Device Control

A couple of weeks ago, I fired off a post ripping into a professional development session that I’d been to. I was disappointed that the organisers had made it pretty clear that technology was only to be used when THEY felt the time was right. This really interrupted the flow of my learning. My ‘go to’ method of note taking and clarifying my thoughts had been taken away. It gave me a negative outlook toward the training straight away.

I was thinking about this some more today and realised that this is exactly what we do to kids in our classroom ALL THE TIME. In most cases, WE decide when an iPad comes out. WE decide when students can use technology to help with their learning. Why is this? I know the immediate answer is going to be something about making sure that kids are on task or making sure that they are focussed. What if the device helps them to do these things? It certainly does with me.

I’m not suggesting that there are never kids off task. It happens. Does this mean that we should assume that ALL kids will potentially be off task? We need to start trusting our students. If there are kids off task, deal with them… individually. Don’t assume the guilt of all. We are in the 21st century. Does allowing for everyone’s learning needs mean allowing devices always? Maybe it’s time to find out.