Tag: Educational Technology

Anyone who is familiar with teenagers knows that when one volunteers information about their school day to his parents—it’s big. Huge. That’s thanks to the phenomenon of Pokémon Go. The day after the official launch, my soon-to-be-in-grade-nine son, Alex, unexpectedly texted me from his summer transition program because his teacher had just announced that there would be a Pokémon Go Club starting the next day. I knew we wouldn’t even have to go through the “What did you do today? / Nothing…” dinner conversation that night!

There is a growing community of educators who have adopted Minecraft as a powerful engagement tool in mainstream subjects like math, science, social studies, and even language arts.

When I reflect on my years working in classrooms with students, I think about how much time it took to access and use essential technology B.G. (before Google). I compare it with what it must have been like for people before electricity and after electricity. B.G.

It's nice to think of the Internet as a wonderful invention that has made our lives both richer and more efficient. It's a nice notion and it's an accurate one—the Internet has changed our lives for the better. We can now communicate with people from all four corners of the globe. We can share, swap, and gain as much knowledge as we could ever want or need. There are no negatives associated with instant knowledge—or are there?

As the school bell rings, thirty grade six students settle into their desks for a history class. After a brief overview of last night’s homework, the teacher lets them know they have 30 minutes to work on their group project. Instead of pulling out lined paper and textbooks, they bring out their personal iPads, Netbooks, Tablets, and Chromebooks. A few take out iPods or Galaxy phones.

Under the umbrella of Digital Citizenship (DC) are some complex concepts. Netiquette, Internet safety, information usage and cyber bullying are just a few of the topics that teachers explore as they help students unpack what it means to use technology responsibly. Our school went wireless this past January.

As the assistant head of special education at Vaughan Secondary School in the Toronto area, Tim Wesson describes his professional learning journey as one driven by the desire to improve the standard of living for autistic students and to seek ways to build partnerships in the school community.

Like many of my students, I too use digital devices in my daily personal life, but the enormous piles of notes and paper combined with the constant fighting with the students to put their gadgets away drove me to reevaluate how I could use those very gadgets to my advantage.