The Students’ Take
by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator
“My favorite color is green.”
“I love food. All kinds.”
“I love food. All kinds.”
“I have a hedgehog named Prickles.”
“In the summer, I like to surf.”
“I love Freshman Tech Seminar so much it hurts.”
In
my first class meeting of Freshman Technology Seminar, my students had
fun sharing something about themselves in a forum on Moodle. With humor,
sarcasm, and an equal amount of both thoughtfulness and awkwardness,
this activity provided a great way to help us get to know each other a
bit. For instance, in my post I shared that I have 7 chickens, 3 kids in
Hop schools, and that my favorite 2 sports are soccer and (Patriots)
football. This activity also helped students learn some of the ins and
outs of posting in an online forum: no “text” speech please, all caps =
YELLING in the online world, and yes, punctuation, spelling, and grammar
all still “matter.”
When
we moved from our virtual forum to an in-class discussion, my students
were bursting (okay, I’ll qualify that -- some students were bursting)
to share details on how they are using their laptops in the classroom
and beyond. It was just over a week into the school year at that point
all students reported that they use their laptops in class at some point
close to every day. Examples included accessing online textbooks and
course Moodle sites, using Google docs, taking quizzes and polls, email,
and research on the web. One of my more enthusiastic students shared
tips on how he uses Google Calendar to get (and stay) organized with his
responsibilities for Student Council, along with his other
extracurriculars. Another student recommended an agenda app that helps
her keep track of homework, projects, and sports schedules. Not
surprisingly, when the subject turned to ways they use the laptops
beyond school, the conversation got even livelier (iTunes playlists,
video games, PhotoBooth -- need I say more?). A couple students wondered
how fully the laptops would become integrated into their learning every
day. However, what came through most clearly during our conversation
was the students’ overall enthusiasm for being the first HHS class to
“go 1-1.”
Apparently,
even the seniors are taking notice of the program in its early days.
During the second week of school, one member of the Class of 2013
stopped by the Tech Center and asked, “Hey, how can I get one of those
Airs?” I’m still not sure whether his question was rhetorical or not....
