Go Gadget Go: If gadgets are not for you

    This blog has mostly focused on online coursework or incorporation of technology in the classroom. I am aware tht their is a whole population of educators that does not agree with the incorporation of online course work or even technology in the classroom, and more importantly, I understand where they are coming from. 

    I am a product of a school system that does not believe in the incorporation of technology I'm the classroom, and I know that it can be quite the adjustment. Most of the instructors that I had thought that technology was too distracting and its " benefits" would never outweigh the struggle of getting students to focus. Though my teachers thought this way, they were always so impressed when students used technology to create " out of classroom" projects . How could this be? Teachers who did not like technology in the classroom, but were so impressed when students used technology outside of class. It's not the technology that bothers the teachers but the gadgets being physically present in the classroom. So this form of teaching got me thinking, how can educators that do not want technology in the classroom, incorporate technology into lecture? 

    In order to collect answers to my question, I simply searched " technology without gadgets". There is nothing simple about imputing this phrase into google, but finally I found the almost-perfect article written by Huffington Post about technology in the classroom without gadgets. The article lists ten ways that an educator could potentially incorporate the use of technology without having students physically bringing gadgets to class. Out of the ten suggestions, I found two to be particularly interesting. 

    The first point that I thought was a sound suggestion was the adjusting of the schedule. This point suggests that if a teacher adjusts the schedule so that students are spending class time interacting with one another and " applying" new found information; while, spending out of class time online, studying and memorizing information. I thought this concept was significant because it makes class time more engaging. 

    The second point that I thought was interesting was about the idea of a flipped classroom. A flipped classroom is defined as a teacher lecturing in a video format and making content available to students before class begins. Flipped classroom are thought to be effective because students are more prepared to what teachers will be discussing in class, and come to class with questions in mind. I personally think this would be especially useful in most science or math classes. 

What do you think? Check out the article for yourself! 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alisa-berger/technology-classroom-without-gadgets_b_5324611.html