The amount of thinking that has gone into renovating the classroom, what we do in it, how we interact, and even what defines the classroom in recent months is phenomenal. It is clear that we are only a few years from a true revolution in classroom practices, in comparison to which the introduction of powerpoint presentations in the 90s will soon look like a very old story indeed.
One thing that has struck me since the gradual introduction of laptops in many classrooms, to which Wifi was soon added, is how little is being done with the available technology. Laptops sit there, but they are largely idle from a pedagogical point of view. At best, laptops are used as sophisticated typewriters to take notes; at worst, as we all well know, they are used to do anything from chatting to playing poker or watching movies. Laptops loaded with communications technology are used to communicate with the outside world, but never to interact in class. It is remarkable how little progress has been made in harnessing the power of such tools to forge a new classroom experience.
In fact, the attitude has often been one of suspicion from some academics. Witness the debates on whether Wifi should even be available in class - I even heard talk of acquiring expensive technology to scramble the Wifi signal which the University had just spent considerable amounts of money equipping us with. Computers are seen as a distraction rather than a pedagogy enhancer and a tool that has the potential to revolutionize the way we teach.
The main problem is of course bridging the emerging "screen divide" in class. Computers are used to escape class occasionally, and the screen itself creates a physical bareer between students and teachers (admittedly that physical bareer is getting smaller with the new generation of netbooks but still). More importantly, wired laptops create a (some would say unfair) competition for profs. As students become more and more used to being just clicks away from the information they need (or think they need), it is only natural that they should start expecting forms of teaching that are themselves more interactive, hyperlinked, and participatory.
The way out seems to be to find ways to invite oneself in the computers or, more realistically for the moment, to make computers an integral part of the learning experience. New, fast and cheap web technology is making this possible. In forthcoming posts, I will present some of my current experiments with these tools, but my sense is already that if we are to get students' attention we need to incorporate into low-tech (and quite often justifiably so) teaching, elements of high tech that rival with what students are becoming accustomed to.
One thing that has struck me since the gradual introduction of laptops in many classrooms, to which Wifi was soon added, is how little is being done with the available technology. Laptops sit there, but they are largely idle from a pedagogical point of view. At best, laptops are used as sophisticated typewriters to take notes; at worst, as we all well know, they are used to do anything from chatting to playing poker or watching movies. Laptops loaded with communications technology are used to communicate with the outside world, but never to interact in class. It is remarkable how little progress has been made in harnessing the power of such tools to forge a new classroom experience.
In fact, the attitude has often been one of suspicion from some academics. Witness the debates on whether Wifi should even be available in class - I even heard talk of acquiring expensive technology to scramble the Wifi signal which the University had just spent considerable amounts of money equipping us with. Computers are seen as a distraction rather than a pedagogy enhancer and a tool that has the potential to revolutionize the way we teach.
The main problem is of course bridging the emerging "screen divide" in class. Computers are used to escape class occasionally, and the screen itself creates a physical bareer between students and teachers (admittedly that physical bareer is getting smaller with the new generation of netbooks but still). More importantly, wired laptops create a (some would say unfair) competition for profs. As students become more and more used to being just clicks away from the information they need (or think they need), it is only natural that they should start expecting forms of teaching that are themselves more interactive, hyperlinked, and participatory.
The way out seems to be to find ways to invite oneself in the computers or, more realistically for the moment, to make computers an integral part of the learning experience. New, fast and cheap web technology is making this possible. In forthcoming posts, I will present some of my current experiments with these tools, but my sense is already that if we are to get students' attention we need to incorporate into low-tech (and quite often justifiably so) teaching, elements of high tech that rival with what students are becoming accustomed to.
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