I had some feedback this morning on my previous post here that I hadn’t mentioned effective learning in the clasroom in the post. I suppose there is a specific reason for this. I don’t see the learning that students do with the iPods as different learning than they would do with computers or a pen and paper. This may sound odd to those who see me as a very ‘plugged in’ or technology focused teacher, but I truly believe that good learning (and by association teaching) is independent of technology. Students in my class still learn effectively if the internet is down, power is off, computer dies or pencil breaks. We are engaged in learning and not playing with technology.
What I believe iPods and handheld devices offer students is the opportunity to complete the learning that we are engaged in on devices and in ways that they are comfortable with and interested in, and that the ‘new ways’ technology offers to complete the activities enhance the work. Is this important to me? Yes! Absolutely! It can create opportunities to collaborate, to create products that other methods don’t offer, to publish and revise their work with ease. This may make the learning shift in that they experience different processes, but I am always cognizant that learning is the goal. My teaching focus hasn’t changed since the days before our school had MacBooks, and before I had iPods to use everyday. I still avoid ‘make work’ projects, I still have students create ‘whole class’ projects, I still ensure that attention to detail and presentation are key elements of their writing. Students in my classes are learning an appreciation of literature and expression, it is only the conduit to that learning that changes.
So, if I am so focused on the learning, what has changed in the classroom process since the iPods were added to our environment? Let’s use one of my infamous examples. My students in Grade 11 complete a visual analysis essay of a film scene as part of our media studies unit. When I started this project several years ago, I would show the clip several times over, allowing students to write down notes and pausing for discussion between each showing. Some students took all of the showings to get everything they needed, and some asked to see it more at my desk afterward. Then students had to recall and describe as best they could what they were seeing, and what they thought the director’s purpose was in using the shot/lighting/angle, etc. This was a long process for students, and the need to ‘recall’ was a tough one, but I was somewhat limited in my ability to ‘hand over’ the media to them. Some of the more keen students would rent the movie on the weekend before the paper was due to watch the scene over a few more times.
With the iPods in my classroom, I now clip out the small scene and load it on the iPods. I still show the scene to the entire class, and we have a discussion about it, but students also have the ability to watch the scene over and over as many times as they need to on the iPods. I have an app on the iPods similar to Comic Life (see this post for my list of apps) that allows a student to add images into a ‘framed’ page, and then annotate over the images to highlight ideas and show interpretation. Students now create a visual essay, taking still images out of the scene and then describing the techniques used with the visual present to offer support for their ideas. This creates a great opportunity to blend the visual and text to create a project that really highlights the student understanding and connection to the director’s purpose.
I work hard to make the technology students use add up to more than just the sum of its parts, but it all starts with effective learning. With or without technology, students get little out of projects that aren’t focused on developing essential understandings and showing value to what the students are doing. One of the greatest points in the semester for me is when my media students come into class complaining that they can’t watch TV or movies the same way anymore because they know how the director is manipulating them. They spout off to me about the techniques the director used and how the message was either effective or not, and usually one of their classmates will join in. I sit back and smile, because iPods or not, they have engaged with their learning, and that’s what I want for our students.
Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
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