How to Create a Positive Classroom with iPad Integration
By: Caroline Cockfield and Rebecca Lindblade
In Michael Dickins' "PreOccupied," the artist portrays how global events are not getting enough notice or attention by today's population due to how distracted they are by entertainment. When it comes to students today, they are consumed by social media sites in and outside of the classroom. As teenagers get more involved with social media, cyber bullying becomes one of the biggest issues. Today, technology is becoming a more important role in the classroom with schools getting tablets and Ipads. This new integration of technology can be a huge benefit for students only if it is used in the right way. As a teacher, you have to be a mentor for your students on what this new portal is used for and what's not appropriate.
Cyber Bullying: What it is and Who it's effecting
Cyber bullying is more prevalent in today's society than it has ever been in the recent past. Students today have easy access to more social media sites and apps that encourage this type of behavior. There have been cases in the past that have lead to fatal outcomes and psychological distress in youth and still continues today. Cyber bullying cannot only happen over the computer, but through phone/tablet apps such as text messaging, facebook, twitter, yikyak, etc. With the help of informed parents by using sites that promote cyber bullying awareness, this issue can hopefully decrease over time. This is becoming more relevant in the classroom today as iPads are integrated into lessons.
iPad Integration
During my student teaching experience , I was fortunate enough to enter the classroom the day the students at Black Water Middle School received their iPads. This was also the first test run of iPad integration in all Horry County Schools so there was bound to be a few technical difficulties. One challenge that comes along with these iPads that I had during my experience was the use of unauthorized apps. Students downloaded apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, and game apps and would "hide" them from their teachers. This lead to an offense system being put in place for students who would not follow the guidelines when it came to the iPads. Although students were told before receiving the iPads before the rules and procedures, it still became an issue. The benefits of having these iPads in the classroom is the amount of knowledge students have at their fingertips. There are so many apps that teachers can use in their classroom to integrate into a lesson. Below are links to articles that can help pre-service teachers set rules and procedures in the classroom when it comes to iPads, apps that you may want to explore as an art teacher in the classroom, and other helpful resources.
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