Technology in the Classroom:  

Are iPads the answer?  Yup.

~an open letter to teachers everywhere

by Paul Szymendera,

inspired by Jamie Casap, Google Senior Educaton Evangelist 

 

iPads and apps are fast becoming part of my school district's culture.  The natural question is, "Why are they they being used and what is so different??"

 

Surely, one tool can't change everything and students won't magically learn because of one device.  However, this device has indeed created a shift for teachers and students to think different about how instruction is delivered by teachers and how content is consumed by students.

 

Kids are not just making PowerPoints or Prezi's to integrate 21st century skills.  Rather, the digital work that students are creating is beginning different types of conversations, debates, and understanding.  Students are creating, collaborating, and publishing in ways never thought possible.  As a result of publishing student work in digital spaces, students are producing at higher levels and participating more often.  Traditionally, students who are quiet during "whole class discussions" are finding their voices.  They are not being overshadowed by extroverts that unmaliciously take over class debates.

 

During a keynote address at NYSCATE's 2013 fall conference, Jamie Casap of Google suggested this:

 

 

In the days of the past, teachers would think it crazy for a group of students to turn in a "test" and say, "Here, we're done...we did it together!  There were three of us, and we think that we've done a great job."  

 

Likewise, today's employers would equally consider this statement crazy too:  "Here boss, I've finished the company's three year strategic plan and I didn't get help from anyone.  I did it in complete isolation, all by myself!"

 

 

Times they are a changing!  Where do you think the relationship between education and technology should be right now, a year from now or in three years?  Better yet, how much are you planning to integrate this school year, by next September or by the time this year's freshmen graduate?

 

So, are iPads the answer?  No, not really.  However, they help us begin a new path in education.  Flipping the classroom is just a start.  Video instruction allows students to review content as many times as it takes and at their own pace.  That said, iPad devices will certainly fade away just as my Apple IIe and the Commador 64.  But the real question is:  What are you waiting for??  The digital classroom shift will continue to find new and exciting ways to teach and learn.  

 

I hope that you begin to assess what you already know and what you've heard other teachers talking about in their digital classrooms.  I hope you sign up for a Teacher Center class or begin reading some articles that I've posted so you can take hold of your professional learning.  If you do, I guarantee that you will figure out how to close your technology gap so you can meet the needs and challenges of technology integration in education.  Your students are hoping that you do.