Sudents mind wondering.
We have adopted the ipad as a learning tool, this great for our curriculum, but the access they have to games and videos is a little hard to deal with, we have rules about tablet uses but is there any ideas on keeping them focused while in the classroom?
Latoya,
Students like change of pace and variety in their instructional delivery and you are offering both with your approach. As a result you are appealing to the different learning preferences of your students and this increases their engagement.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I like to use several in class activities or do things to keep the class engaged. Sometimes, if I want students to answer a question, I throw a stress ball at them. This immediately grasps their attention. When I am about to stress an important point, I wear my son's fire man hat. There are different ways of keeping them engaged, despite possibilities for technological distractions.
CHRISTINA,
Each instructor has to find his or her own comfort with how personal electronic devices are used in class. What ever policies are established in class then needs to be reinforced throughout the course so the students know what they are suppose to with the devices and this then gives you the opportunity to direct the students as to how you want them used without having to spend all of your time checking on their use.
Gary
Gary Meers, Ed.D.
I fear that unless there is some sort of negative consequence to other than lecture material on the ipad, there's not much to do to keep students on track. They are adults and I feel uncomfortable with policing their decisions to deviate from from the material.
Subscribing to this thread... soon my class will be making the switch to digital books on the iPad as well. Getting a heads up on what to expect will be a great help.
