For my first blog post, I wanted to find something to discuss that felt relevant in an immediate sense, so I settled on the following article: 20 Suggestions About Teaching in a Class Where All Students Have Laptops. The article focuses on the new landscape of schools in regards to 1:1 programs. The author points out that due to COVID closures, most districts probably find themselves in a 1:1 scenario where every student has a device, many districts may now find themselves with students back in the classroom with a device that was not there before. Four different teachers share their thoughts on how to be successful in using 1:1 devices in your classroom and three of the four teachers are currently ESL teachers or have a background in ESL, so I was particularly interested in what insight they had to share.
I found their advice to be overwhelmingly helpful and positive, but there was one comment that felt like the reading equivalent of nails on a chalkboard to me. Below are some highlights and my responses.
“Be a facilitator of learning, not an imparter of knowledge. Lecture less, engage students more, and most importantly, don’t sit at your desk while students are on the computer. Wear comfortable shoes and spend time observing and interacting with students.” - Anabel Gonzalez
I couldn’t agree more with this point. Too often I’ve seen 1:1 devices used in a manner where the teacher says “Here’s your assignment” and then it’s lounge-time for the rest of the period. I’m of the opinion that as a teacher I should almost never be sitting. If students are working on devices, that’s the time to be engaging them, moving around the room to assist with their work, and keeping them on task. I think that mentality is even more important in an ESL classroom where students will need more one-on-one assistance.
“Don’t be afraid to learn from students. You can be a learner and still be the authority in the room. For years, I assigned video projects on iMovie, yet to this day, I still can’t create one myself. Students can figure things out for themselves; let them teach you”. - Anabel Gonzalez
When I first read this point, I did a double-take. The author made plenty of beneficial suggestions and then encouraged one of my biggest pet peeves! To be blunt, I find it embarrassing that an educator would admit to something like this. In a broad sense, her point is not wrong. We should not be afraid to learn from students. We never know what knowledge or perspective a student can bring and they very well might be better than we are with technology, but I am shocked someone would admit to assigning students a task that they themselves cannot do. Students look to their teachers as a guide and mentor. If a student asked for assistance working on iMovie, what would your response be if you can’t use it yourself? I think this is especially vital in an ESL environment, where your students may need more guidance on using unfamiliar programs. I completely understand that students might exceed your abilities and find advanced techniques in editing that you did not use before, but I think it’s unreasonable to expect students to use something that you have not taken the time to learn yourself.
“Additionally, if you support special education students or English-learners, be sure to show them how to use the embedded supports like Microsoft’s Immersive Reader or the captions, speech to text, and translation features in Google Workspace.” - Michelle Makus Shory
I’ve been so ingrained in the world of Google that I had not even heard of Microsoft Immersive Reader. I briefly played around with it, and I was really impressed with its ease of use. It’s free for Office365 subscribers (which my district has) and I think it would make for a fantastic tool for ESL students. It has a reader that can play audio of the written words, clicking on words will provide picture examples that illustrate what the word means, which is great for making real-world connections for a second language learner. You can also translate the entire document, or just individual words into a large number of available languages. I’m excited to add this to my district’s toolbox and share it with our staff.
Overall, the article had an abundance of helpful advice for both newcomers to 1:1 and even for those who are already accustomed to that environment and I particularly found some of the tips from those with ESL experience to be particularly beneficial.. While the contributors were largely focused on pedagogy, I appreciated some of the specific technical recommendations throughout as well. This article is listed as the first of a three part series and I look forward to checking out the rest of the posts to see what other educators have to share.
Ferlazzo, L. (2021, September 8). 20 suggestions About Teaching in a Class Where All Students Have Laptops . Education Week. Retrieved September 30, 2021, from https://www.edweek.org/technology/opinion-20-suggestions-about-teaching-in-a-class-where-all-students-have-laptops/2021/09.
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