Lori Tobias
Google Notebooks changing the way Astoria High students learn
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2011/03/google_netbooks_change_way_astoria_high_students_learn.html
3/23/2011
Topic: Leaning with technology
Google has given every student in Astoria High a Google Notebook, a laptop that is not yet available to the public. The Notebooks are used to help teachers engage the students in class, help students study and communicate their ideas. Only six schools in the country got to participate in this Google experiment.
Key Points: students who once did not speak up in class are now voicing their opinions through forums and posts, disciplinary incidents have decreased since the introduction of the Notebook, All information can be accessed from various “clouds,” and some teachers are concerned that face to face social interaction may be at risk—considering students already spend most of their time on personal electronic devices.
Relevance: I think this is a great idea. This experiment ties in with our use of the Blog, and our COE Flex portal. I think that it is a great idea, since this gives students who did not have a computer or laptop access the ability to communicate with their classmates and teachers and study from home. The article makes a good point that this should be used as a tool, tied in with other methods of teaching in the school. The focus is that this is a tool, not a replacement for education.
Yea, there's some real "interesting" responses whenever an education, immigration, youth-related, etc. kind story hits the internet. I think it's a great idea to use this technology as a tool to help teach the curriculum and stay connected with students. It is not surprising that students readily respond via text, IM, etc. because they are really used to doing that. Also, it's good for students who do not have access to computers at own. I wonder if they let the students use the computers when they're not in class and how they deal with taking care of the computers. Like all educational tools, whether it works or not is up to the school and teachers.
ReplyDeleteThat is a good point Eric, I did not think about that before. I assume that the kids get to take the notebooks home, but what happens when they break? I understand that this is an "experiment" right now, but if the school is looking into making this program official for their future years, they will need to think about lost, stolen, broken policies. Wonder if students will have to pay for these things out of pocket, or maybe an insurance like program or fee?
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