C4T #1 Bring Your Own Device
Joe Bower's post is telling about how he just started teaching at a new school. He wants the kids in his class to be able to use their own devices, but only to do their school work. The reason for this is because of all of the access to helpful educational sites they have. They have a set of rules the kids must follow to continue to use their own devices. From what he has witnessed, his students have been using them as asked. Constantly looking up information, downloading reading apps, and even using them to design their portfolios! He states "that he is not naive enough to believe they will always use their devices appropriately, but when it happens he will use it as a teachable moment". I commented saying how I love what he is doing in his classroom. I think it is a wonderful way to really get the kids involved and teach them ways to use their own devices in other ways than just texting, tweeting, and whichever other social outlet is the next big thing. I plan on continuously checking in on this blog to see updates on how it is going.
C4T #2 Too Much Time in School
Joe Bower shared an article by Zander Sherman writer of The Curiosity of School.
In the article Sherman is talking about "educational success" and what it means. To him it is a way the government figures out wealth. If students have good test scores then they are wealthier. The government wants the U.S. Test scores for students to go up and thinks that cutting back holidays and having students spend more time in school would help this. He argues that the amount of time is not what determines test scores, but the amount of money the students family has. To them I commented that I agreed with the fact that "educational success" is not shown by the length of time spent in schools. However I do not believe it is due to the wealth of the student's family. You have students who want to learn and students who don't want to learn. They can come from any kind of background. Students who want to learn will use the time given to do so and those who don't will not. They simply don't care and it doesn't matter if you make them go to school longer. They will never care, unless they are given a reason to.
In the article Sherman is talking about "educational success" and what it means. To him it is a way the government figures out wealth. If students have good test scores then they are wealthier. The government wants the U.S. Test scores for students to go up and thinks that cutting back holidays and having students spend more time in school would help this. He argues that the amount of time is not what determines test scores, but the amount of money the students family has. To them I commented that I agreed with the fact that "educational success" is not shown by the length of time spent in schools. However I do not believe it is due to the wealth of the student's family. You have students who want to learn and students who don't want to learn. They can come from any kind of background. Students who want to learn will use the time given to do so and those who don't will not. They simply don't care and it doesn't matter if you make them go to school longer. They will never care, unless they are given a reason to.
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