Technology and Classroom Management

Determining what method of the three described in the article is dominant in my class is relatively easy. Determining if and how to get to the third level is a little more involved. At the outset, I have to disagree with at least one assumption in the article. Specifically, the statement that educational apps be "engaging enough that students, choose them over other video games or activities". For my students, the lure of games is the lack of responsibility to the product. If they lose a game they simply start over and try again and the goal is to find the "work arounds" in the game to get as far as possible. They aren't trying to acquire a skill or necessarily get better at the game but just find the option that gets them through with the least amount of effort. It's the same idea as wanting numerous tries on a multiple choice question in order to get the right answer by the process of elimination. They want the grade, but not quite enough to really study. I believe that we can't compete on this level but instead need to get kids involved in the subject enough that learning is more satisfying than playing games.

Having said that, I have to say that my classroom is very definitely in the control by authority category to a large extent. There is a concrete reason for this. Pestalozzi, in his philosophy of teaching advocated letting the students experience things in order to learn but had one caveat. When tools were involved, he would show the students the proper way to use the tools before letting them explore. In a Digital Citizenship class I am essentially teaching them to use the tool so that they can properly explore which naturally lends itself to the first level of control, at least until the students are able to properly use the "tool" (which is another discussion all together).

The question of whether and how we can reach the third level should be preceded by analyzing the level of exposure that students have when they enter your class. In classes where all of the students have computers in the home and understand the basics of using them, getting them to a point that they will understand the uses outside of games and therefore to a point of self control will be easier. If kids don't have that exposure at home then more focus will be necessary to get kids to be able to use computers easily before they can exhibit self control.

Now, for schools that are already in the 1:1 environment, the issue will be more about exposure than learning how to use the equipment. Once kids learn how to use the hardware, it is up to the teachers to expose them to WHAT they can access outside of games. The beauty and wonder in the world is much more powerful than playing a game. Just recently, I took a chance and showed my students some Youtube videos involving physics. You can see it here. Even though the class didn't have anything to do with physics, it launched some great discussion and an opportunity for the kids to use some web searching techniques to find information. If we can show them the rich content of the internet outside of games, they will be quicker to get on board with controlling themselves.

So, in order for my classes to get to the third level there would need to be a number of things happen. First, the economic level of the area would need to get to the point that a higher percentage of students have computers in the home so that they have good examples at an early age. Second, having the software to monitor and control access to work through the second level will help guide the students to richer content. Finally, going 1:1 will allow the kids to learn how to control the technology, get their fill of games (on their own time) and allow for seeing the device as a tool rather than a game.