Sunday, February 26, 2012

Tech doesn't automatically improve outcomes

It is always important to note that technology can be used wisely and it can be used foolishly.  This is why merely throwing money, technology, or anything passive, at a problem doesn't automatically work.

I am hoping to find some great ways to use a Thinkpad Tablet to improve my teaching by considering the problems that I face without such technology.  Any roll out of new tech into schools/education needs to start from the problem before jumping straight to the solution (which might end up creating more of a problem anyway!)

If there was one thing I could do to seriously improve my students' ability to achieve, it would be to give them more time with me in a one on one situation.  I think that the Thinkpad Tablet can help me do this without increasing my time with students in a "real world time" sense.  The chief way I can do this is through making freely available a wide range of videos of my explanations and descriptions from class.  If everything I do in class is available and easy to find, then my students can use this rewindable version of me to have more personal time than I can possibly give for real.

As long as I am recording these explanations and demonstrations in a context that is familiar to them, my students will be able to engage with the videos effectively, i.e. they have to come from things they are learning (and need to learn) so it's no good if they watch a video of an MIT professor talking about the same thing we are learning but at a higher level and using different notation or contexts that are unfamiliar to my students.  Irrelevance is always the danger of any teacher or presenter and this can come in varying degrees.  The closer I can be to delivering exactly what they need, the better the outcome.




Some screen capture software lined up to have a go with:
Screencast Video Recorder Demo - Apps on Android Market http://bit.ly/yHPjqk
Z-ScreenRecorder - Apps on Android Market http://bit.ly/wwTUPl

4 comments:

  1. Okay, so I've just discovered that the device needs to be rooted in order to use these applications. That sucks majorly! Because it's a demo model that means I can't do this and can't recommend anyone else do this or you tend to void warranties, etc. Sadly, there don't seem to be any other apps out there to do this which is a real shame since it is so incredibly useful for many positive purposes.

    If anyone knows of something I can use without having to root the device, please let me know!

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  2. I also tried this app and ran into the same block. I also tried having my tablet screen go to my laptop and then use my tech smith software (similar to using my bamboo tablet). I have an expensive cable but cannot get things to work yet.

    Have you had any success since your post in Feb?

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    Replies
    1. I actually ended up getting an iPad and using Explain Everything (http://www.explaineverything.com/) to do what I wanted. It works great! You can see the sorts of video lessons I've been making here: http://physicslounge.wordpress.com/

      I still love android flexibility but there just wasn't anything available to do what I wanted. The iPad was also cheaper!

      Delete
    2. I actually ended up getting an iPad and using Explain Everything (http://www.explaineverything.com/) to do what I wanted. It works great! You can see the sorts of video lessons I've been making here: http://physicslounge.wordpress.com/

      I still love android flexibility but there just wasn't anything available to do what I wanted. The iPad was also cheaper!

      Delete