Rethinking Engagement
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Digital technologies seem
to engage students in learning activities in ways that traditional
classroom technologies do not. Students tell us that the use
of technology makes learning more "fun." Why?
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| Perhaps digital technologies evoke multiple
sensory modalities, perhaps they support interaction and construction,
perhaps digital media seem more relevant to the "real world."
In any case, our observations, and the findings of many other
researchers in the field, have documented increased engagement
in technology-rich environments. |
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| Teachers in these environments
universally note very high levels of motivation among all their
students. They tell us increased motivation and engagement results
in higher quality student work and more complex student thinking.
They tell us that they have had to rethink their ideas of what
students can do and how long they can spend doing it without
losing interest. |
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| We need to rethink learning
in ubiquitous computing contexts, by planning for and supporting
student engagement and intrinsic motivation. We need to design
long-term, complex, authentic learning activities. And we need
to explore and embrace the use of digital technologies to make
classroom learning as ''fun.'' |
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Rethinking Individualization
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Access to rich collections of digital materials
and tools inside and outside of the classroom makes it possible
for teachers to tailor activities for individual students and
for students to make choices about what tool is appropriate
for a particular task. For example, mobile computing devices
allow all students to have access to a broad range of tools,
individualize their own workspaces, and make their learning
their own in a very tangible way. |
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| Teachers in RCET's ubiquitous
computing classroom are consistently surprised at the
way in which they can work with individual students or small
groups without having to worry about what the rest of the class
is doing. Because learning is more individualized and students
can make choices, they tend to be more engaged and more responsible
for their own learning. |
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One result is that students respond with
unique, creative, and high quality work. The high quality of
student work suggests that individualization and choice need
not be sacrificed in the standards-based, high stakes testing
context gripping American K-12 education today, at least not
when they are supported by ubiquitous computing environments. |
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Rethinking Collaboration
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Ubiquitous computing affords unique supports
for collaborative and peer learning activities. Indeed, researchers
have noted significant increases in collaboration among students,
and between students and teachers, in ubiquitous computing learning
environments. |
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| For example, most mobile computing devices
have beaming capabilities which allow students to easily share
their work and work collaboratively. Several teachers in RCET's
ubiquitous
computing classroom used beaming to support peer editing
and believed it enhanced both the activity and the quality of
the resulting student work. Many teachers also noted that students
being able to access each others' work digitally on desktop
or laptop computer screens seemed to enhance collaboration.
Several classes in our program have used computer-mediated communication
to share their work and collaborate beyond the classroom. |
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Across the country and around the world,
students are communicating and collaborating to create scientific
data bases, discuss literature, explore environmental simulations,
play games, and participate in fully online classes. Many of
these activities take place outside of a formal learning context.
The possibilities for computer-supported collaboration are legion.
Many children use a variety of channels to communicate to each
other outside of school. The full potential of ubiquitous computing
for these types of tasks needs to be harnessed in order for
it to have a profound impact on collaboration and peer learning,
not only across schools and districts, but at national and international
levels as well. |
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Rethinking Learning for All
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Traditionally the special needs literature
describes the use of assistive technology tools for supporting
meaningful mainstreaming of struggling students or the use of
intervention-based software to facilitate learning. In our ubiquitous
computing classroom, however, we have found that students with
special needs and lower abilities are achieving at high levels
while using the same digital tools as their peers. |
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| Teachers have also
told us that their students of differing genders and backgrounds
interacted and collaborated more in the classroom. They have
told us how ubiquitous computing seems to "level the playing
field" for students of varying backgrounds and abilities. |
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| Teacher comments
highlight an important way ubiquitous computing can facilitate
all students' learning; digital tools support multiple representations
of knowledge, allowing for a variety of meaning making. They
allow students who are less facile in traditional ways of knowing
to learn in other ways and to find their own voices. They allow
for the inclusion of a variety of understandings. |
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No Child Left Behind legislation dictates
that we support the learning of all students. Research on ubiquitous
computing suggests that we can do so if we rethink learning
to include multiple ways of knowing supported by ubiquitous
access to computers. |
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For more information, see Swan,
Kratcoski, Lin, Schenker, van 't Hooft (2006a). |
