What Do Kids Say Is The Biggest Obstacle To Technology At School?

> An old copy of Knuth's "Art of Computer Programming" and a willing student will make a far more talented engineer than giving a disinterested student an iPad with anywhere/anytime access to the totality of human knowledge (including Angry Birds).

Likewise, a willing student with an iPad is going to have the potential to learn so much more than a disinterested student with a textbook.

If a student is disinterested and completely lacks motivation, it won't matter if you use a tablet or a textbook, that student is probably not going to learn much. However, a willing and interested student can learn so much more with newer, more powerful tools. Does it really make sense to hold the willing student back because of the disinterested student?

As far as motivating the lazy student goes, you are far more likely to spark their interest with real-world applications on a tablet or smartphone than with a boring old textbook.

"Asking students what they think they need to learn? Problem is, they don't know..." This is typical of a teacher giving his or her students too little credit. While this may be true of elementary- and perhaps middle-schoolers, I'd say most high school students know what helps them learn. I knew what kinds of books, teachers, writing utensils, memorization techniques and the like that I preferred, and the same was true of just about everyone around me. Similarly, I also knew what failed to help me. There was a girl in one of my classes who always quietly hummed behind me some jingle she had created to help her remember something for that test, but I never liked using songs to memorize important facts. I did something kind of like the memory palace technique (but I didn't know it had a name at the time). There were also plenty of assignments the teachers gave and tools/methods they tried to use that they thought - not without reason - would work. But they often confused me much more than taught me anything.

"it is not for lack of understanding, but for lack of action" I agree with this. A huge mistake of many of my teachers is that they assumed some students were dumb or lazy and missed the fact that students simply don't care about some (or all) of the classes they have to take, and teachers that focused on getting students interested in the material were generally more successful than the ones who complained about kids' poor attitudes (not that a bad attitude isn't an issue, and not that it's all on the teacher to do something about it). But then came the "action" part - get kids to do something "right." I hated teachers that tried to force their study habits on me. Many teachers would check and grade our notes to see that we were taking them "properly." Others might make us go step-by-step through some writing process that is "guaranteed to make you a successful writer." While good note-taking and writing skills should definitely be taught at some point, the level of detail enforced was absurd, and single methods cannot work for every student.

I know teachers have hard jobs, and I don't claim to know everything. The point is just to give the students some credit. They aren't stupid, and they're all different. If you listen to them, they'll like you better for it. If you don't listen to them, you will never seriously consider some little idea they say that might work wonders for them. But don't get me wrong about the article. This survey says nothing about a correlation between access to technology and success in school/life, and I really doubt smartphones and iPads will help students more than distract them. However, there is merit taking their opinions into account. And there is merit in using the available resources to their full advantage. Considering that mobile devices will become ever more prevalent and powerful in the future, it's a good idea to begin determining their potential in the classroom.

Actually, there is significant evidence that integrating mobile technology into the classroom does in fact aid learning, but only of the instructor is will to embrace the technology instead of fight it. Unfortunately, most instructors don't feel comfortable changing their teaching methods, so technology is seen as having no impact.

Here's one article about one professor's experience with integrating Twitter into the classroom: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_one_teacher_uses_tw...

There are numerous similar examples of teachers that are experimenting with technology and seeing positive results, but are being stonewalled by administrators who are afraid of trying something new.

Yes, there's always a risk that students will just be able to play Angry Birds on their phones in class, but then, those same students can just doodle in their notebooks instead. Should we take all notebooks and pencils away? Any tool has the potential to be abused, but it also has the potential to significantly help.

I don't blame the kids for saying this is what they want, but I would blame any adult who listened to 'em.

Ask kids what they want, and school will be optional and lunch will be ice cream.

Agreed entirely. My best lessons, ones that integrate technology and really engage the students who don't usually care, take hours to plan, test, iterate and improve.

Some days, I think about trying to make a company dedicated to period-long drop-in replacement lessons. I'm just not quite sure the market is there.