Thursday, March 7, 2013

Day 2 - SXSWedu - Part II

Session 4 - Can BYOD Narrow the Digital Divide?  with Michael Mills, Asst. Professor, University of Central Arkansas

Mills was quick to say that instructional objectives must be our primary focus.  If the technology is not adding to the that specific lesson, then don't use it.  The idea of BYOD is not an easy button, a major cure-all in education...but it is a bridge that allows our low SES students access to the world that our other students have been given.
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  • Mobile devices are making it more socially acceptable to talk about school outside of school.  It still isn't cool...but at least it is OK.
  • Minorities are more likely to use mobile devices to: access internet, access health info, use social media
  • Tech integration has a greater impact on struggling schools.
  • Redefine what "productivity" means-  it is not students sitting in a desk working independently and quietly. 
  • Students generally would not use personal technology for learning activities unprompted.  Use this as an opportunity to create digital literacy, digital creation, and digital etiquette.  Help them use technology to promote social change.
  • Technology will amplify your classroom management style, good or bad.
  • Instead of saying, "Johnny, since you don't have an iphone...go join this group..." say "Those of you that didn't bring your mobile device today...."
  • Mobile devices should be used to augment, modify, or redefine a lesson or activity. 
Tools/Resources:

I plan on exploring these at some point but here are tools he mentioned as helpful in bringing mobile devices into the classroom: Google Voice, biNu, presentation.io, IFTTT, SoundCloud, tumblr, edmodo, ChaCha, textnovel, evenote + pinterest = springpad, Ninjawords, crocodoc.

Session 5 - Unleashing the Power of the Web in Education with Jaime Casap, Sr. Education Evangelist, Google

  • Technology is not new if you are born into it.  Jamie told us to think about the fact that the device in our hands is worst technology this generation will see.  He compared our smartphones to the Commadore 64 (I had to look up what that is....)
  • Our children will be asked to solve problems that haven't developed yet and work in jobs that don't exist yet.  Our job is to create geniuses. 
  • Iteration is the new failure....
  • Curiosity is human and we should encourage students to be curious.  Jaime tells students "I work for a search engine, I'm not actually a search engine"  Our role as teacher is not to answer questions but to follow up with students and ask questions.  
  • Information does not equal intelligence.  How do we turn information into intelligence? 
  • Collaboration is the new normal.  Education is individualized, world is all about collaboration.
  • When did collaboration become cheating?
  • There is so much data showing that we all learn in different ways.... why do we all go into the same room, sit in the same desks, and take the same tests to show what we have learned? 


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