Last Fall semester the EdTech office hosted a very well-attended Brown Bag discussion about allowing students to use devices, like cell phones and tablets, in the classroom. Some faculty members debated that they were mere distractions, adding nothing to learning and taking students’ attention away from the class. Others reported integrating the devices into their classes, suggesting moments when students could use them to look up information during class-time, and encouraging students to use their devices to access materials for the course, download eBooks and eTextbooks, so they would have materials easily on-hand during theirclasses. They said cellphones and tablets were really useful and added to students’ learning.
This year, as watches from both Apple and Android manufacturers are now launching, this conversation continues to be relevant, and even moves a step further. When technology is integrated in students’ eyeglasses, watches and other accessories that they really can’t remove (especially in the case of eyeglasses), how will students’ expectations for learning change? Will they expect that they can have constant access to their email, texts and other social media, when it’s streamed directly to their fields of vision during a class?
As technology changes the way we communicate with each other, and the very way we experience our environment and social interactions, learning necessarily changes also. Please consider attending the EdTech and CTL discussions and events planned for this fall. Be a part of the conversation on shaping technology adoption here at Hostos. We want your input!