E-clicker
I am finding this week (unit) to be very fascinating and something that wouldn’t have been part of the course content even a couple of years. Mobile learning is taking on a life of its own and students and teachers are both reaping the rewards. I find now that with the plethora of educational apps teachers are not scrambling for resources, or waiting in long line behind their colleagues to sign out the computers for their class. From my teaching experience, I have found that most teenagers have access to a mobile device, and our school network is open for students to use. One app that I found to be particular interest is eclicker. It is an online response to the SMART Response Clicker. But with eclicker, you don’t need to purchase the remotes that work with the smartboards. I teach a large high school upgrading class for adults and I find that they are very reluctant to response as they feel shame in participating and being wrong. With this app, teachers can create questions, polls, etc, and students can respond anonymously. Just something worth exploring at the very least.
Posted in: Week 05:
visramn 1:33 pm on October 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
Hi Suhayl,
I think you are absolutely right. Learning and teaching has changed so much due to the abundant resources that keep surfacing and accessibility is getting better. I know as a teacher I have had a lot of issues when it comes to obtaining the resources needed to use beneficial technology. Thanks for sharing your experience with e-clicker. That is definitely a resource that can help all students get involved and that was not available even a few years.
Nureen
Peggy Lawson 5:22 pm on October 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
I liked your comment Suhayl, about likely not having an “app” component to this course a few years ago. I think this is an important aspect of this course – the recognition that we must continually be an EVA. Technology changes occur so frequently, there will always be a need to evaluate ventures that are appropriate or not for our own particular situations – whether as an investor or as a purchaser. It will be the basic skills we learn from being an effective EVA – and not the evaluation of the specific items we are analyzing – that will be the lessons we want to take from this course.
Peggy
Suhayl Patel 7:20 pm on October 3, 2012 Permalink | Log in to Reply
You’re absolutely right Peggy. I learned very early in my role in the learning and Innovations department that you can’t be like the Raccoon who puts his hand in a tiny hole to reach for a shiny object. When raccoon grasps the shiny object and makes the fist to clench it, he won’t be able to get his fist out because of the size of the hole and the size of its fist. No matter what, the raccoon will not let go of the shiny object in order to get his hands out. The same things apply to evaluating educational resources and tools. Although novelty and attractiveness are appealing, we have to learn to focus on our intent when it comes to actually leveraging the tool. I highly recommend reading Micheal Fullan’s book Stratosphere. It talks about adopting technology as a pedogogical tool to bring about (educational) change, and how they all must be pieced together for effective use and iplementation.