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May 2015 | Volume 72 | Number 8 Teaching with Mobile Tech
Teresa Preston
Smartphones and tablets have enabled students and teachers to connect to the outside world wherever they are. So how can educators take advantage these tools to advance student learning? The May issue of Educational Leadership looks at how schools can make the best use of mobile technology, ensuring that these devices are not distractions but vehicles leading students to growth in knowledge and skills.
Teachers and schools take a variety of different positions on whether to welcome mobile devices in the classroom. Some forbid them altogether, some allow only school-owned devices, and others allow students to use their own devices freely. In the online article "In Pursuit of a Cell Phone Policy," Larissa Pahomov shares how her own perspective has evolved during her career. Teacher Catlin Tucker, who allows her students to use their own devices, offers "Five Tips for Managing Mobile Devices."
Visit any app store, and you'll find a seemingly limitless supply of free and low-cost apps that claim to help students learn. But how can you be sure that these apps are actually effective? What can apps offer that isn't available from simple pen and paper? In "Choosing Apps by Design," Jay McTighe and Tom March encourage educators to begin with the end in mind and choose apps that fit three interrelated student learning goals: (1) acquiring knowledge and skills, (2) making meaning of big ideas, (3) transferring learning to new situations.
In "Digital Backchannels: Giving Every Student a Voice," Jeffrey Carpenter suggests that backchannels using tools like TodaysMeet can involve more students in classroom discussions.
Bradley A. Ermeling, James Hiebert, and Ronald Gallimore critique the idea of "best practices" in their article "Best Practice: The Enemy of Better Teaching," noting that researchers "treat skeptically the claim that a practice is broadly and generally the best."
These ASCD resources will help you consider more ways to promote learning with technology.
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