As the end of term nears it’s time to take stock of how introducing tablets in class has affected student life. The answer will surprise you.
The Benefits:
Going Paperless. With class hand-outs being dropped via wifi and Bluetooth the education system is one step closer to an eco-friendly environment. Teachers can spend less time making class sets of hand-outs and focus more on lesson planning.
More Interactive. With the added dimension of sound and video students have more access to material than just a simple textbook. For example, in English class in the past students could only get a model reading from the teacher while in class, which was okay for study purposes, but difficult for practicing for a speaking test. Between interactive textbooks and teachers recording model readings students have more resources to pull from.
Distance Learning. With health advisors urging stricter guidelines with the current pandemic, educators are more apt to be cautious and suggest students who don’t feel well to stay home. This can impact their education greatly if this occurs more than once. With tablet learning students can use software like Zoom to attend classes online. Likewise teachers can send students class material on the day it was taught. There is no excuse to fall behind.
With all the good that tablets are producing there are, inevitably, some drawbacks.
Drawbacks:
Inability to focus. Like any new toy, students have a tendency to be attracted to screens even when they should be paying attention to the teacher. At this point in time while some students have learned to focus on the class, others have chosen to play with their tablets.
Games, games, games. The true wonder of the modern age is the technology that allows nearly anything to be broadcast and used remotely. Even with control over what can be downloaded to a tablet, students have found ways of using web browsers to play games such as Mario Kart and Taiko no Tatsujin. This has become a reoccurring problem of late.
Lack of Respect. School tablets are leased for the duration of a student’s academic life, but that doesn’t mean they’re free to treat their devices callously. Recently some students have thought it amusing to pop off the tops of their keyboard keys and then for fun do it to others when they’re unaware.
So while the benefits are racking up, tablets in the classroom come with some drawbacks. The drawbacks though have less to do with the device than they do the students own moral code. Given time and the proper guidance the maximum potential of tablets in the classroom can be realized.
