Week Thirteen - Teachthought on Smartphone Disruption
This week I'm reviewing an article by Terry Heick from February, on disruption provided by devices. As suits much of the current conversation on technology in the classroom, Heick emphasizes the positive outcomes possible when teachers embrace students' increasing comfort with and access to personal devices - in this case, smartphones.
Heick works from the assumption that technophobes opposed to disruption believe students can't process, analyze, evaluate, or synthesize the vast amount of information they have access to on their devices. Heick encourages teachers to consider the benefits of increased access, comfort, and transparency while cautioning readers about the barriers that exist in school policies, technological capacity gaps, and privacy concerns.
Heick's explains the benefits as a sense of the wireless access to "every task a learner can be expected to complete," as a note that apps and operations will be more familiar to students, and as that properly structured courses could show all work by all students to reduce the concerns over social media abuses.
Heick's concern with policy is that many schools will resist necessary change regarding rules of digital access and comportment. He acknowledges that not all devices are created equally, so there will be disparity in capacities and access. And he admits that schools will struggle to help students behave respectfully and appropriately while dealing with unlimited access.
Overall, this article follows Heick's method of noting a range of possibilities and encouraging teachers to consider the strengths of the idea in question while shoring themselves up against the problems. As always, this article is overall positive in its intent, but struggles to create a convincing sense of next steps for a given reader - teacher, leader, or administrator. More focused engagement in particular examples or experiences would strengthen his credibility and the utility of this article.
Heick works from the assumption that technophobes opposed to disruption believe students can't process, analyze, evaluate, or synthesize the vast amount of information they have access to on their devices. Heick encourages teachers to consider the benefits of increased access, comfort, and transparency while cautioning readers about the barriers that exist in school policies, technological capacity gaps, and privacy concerns.
Heick's explains the benefits as a sense of the wireless access to "every task a learner can be expected to complete," as a note that apps and operations will be more familiar to students, and as that properly structured courses could show all work by all students to reduce the concerns over social media abuses.
Heick's concern with policy is that many schools will resist necessary change regarding rules of digital access and comportment. He acknowledges that not all devices are created equally, so there will be disparity in capacities and access. And he admits that schools will struggle to help students behave respectfully and appropriately while dealing with unlimited access.
Overall, this article follows Heick's method of noting a range of possibilities and encouraging teachers to consider the strengths of the idea in question while shoring themselves up against the problems. As always, this article is overall positive in its intent, but struggles to create a convincing sense of next steps for a given reader - teacher, leader, or administrator. More focused engagement in particular examples or experiences would strengthen his credibility and the utility of this article.
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