Mom, Distractions and Technology, and Doctor Who

I have a deep love and appreciation for my mom.  She has always been a great sounding board for my plans and schemes and a tremendous support for me personally and professionally.  On occasion she will send me links to articles or other cool ideas that she thinks might be of interest to me.  Today she sent me a link to a Master's Project by Patrick Tolman that examines the issue of technology usage and how it can be used to help at-risk high school students.  Coming in a hefty 198 pages, the whole thing might not pique the interest of every reader but there were a few points that stood out to me that I will attempt to describe a bit below.

Teachers have to deal with some sort of distraction on a daily basis.  This is increasingly true of the mobile devices that have become so essential in our society.  I've struggled with this a great deal in recent years.  While I LOVE using technology and the cool things that I can do for myself or with my students, there will always be those who are more interested in the games and social media interactions that are all around us.  Many of my colleagues and I regularly discuss the challenges that we have in restricting or even removing devices.  Tolman argues, though, that "removing the devices only gives ... students an additional reason to detach from their educational experience."

In an effort to avoid confrontation, I've tried to find some sort of balance: all devices must be put away when I am giving instructions to the group.  (Edutopia recently put out a video referring to this as 'professional courtesy.')

Once instructions have been given, students are free to work AND use their devices provided they aren't being a distraction for others or themselves.  Those students who choose to remain off-task will have devices taken away.  I'm not perfect at this but many students have begun to at least be aware of the need to regulate what they are doing while in class... at least when I can see them.

Perhaps one of the biggest points that grabbed my attention what what Tolman referred to as FoMA or the fear of missing out.  Social media has created a platform for people to share the experiences that they are having with a much larger audience than just their immediate circle of friends.  Many get hooked on being a part of the action, even if only through a text, Snapchat, or video.  The idea that someone else might be doing something fun or exciting without them is one of the biggest reasons that I see for people 'needing' to be on their phones.  Even when I have claimed a phone or two for a class, some students have really struggled with the thought that they're missing out somehow.  This goes back to the whole distraction piece mentioned above.

So. How do we turn this challenge into an opportunity?  In short, Tolman points out that teachers need to consider a few things:

• we should not have technology use for the sake of technology use; we cannot assume assume that simply using technology will lead to further learning
• students should be able to have some input into how their devices are used; they want to use their devices and having a sense of ownership over their education may lead to greater engagement
• technology use should be targeted to specific purposes within the classroom; there should be a goal in mind and students should be exposed to different programs and apps that might be helpful

He concludes his project by providing a number of lesson plans that have been tailored to include more specific uses of technology.  Tolman argues that by changing his perspective, he was able "to turn a classroom frustration (distracted cell phone usage) into a benefit.  I'm looking at this more in the same way that I will be considering presentational hooks... instead of fighting it, I can be looking for ways to incorporate mobile phones meaningfully into our learning activities.

My summary above might not be the most clear or helpful, so again I recommend skimming looking through the article on their own.

Thanks, mom.

Doctor Who

I don't always follow sports religiously during the regular season but playoff hockey has become a bit of an obsession since I was in Edmonton for the last Oiler's run in 2006.  That means that I'm behind on one or two shows (thank you, PVR) including this one.

I've been encouraged by early reviews so far as I was a lot more confused by the last season than I would have liked to have been been.  I suppose this can be my last hurrah before returning to the regular routine tomorrow.

No spoilers.  ;)

~MrT