Reflections of First Year Grads

In our LOTE lecture several weeks ago we heard from two recent graduates who are both teaching French at schools in Melbourne. Both use ICT extensively in their classes, and they passed on some excellent resources. One of the students is in a "tablet school" where students can write on their tablets (so that handwriting skills are not lost) Lessons are almost exclusively ICT-delivered. It was interesting to hear about the challenges present in this context, and how the graduate teacher had gone about addressing these challenges. A program called DyKnow allows the teacher to see all the tablets in her class at once on her computer by linking them in together. This allows for collaboration, and permits students to communicate directly with the teacher if they're too embarassed to do so in front of their peers. It also ensures that students remain 'on-task' and don't take a wander around cyberspace because their teacher will see if they do!
This software looks fantastic - here's a link to a YouTube clip about one of its functions http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CWMJHE1tzM&feature=related

With all of these technologies, however, we need to think about what is being privileged as we use them, and what is potentially being lost. Developing confidence in front of your peers is a skill essential for later life and if developing this skill is neglected or delayed (because technologies such as DyKnow have allowed the student to communicate otherwise) this will be to the student's detriment. Of course, it's all about a balanced use of these technologies for educative purposes in the classroom. Where we are reflecting on the benefits and disadvantages of each new app, program or digital tool for our students, they are likely to receive a healthy mix of interesting and varied instructional tools. So we will use collaborative digital editing tools in the classroom but we will also run editing workshops without these tools so that students will learn the importance of turn-taking in discussion and reflecting on the contribution of others before making your opinion heard.