Recently I received an email from a high school arts educator informing me that the use of “iphones and ipod touch have been banned from her school with the reason being a teacher will not know if a student is on the phone or illegally taking pictures”.
• What’s your opinion on the topic?
• Is there a policy in your school on electronic devices?
• Is your school using ipods as a teaching tool?
• How have you been innovative with this technology?
• If your school has put policy’s in place, what is the reason for this change?
Use of Technology
November 13th, 2007 · 2 Comments
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2 responses so far ↓
1
wmsart
// Nov 14, 2007 at 7:58 am
This is a tough topic. In my school, Winthrop Middle, iPods are used. However it is the teacher’s choice. In my class we use iPods as a storage device as well as a means to get music for iMovie. As always I have a DAILY discussion with my students about appropriate use of technology.
Lisa Gilman
2
Charlie Johnson
// Nov 24, 2007 at 3:29 pm
It is a tough topic, and although laptops may meet the challenge of equalizing opportunities for all students, peripheral devices such as iPods are not available to everyone. Those that do have and use them , as Lisa said, need regular reinforcement as to the ethics of their use. Teachers at MDI High School are fortunate to be one of the few high schools in Maine where all students 9-12 have a laptop, and the discussion concerning restriction of use came immediately upon the heels of the new MacBooks, which are equipped with a camera buit into the cover. At our school we have imposed all sorts of access restrictions concerning chatting, emailing and access to websites, among others. The list of what students cannot do with their laptops is much longer than any list made by administrators of what they can do.
Truly, as educators we do not need to panic, we need to educate not just students, but ourselves. The technologies that we are beginning to see are soon going to be a part of everyone’s daily lives, and a part of our responsibility is to understand the proper uses of them and impart that to our students to assist them to becoming informed and responsible citizens. There will always be students who challenge the rules of appropriate behavior, but they are the vast minority and should not be the focus of our energies.
Teachers with the most difficult task are those who teach Middle Level students. These young people have through the Interweb, their first experience with the outside world and the entire planet, with all its characteristics, both positive and negative. They have access to information that might challenge the ways in which they have been raised and nurtured, and they need the help of their parents and teachers, cooperatively, to make their online experiences successful and to make good choices as they filter the vast wealth of knowledge in our world today.
I apologize for the “ramble”, but this issue that Argy has brought up could very well be an important turning point or a dead end. We can help make these choices.
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