To begin building my digital identity as a 21st century teacher I need to make sure I am learning and expanding my knowledge in the area of technology. Technology is constantly changing and evolving and a competent educator is evolving with it. By having access to technology in the classroom and my personal webpage and blog, I can assist students in expanding their knowledge as well.
Currently, I am most familiar with laptops and smartphones. A majority of students in schools today have a smartphone. It seems with the number of students who have these phones teachers could allow them to make use of them in the classroom. For instance, if a teacher divides the class into five groups and has each group do web searches for a topic they are discussing, this could be done with the students phones.
Indeed, many students carry around smartphones (in essence, a mini computing device) in their pockets all the time as they use them daily. It does make you wonder why some (most?) schools prevent their use in the classroom. It is a powerful tool, but much like other tools, it is often not appropriately used due to lack of knowledge about how to effectively use. Fortunately, many schools are moving to BYOD which recognizes the importance of this "computer-in-a-pocket". :)
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