Reflection: ipads in the classroom

           I was really interested to learn that Oceanside and El Camino were integrating technology in their classrooms. I was especially intrigued because I attended Oceanside. I knew that we had a great facility (science and technology building) that was built not too long ago. My sister graduated last year and I asked her if they had used ipads in her class and she said no, it was a new thing this year so I was definitely excited to see how this unfolded in the classroom.

            At Oceanside, we visited two science classrooms, a physics class and a chemistry class. Before going in to the class, I thought the majority of instruction would take place on the ipads. I thought students would use them throughout the class to take notes, also to share their work with the teacher. I also thought about the negative side and how students would probably be off task playing games on the devices.

            However, when we entered the classrooms, I was quickly proven wrong. The way the ipads are being integrated into the curriculum is mostly through using moodle for bell work and taking tests. In both classes, the students came into class and quickly got started on their bell work. This was a series of problems that the students had to complete. What I really liked is that the teachers mentioned that students get the same type of problems but with different numbers. This means that students can’t just copy answers from one another, they actually have to work together to understand the process. I thought this was great, because now students are communicating and teaching one another the concepts this way both students can learn the content.

            I definitely think using the ipads promoted student learning. The teachers mentioned that the same thing occurs during tests. Students received the same type of problems but with different numbers. Also, I thought was really great that teachers allow the students to retake tests. I thought this was very beneficial for students because if they do not know a concept, they can always go back and try to learn the content and then demonstrate their understanding by taking the test again. This promotes student learning because students are no longer being penalized for not understanding a concept and falling behind when the teacher moves on to something new. Now, students can keep learning content they don’t understand, demonstrate their knowledge through taking the test again and they won’t fall behind. (The tests that are retaken give the students the same type of problems but change the numbers.)

            What I thought made this school unique was that it was the teachers who were pushing to integrate technology in the class. They were the ones who went to the district, proposed their idea, and asked them to provide the devices for the students in their class. As a result, Oceanside was able to receive the ipads as well as the Apple TV where students can project their ipad on one of the projectors so the teacher knows exactly what the student is working on. Solely having this technology in the class, made the school unique. I have heard about integrating ipads in the classroom but actually seeing it first hand and knowing that these two high schools are some of the few that are actually integrating this technology was pretty unique.

            I learned that it is very possible to integrate technology into the class. However, teachers must have support such as from the district to be able to carry through with this activity. The chemistry teacher at Oceanside mentioned that during the summer he made a facebook account to ask teachers from around the nation to come together to create different units they could implement in their class. That way one teacher did not do all the work, and the teachers received input from other teachers. So I learned that collaboration among colleagues is essential. The more teachers come together to develop units, talk about how to better teach their content, I think the more effective a teacher will be in integrating technology and ensuring that their class is student-centered. Lastly, I learned that technology can be very beneficial for students and can definitely create a student-centered environment. Going into this experience I was skeptic thinking that technology might serve as a distraction for students, but I learned that it is the complete opposite.