Journal Article Review #3

Citation:

Heitin, Liana. For teachers, wired classrooms pose new management concerns.  Education Week [Online].  October 14, 2013. <www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2013/10/14/cm_wired.html>.

REVIEW OF FOR TEACHERS, WIRED CLASSROOMS POSE NEW MANAGEMENT CONCERNS

Summary:

The use of technology within classrooms across the United States is on the rise.  As more and more schools incorporate 1-to-1 personal computing devices, demands regarding their management are causing increased concern.  Liana Heitin addresses this challenge in her article For Teachers, Wired Classrooms Pose New Management Concerns (2013).  Heitin argues that management of 1-to-1 classrooms comes down to three key issues:  1) how to keep kids on task, 2) how to ensure that devices are safe and properly maintained, and 3) how to compete with the tech-savvy students (2013).  The author then goes on to address each issue by offering ways to combat each issue.  

Recommendations:

To keep kids on task, it is suggested to either circulate or, if a teacher is fortunate enough to have it, to use remote desktop monitoring software to see what each student is doing on his or her screen and ensure that they remain on task (Heitin 2013).  To ensure the safety and proper maintenance of devices, Heitin states, “One of the best ways to keep devices in good condition is by creating a sense of value around them” (2013).  After all, if students appreciate having the privilege of using such devices, and if they understand how expensive they are to replace (a cost that will almost certainly need to be covered by them or their parents), then the idea is that the will take better care of those devices.  Heitin goes on to explain several examples of how schools protect devices, including keeping them at school, using a numbering system, and employing technology monitors (2013).  Finally, device security is addressed by the author.  It is suggested to employ the use of firewalls, passwords, and cloud sharing tools to ensure that student devices and their contents are appropriate and secure (Heitin 2013).  An example is even given where a district had a student who kept hacking passwords and bypassing firewalls but was given a summer job of exposing all of the district’s technological weaknesses so that they could be fixed (Heitin 2013).

Reflection/Application:

I think that this article contains some pretty decent ideas on how to manage a technology-infused classroom.  For starters, firewalls can be a great way to prevent students from accessing inappropriate websites while they are at school and connected to the school’s Internet.  The downside to them is that no matter how you limit access, students always find a way to access the content that is being blocked; it is as simple as pulling their smartphones out, connecting to their mobile network, and going to whatever websites they want to.  In addition to firewalls, remote monitoring software is a great tool that can be used to monitor students as they work on their computers in class.  It can be used to check progress, monitor time on task, and so forth.   I have used Faronics, a remote monitoring tool, successfully in the classroom on numerous occasions.  Moreover, sharing tools like Dropbox and Google Drive are great for sharing things back and forth with multiple people on multiple devices.  We regularly use Google Drive at our school.  Students love the fact that they can type an essay in school, have it automatically save their progress, and then go home and pick up writing right where they left off at school.  And, as a teacher, I love the fact that my students can submit, or “share”, their documents with me and I do not have to carry a large stack of essays around to grade.

Of all of Heitin’s suggestions, however, the one that intrigues me the most is hiring tech-savvy students to expose cracks in a school’s digital system.  I am leery of this idea because there are plenty of competent professionals that could do this for a school without exposing sensitive data to a student just to figure out where system cracks are.  I do not feel that doing such a thing is very professional or ethical.  In any case, the suggestions made by this article are a decent “jumping off” point for any digital classroom.