למידה, אינטרנט ... ומה שביניהם

Students have always opted out of our lessons if we didn't plan the activities to keep them essentially engaged. BYOD doesn't alter that element of our job. Instead of writing notes to their boyfriend or reading anything other than assigned text they are now playing games, engaged in social networks or watching video. Our task remains - engage students in authentic and essential ways.

I do think we need to more honestly acknowledge that the challenges are greater than they were in the analog world. To deny this I think fails to honor the challenges that teachers (and all of us) face in this regard.

Yes, it will happen – but doesn’t it happen in the real world? Aren’t we all pulling out our phones and iPads during meetings, and mastering our multitasking abilities? Distraction is a part of our lives, and I propose it can be a part of the learning process.

In the real world, when we have a problem to solve (i.e. where is the nearest pizza joint that's open at 11PM and has gluten free options?) we each whip out our own devices and go through a series of events to get from problem to solution. Each person is going to have their own unique set of steps to solve the problem - and that's ok. We need to get better about allowing this natural flow to happen in the classroom, and highlight the steps as that's where the authentic learning takes place.