You still going to teach the same when you face this?

Published by in 1:1, mobile on July 27th, 2009

Great photo from Will Richardson.

students with laptops in a lecture hall

When your classroom looks like this (hopefully with fewer students) are you still going to teach the same?

Based on what little I’ve heard locally from a university that’s gone 1:1 with both laptops and iPhones, the answer often is sadly, “Yes.” This Kaplan ad as well as the latest ACU “Connected” video suggest that the learning interactions SHOULD be different when ubiquitous access to laptop and handheld computing devices are available. We all know, however, there is often a space (sometimes large) between what is possible and what is actual.

ACU Mobile Learning from ACU Videos on Vimeo.

To answer the questions invited by Will’s photo above, we might also need to answer the related questions, “How robust is the provided WiFi connectivity?” and “How much professional development as well as just-in-time instructional technology support is available?” At NECC 2009 this year, the bandwidth left a LOT to be desired. That can also be the case in schools which do not adequately plan and scale their network infrastructure to meet the demands of 1:1 computing.

Cisco wireless router at NECC 2009

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On this day..

5 Comments »
  • http://www.EricMacKnight.com/ Eric T. MacKnight

    I am having trouble imagining why in the world anyone would put a group of students that large in one room at the same time.

    If it’s a lecture, turn it into a podcast or video and distribute it. If it’s a discussion, break up into small groups. If there’s a panel discussion of eminent experts on stage, then ask everyone to close their effing laptops and listen!!

  • http://www.edutim.com Tim

    Coming from a college that has a 1-to-1 program in place for students, I can report that this is what we are seeing. There are a lot of professors who just don’t know what to do in this type of environment. This confusion has gone so far that the “Honors College” has banned laptops in some of its lectures. I constantly slap my head V8 style over that one.

    You can try offering PD, however academic freedom seems to get in the way often. It is very difficult to higher education faculty that isn’t willing to adjust to 21st century realities into PD sessions. We are still struggling with faculty members that look at computer technology as an extra thing to include in their classes.

    That said, there are faculty members that are embracing our 1-to-1 program. They are future focused and very concerned with the best ways change their teaching for the 1-to-1 environment. Change is happening. My biggest worry is that it isn’t happening fast enough.

  • http://carterfsmith.blogspot.com Carter F Smith

    Something tells me that class could be taught online . . . in any event, I ddon’t know how I will teach when all my students can afford a laptop (especially if it comes from Apple :-) , but here’s an example of how I will NOT teach
    http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-6330872187306645183&hl=en&fs=true

  • http://nashworld.edublogs.org Sean Nash

    Punya Mishra (of TPACK fame, MSU) did a guest post on my blog when I was away last April.
    In this post, he did a mashup of the Kaplan video you reference above.

    The post is entitled: “A TPACK Video Mashup” => http://nashworld.edublogs.org/2009/04/08/a-tpack-video-mashup/
    Here’s betting you’ll appreciate his take on the video.

    Sean

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