Technology for learning

Made available under Creative Commons 2.0 Attribution Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/. Available at: Source

After browsing through meaghan’s blog I came across a post that particularly caught my attention, titled Handhelds in the Classroom. In this article Education World had taken a look at “portable digital assistants (PDAs)… making a transition from briefcase to backpack”. This was interesting to me because I live in what I would say is a relatively ‘good area’ on the North Shore and I am yet to see any students carrying PDA’s in their backpacks! But maybe this is because I have only attended Government schools both on prac and as a student? Because as Meaghan also said, to which I agree, that cost is a BIG issue in regards to technology in schools.

Either way, I think this “one-to-one technology ratio” would be beneficial in the classroom because it provides a new tradition or way of teaching. For example, through their PDA students can track their physical activity, store and graph data from science experiments and even record their journal entries on their devices. But, we still need to ask the question why should kids be doing these things on their PDA when they can do it through pen and paper?

My friend who attends a non-Government school on the Upper North Shore was one of many at his high-school to receive a polar watch that receives information from special trainers (also provided) via bluetooth. Information such as kilometres walked, calories burned and even speed can be tracked in a measure to use technology to motivate students to get healthy. I think this is particulary great because it combines technology and exercise (another issue facing children today)!!