Hi guys, I gotta do a little venting here cuz this is getting frustrating. This math cart is great to have but with only 15 computers im wondering if it is more trouble that what it's worth! When students are sharing a computer they are busy talking and not listening to instructions and then I have to repeat myself to each group over and over again. The gizmos must be done in pairs instead of individually. I also tried to have them print documents from my web page to find that not all laptops have printers installed.
Today has been a disaster with my first two blocks.
Students dont remember their passwords, not all have gmail accounts yet, gmail and google dont work together without setting up a google account. It's taken almost the entire class periods to just get set up and logged on to the gizmos! Im also finding out that these students aren't as tech advanced as we might think. Yeah they can use cell phones, but when it comes to links and sites and passwords etc.. they are lost. I know this all takes time and in the long run is worth the trouble, but the hard part is trying to fit this in with our curriculum time constraints. In trying to do a lesson on circles through the gizmo, i have actually wasted a day. I think it's just faster and easier to project it on the board and work as a class then as pairs or groups. But that is the same as we have always done it. Any suggestions or ideas?
Im gonna try it again for my last two classes today. Lets see how it goes.
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2 comments:
Izzy, I feel your pain. I was reading an article I'll blog about here later that talks bout the gap in students who have access and those that don't. Someday schools and students will be at a one to one ratio with computers and the internet, but until then this is our frustration.
i feel your pain...I wonder if a little thinking out of the box could make things easier. Maybe you can split your class into two groups: one working on a traditional assignment, the other working on the laptops. Then the next day switch! If you give the names of student who cannot access their accounts to Dave, he can fix them for you. (on the first day have all of the students who can get into to their accounts on the computers. Give your list to Dave. and hopefully, the second day they should be able to get in?)
I hope you all don't mind me chiming in on the Math blog...but we're all in figuring out how to use this technology together!
Tonia
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