Activity and movement in space are the heart of any of my physical education lessons with group discussion and kinesthetic activities taking priority in my health classroom. However, I do prioritise the integration of technology and use of a variety of devices. By incorporating more than one device, it adds to the level of engagement, technological skills developed and opportunities for learning in new ways…when appropriately managed.
What devices will you find in my health classroom and gym space?
- One laptop per student
- Teacher ipads (i.e. for monitoring heart rate monitors, use of online stop watch, classroom notes including attendance, fitness results, etc.)
- Student’s personal cell phones (i.e. for video and photo collection)
- Class set of ipods (i.e. for use of many relevant applications including Coaches Eye, Ubersense, Nike Fitness, etc.)
- Class set of polar heart rate monitors
- Portable and permanent projectors
Considerations for Management
Dean Groom outlines 23 things to think about when using laptops in a classroom. I have picked my top three suggestions that I feel are important to maximising the potential of all devices in a classroom.
1. Learn to use collaborative online tools and create learning spaces. Find ways in which one or two students can ‘share’ work with many. Create online spaces where students can use networks and teacher created learning spaces with the needs and preferences of their learners.
2. Move away from using the white board as the center place of information. Use the laptop or other devices as the hub of your classroom activity and means of giving information and engaging with students.
3. Plan for server failures and lack of access to wifi. Okay, easier said than done in a one-to-one laptop school but theoretically, make sure the heart of your lesson is based in the curricular objectives of the lesson that could continue offline, if needed.
Managing Use of our New Generation of Students
According to Common Sense Media, children’s online activity is on the rise and it should be something that is managed with practical strategies with an emphasis on education and starting good habits when children are young. Direct monitoring or taking away access to a laptop is not the answer. Promoting responsible use and helping students limit multi-tasking while engaging in their homework or other related academic tasks. High school students should learn how to establish their own boundaries related to use in order to develop balanced use, self-responsibility, learning strategies that will continue after graduation from high school.
Establishing shared agreements in class with your students, parents and at home with your kids is a great suggestion. As a parent of young kids, this is not part of my daily life except iPad time which is limited to 20 minutes a day. The tv is also not permitted during our school week days. I think this promotes more imaginative and active play however, as school demands increase, individual devices will become part of my reality and family agreements will need to be set. Opening the lines of communication on this topic is the most important part.
Moving forward on this issue, I think teachers need to address issues around multi-tasking and strategies around self-control. The two need to be considered since not all students are high functioning and manage distractions appropriately. Past research has shown evidence that many of us cannot multi-task and that as little as 2% of the population is truly skilled in this area. However, two teens recently made a case for multitasking in this article, “Teens told they need to focus on the task at hand, make a case for multitasking”.
“This study suggests that digital natives (adolescents who grew up with exposure to multiple media) with high multiple media use may have developed an enhanced working memory and perform better in distracting environments than when focused on a single task with no distractions. This could have a significant impact on teaching styles and curriculum.”
According to these teen researchers, fifteen percent of students were identified as high performance multi-taskers who actually performed better when distracted by email, social media and music. In fact, the Pew Research Center has found that the brains of young adults under the age of 25 will actually have their brains rewired due to multitasking. Perhaps we need to consider that students will increasingly improve their ability to multi-task and it is this skill that needs to be developed to manage this online world. Instead of just saying no to multitasking, we should help high school students with promoting strategies but allow them to learn through experience and take control over their own learning.