Toys as tools for improving learning

"It's the Indian not the arrow."

While culturally insensitive, this is something that has informed my thinking ever since I first heard it as a high school ski racer with outdated equipment. As a teacher interested in technology in the classroom, and also environmental sustainability and minimizing the superfluous stuff in our lives, I often return to this adage.

When thinking about technology integration, teachers and schools should first consider what are the aims of their classes and then seek out the things that best support those aims. The tools should serve the vision, not the other way around. My goals in the classroom are for students to increase their ability to communicate in meaningful and authentic ways with a greater population of the spanish speaking world. That being said, I have been playing with a mobile tablet device this week that seems to be uniquely poised to serve my goals (and those of may others, I imagine) in the classroom. This device does many things that laptop computers do but also has some advantages. Here are a few I've noticed right off the bat:

1) Transparency: As a student this year it has been eye-opening to see how people (myself included) hide behind laptop screens in classes. By putting the screen on the table, as this device does, it eliminates real and perceived barriers to communication and engagement.

2) Limit Multitasking: This has been seen as a downside to this device by others. But given what we know about cognitive overload and the real ineffectiveness of multitasking, it seems like a good thing that you can't have forty apps and windows open at once. Instead of limiting production, for me it has increased focus and attention.

3) Mobility and Size: Is it a big smart phone without the phone? Yes. Is it the perfect size for reading, typing and creating and looking at media? Yes. Can I carry it around the classroom/campus and collaborate with students and colleagues, give feedback and record and share assessments on the go? Heck yeah.

4) Fun and Play: The novelty will fade, and subsequent versions of this device will be superior to this one. But, from where I sit now, it is clear that this is how computing in the class should look. And, I am having a great time playing with it and imagining ways that it will improve and support student learning. It is already having a positive impact on my own learning.