The Technology Feedback Loop

Today I had the opportunity to see two sides of education.  I started the day observing two high school Algebra classes in preparation for a data gathering project.  During my observations, I was surprised by the amount of down time the students had through out the course of the period and how boring it was.  The students had a number of practice problems to do on paper, but when they finished they had to wait until a teacher could review the answers.  If a student came across a difficult problem, more often than not they didn't do it, because they knew they could just wait for the teacher to review the answer.  During those periods of waiting their engagement with the content was lost.  In today's age of instant information and responses, this method seemed so antiquated.

On the flip side, later in the day I was able to participate in an iPod lesson with third grade students where they were practicing fractions.  Even though one of the apps we used had some really difficult problems, the students continued to try them.  They didn't lose focus and were really able to persevere through out the lesson.  I believe this has a lot to do with the immediate feedback that the app based practice provides.  Students didn't have to wait.  They could try a solution.  If it didn't work, they learned from their mistakes and tried again.  I didn't see the same frustration and lack of effort.   

I spent some time today thinking about how we can make the iPod example more of a reality in schooling.  I want to leverage technology to make learning more personal, exciting, and immediate.  We have the tools to do it.  We just need to find the right combination, put it together, and make it happen.   That is my goal.