Always On

Technology has given us the tools to be always on. There are multiple avenues for communication now - so many that I wonder what business people ever did in an office before computers... write letters all day with a typewriter or dictate to a secretary? This is so bizarre to me.

With this always on syndrome, information can move alot faster. People can also exhibit more impulsive behavior when information moves faster. I thought what Scott Moran said last week about bullying was interesting. Though getting bullied at school has always been a problem, it's only recently that one can get bullied everywhere they go. We're always on - for better or for worse.

To harness this double-edge sword I think as educators we need to think of learning that happens inside the classroom as a seed of something that can extend outside of the classroom walls. In the Weigel, James, and Garner video that we read for this week, the plainly point out that "mobile tools such as handheld computers or similar portable, sophisticated appliances have the potential to free student from the classroom context and immerse them in rich, meaningful learning experiences while maintaining access to text- and graphics-based learning supports." We need to optimize this power! I wonder if there are any educators who help design content for apps, etc. The classroom has really lost it's walls and doors. In the spirit of that please check out a story I made with my iPhone while I was waiting for the subway. I used an app called StoryKit made by Children's Library.

http://iphone.childrenslibrary.org/cgi-bin/view.py?b=fowl6e34rxoyntw4qbki

Next year in my classroom I plan on collaborating with parents more in this way. They are the teacher at home, so why don't we give them the tools to reinforce what we're doing in the classroom? Why don't we pass out online game sites organized by skill set to parents at the beginning of the year? We can continually come back to it, as kids would be playing games at home that help us teach them at school!