Observations in the Classroom
For this weekly reflection, I will be going over my experience in the classroom at Amy Parkland. Pictures included at the bottom.
My Observations
The technology that my classmates and I observed was the students using the website/app EPIC! A reading program that provides books of all kinds in many different formats in an easily accessible manner; I talk about this in my week three reflection. I observed the app being used in two different forms, one through tablets and used via app, and the other via laptops and a browser. There was an apparent discrepancy between the iPads and laptops; firstly, the iPads worked much smoother than the laptops did, which helped the students out as they wouldn’t get frozen or forced to wait and watch a screen load. The kids were also much more fluent with the iPads compared to the laptops. This was quite surprising to me. I knew the kids would be skilled at using the iPads, which is typical of their generation. However, I did not expect their lack of skill with the computers; many students needed help figuring out how to use the mouse and the keypad, and when they managed to maneuver these things, it was pretty slow and clunky. This was shocking as I imagined the skills would have been transferable, but it was quite evident it was not.
Another thing I observed was how easy the iPads were versus the laptops. Using the iPads was a breeze. The kids knew how to use them, and worked perfectly as intended. Having the cases on them made them more durable, and you could take pictures with the cameras. They definitely felt like the superior piece of tech. On the other hand, the laptops felt so lacklustre. Giving credit to Ana, the kids seemed to know what to do to log in, I had to help a handful out, but they seemed adequately prepared. One of the frustrating things about the laptops was when they decided to just not work outside of user error. This was annoying cause it limited the amount of learning that could be done due to equipment errors. Another thing that felt inferior was the fragility of the laptops, they felt so fragile and I had to remind kids often to be gentle with them, and they couldn’t put their fingers on the screen.
System implementation
To be completely honest, the most effective system that I think could be implemented would be not to allow the students not to use the laptops until they are in later grades. The system worked so much better with the iPads, and the kids were able to get so much more out of them that the laptops seemed obsolete to me. It seems tedious and pointless to make the kids use an inferior learning method when there is a method that works so much better.
My experience with Technology in the Classroom
Back in my day, which feels like forever ago, technology was something that was definitely incorporated into the classroom. I think it was around grade three when I could use laptops for the first time. Unfortunately, I don’t really remember much about the experience. I know I was playing Webkinz and Club Penguin at the time, so I was confident about working a laptop, something I did not observe. I was also fortunate enough to be raised with a smartboard, which was so nice. And I continued to use laptops as I progressed through schooling, not really ever using tablets because I had my phone. To be honest it feels quite similar to what I observed In the classroom, which makes me not know how to feel. Was my class ahead? or has there been a lack of progression?
