagram and all I can think of is http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/how-elmo-works-1.jpg
Matt!
DeleteI loved your comment for numerous reasons, but I was really drawn to the idea of physically handing a book to a student that I think they should read. It's a great physical object that can pass along knowledge, insight and can further a student's imagination. I still want to keep several bookcases in my future classroom regardless of what technology I end up implementing.
P.S. Jeni was telling me about an ELMO when we were talking about our respective classrooms and they sound pretty cool and I think I had them in my classes during undergrad: http://www.elmousa.com/ecart12-221-all-one-classroom-cart
Wow! Kelsey, thanks for the post. Jeni and Matt, thanks for the dialogue you established with Kelsey. I started to explore what exactly the ELMO was after reading the initial post and comments and reply, and then discovered a document camera (part of the ELMO), which was mentioned in Greg's post, as well. I thought that I knew what one might be until now. That could be really useful. My ideal room was more idealistic/futuristic. I don't mind dreaming big, but just maybe it would be a good idea for me to return to reality as we get closer to beginning our placements.
ReplyDeleteKelsey, I think it was creative of you to think about putting book cases in the room. I was one of the people who included iPads in the classroom and I feel as through I was stuck with what is new and readily available. However, new doesn't always mean "good". I agree with what Matt and Jeni were talking about with feeling a real book. It is such an integral part of the learning process (marking up papers, feeling the book in your hand). I also think students may be more separated from the work if everything is done through technology. It is important to find the balance between traditional and new technology. I am sure we will be able to experiment with this and gain new insight during our placements in the fall.
ReplyDeleteKelsey! I agree with your choice of using actual books instead of using electronic devices for students to read. I think depending on how you define technology, you could consider books as technology as well. I agree with Matt as I think having a bookcase full of your own personal books from which students could access and borrow has the potential of being a very valuable tool in promoting students' learning and also making connections with students. I also really like how you incorporated a variety of technology in your classroom like computers, projectors, ELMO, televisions, books, etc. I wonder what our ideal classrooms would look like now after finishing this course. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDelete