Chapter 4 - Managing a Technology Rich Classroom

Summary

In this chapter, the author discusses the common classroom management problems that occur during the first three stages of implementing a new technology into the classroom (entry, adoption, adaptation). Some of the problems described by teachers included students cheating, students goofing off behind their computers, students failing to complete homework assignments and blaming it on technological issues at home, noise created by computers and printers, as well as technological problems and failures. The end of the chapter discusses the importance of classroom management and instruction, and the author points out that effective classroom management and effective instruction are completely intertwined.

Reflection

I can only begin to imagine how hard it was for these teachers to maintain order and an optimum environment for learning when they themselves were preoccupied with trying to understand the new tools with which they were teaching. It is a shame that teachers are not typically given much training on how to implement new tools. On top of this, they are expected to figure out the technology on the fly while little to no instruction has been provided on how to manage the students' use of the technology. I think that this is a huge problem and have seen it happen myself while observing in local elementary schools. On one occasion, a teacher was given a device similar to a smartboard to use in class. The tool appeared without much notice and she struggled to create a lesson plan using the device. During the lesson (which was a math video game), the screen froze and the pen would not work. The teacher spent several minutes dealing with the problem, while the students began acting up. By the time the teacher fixed the technological issue and dealt with the students who were misbehaving, the time for the lesson was over and it was time for the children to go to a specialty class.