New Trier High School has recently begun a “Mobile Learning Initiative” which basically means that many New Trier students are in courses that require that they use an Ipad to replace the vast majority of ways in which they used to learn. I happen to be one of New Trier’s students testing out the new program and I have had three of their classes taken over by this supposedly beneficial technology. If you haven’t figured it out already, I’m not very fond of the situation one bit.
According to the "Mobile Learning Initiative"page on the New Trier website the Board of Education approved the plan for 2,300 New Trier students to be placed in Ipad courses in the 2013-2014 school year and all New Trier students for the following year. The basis for this came from a pilot program of 700 students with school mandated Ipads. They say that "students reported it changed the way in which they collaborated and learned". I found it odd that they didn't specify how many students said this but what stood out to me the most was that they said it "changed" the way they learned, but not that it helped them learn.
Another reason why New Trier says that Ipads are beneficial to learning is because they make classes "paperless". They say that since students can complete and submit every worksheet, lab, or quiz using an Ipad that this will be more benificial than just turning in a hard copy. I would argue that this is not the case. For example, when I turn in a lab for physics I don't get a graded hard copy back that I can put in my binder to review for a test down the road, I get an email giving me "feedback". This is next to useless because you can't pull up both the email and the lab at the same time. This is just one of the many ways I have found that it has hindered rather than helped my education.
This blind leap to technology by schools (and everyone else) seems to be a trend throughout America right now. An article by the New York Times addresses this very topic. Two great points were illustrated in an interview with Tom Vander Ark, the former executive director for education at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and an investor in educational technology companies. Referring to technology in the classroom Tom says, “It’s one of the three or four biggest things happening in the world today”. He goes on to state, “The data is pretty weak. It’s very difficult when we’re pressed to come up with convincing data”. Not only is this movement massive in scale but there is really not enough solid evidence to prove that it will be a success. With so many New Trier students' educations on the line I think it would have been better until there was more substantial evidence of the benefit of technology in education.
I think this topic brings up a lot of issues. One of which is the rights of students. Personally, I feel like I had very little say in all of this and think that since a school’s goal is to teach it’s students, then there should be a greater effort to ask them how the learn. Also, I think we really need to take a step back and consider the technology in our lives and if the benefits really outweigh the cons. The New York Times wrote an article in 2009 that states that the average American spends 8 hours a day staring at a screen. Is it really a good idea to try and increase this number? Is America (specifically the educational system) moving towards technology to fast? If you go to New Trier, and happen to be enrolled in an Ipad course(s), has your learning benefited because of these devices? Additionally, do you feel like the school has given you enough of a say in the issue?
10 comments:
I also think that the leap to iPads was too soon and not as good of a decision as the school thought. In addition to what Erik said, I also read an article about how the lighting of a screen affects your ability to sleep. It messes with your internal clock in turn, making falling asleep difficult. An issue that parents, and teachers seem to be worried about is the amount of sleep that kids are getting. Yesterday in math class, a kid was talking about how relieved he was that he had gotten two hours of sleep that night. If doing late night work on iPads is going to keep students awake for even an extra 10 minutes, then I don't think that its worth it to make the change. I also agree with Erik in that the students had practically no say in the matter which is frustrating.
I was required to get an iPad for my French class this year and so far there's been both pros and cons. I was able to get my chemistry textbook at a reduced cost as an ebook on my iPad and though I had my doubts, it's actually been really helpful always having my textbook with me. Even with my paper textbooks, I often take pictures of a couple pages on my iPad so I do not have to carry it around if I need to refer to it for homework during the day. Ironically, the cons are related to the activities for French class. A huge amount of the digital activities my teacher plans have technical difficulties that take way too long to sort out. I get especially frustrated when my teacher makes us complete worksheets or hand-write responses on our iPads. It takes significntly longer to write on these than paper and, for me at least, ends up nearly illegible. As a general student tool I think iPads can have a lot of use. But as a classroom learning tool I see them as just an unnecessary waste of time.
I think that the idea is good, having all of your stuff in one place, but the concept is completely flawed. What you said about how we can't review our labs after we get them graded is completely correct. What has the world come to that I can't turn a hard copy in to a teacher? Going off of what Mr. Bolos said in class, it's completely different to view something on paper than on a screen. It's uncomfortable to write on and sometimes it's quite a hassle just to deal with in general. It also creates an unnecessary distraction for kids in class who can't deal with the temptation of having countless apps at their fingertips. I'm not saying that we refuse to adapt to a technologically advanced world, but there is a lot more improving that needs to happen before the majority of student's actually like to use their iPad for school purposes
I appreciate your feedback and I think you guys have brought up a lot great points! I never even considered Isabel's point about the affect of screens on our sleep schedule. They want us to get enough sleep so we can do well in school and yet they have just provided us with another screen that can keep us up later. This seems very contradictory. I would like to offer a follow up question; Now that you have nearly a whole quarter under your belt, have your views towards the Ipads changed at all? If so, in what way?
The ipads, while they provide a good resource for us, still do not seem to benefit the learning process. It seems to go towards the simplicity for teachers to have things all in one place than for students and the enrichment of learning. They're still horrible to take notes on and are a major distraction to the weak minded kids in a class who don't feel like paying attention for the whole 40 minutes. It has gotten a little bit better since the beginning of the year, but I still don't endorse it
(Bobby=Ryan H.)
Erik, Awesome job blogging this term. Really, I couldn't be more impressed. You use blogging "tools" (pix, text presentation, links, etc.) in a sophisticated manner -- but much more importantly: THESE ARE TRULY THOUGHTFUL POSTS. You cover a lot of intellectual territory in these posts (and I really like the recent post on iconography of Jesus, etc.).
But, to the post at hand: Nice, subtle reading of "changed"; terrific link to NYT; I also like your personal class example. Last, you moderate comments beautifully. Let me suggest a blogger for you to follow. What's up with the hampster?
Erik, Awesome job blogging this term. Really, I couldn't be more impressed. You use blogging "tools" (pix, text presentation, links, etc.) in a sophisticated manner -- but much more importantly: THESE ARE TRULY THOUGHTFUL POSTS. You cover a lot of intellectual territory in these posts (and I really like the recent post on iconography of Jesus, etc.).
But, to the post at hand: Nice, subtle reading of "changed"; terrific link to NYT; I also like your personal class example. Last, you moderate comments beautifully. Let me suggest a blogger for you to follow. What's up with the hampster?
Thanks for the feedback! The hampster is actually a guinea pig and I thought the image was somewhat comical, like my title, and would grab people's attention. Also, I was using the image almost as a subtle metaphor comparing the students at New Trier to guinea pigs because they are testing out this new push for technology in the classroom.
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