Towards the end of the summer semester, groups of three
students created lesson plans for their content area that included the use of
technology, for our Teaching With Technology class. My group consisted of two math majors and one biology major
(me!), so we decided to devise a math lesson that would help students learn how
to find the slope of a line.
Though I wish we could have integrated Biology somehow, it is not
something that managed to do.
Upon reading some of my classmates’ lesson plans, one in
particular that I really enjoyed reading compared the BYOD policy to the
“separate but equal” laws of the past, specifically Plessy vs. Ferguson. This group, consisting of Sam, Jeremy,
and Derek, had a fantastic idea to relate the past to the present. Though I don’t think I myself would
have initially thought about the similarities between these two ideas like they
say they immediately did, I appreciated how much thought they put into this assignment to come up with a lesson that really showcased an
important aspect of history. I
realized that it is not enough to consider different policies and rulings on an
individual case-to-case basis, but it is also important to compare and contrast
them to demonstrate how the past influences the present, and how two ideas that
may be in stark contrast on the surface are actually similar. Their lesson also surprised me because
they managed to integrate history and English into one lesson. This illustrated to me that they put in
the effort to make a lesson like this work and it reflects the title of the
assignment (Connections Across Disciplines) perfectly. The lesson this group outlined was for
a 50 minute class period, and the sequence they have provided seems to be
reasonable. They incorporated
individual work as well as discussion, which is a strong combination for a
lesson such as this. The lesson
flowed well and the method of assessment they provided (exit ticket) was one
that all students should be able to succeed at, providing that they were
engaged during the lesson.
Overall, this group’s lesson reflects the type of lessons we have been
learning about over the summer, in which students are given several different
activities and opportunities to interact with their peers, rather than being
lectured at for an hour. I think students would definitely benefit from this lesson!
This lesson plan reminded me of the thoughts I have had all
summer about the fairness of a BYOD policy. While it seems like a feasible and interesting idea on the
surface, it could actually be detrimental to some students. What happens to those students who do
not have the means to secure a device to bring? I am not sure this question will be answered any time
soon. It also brings up questions of
how much technology should play a role in the classroom. Should technology be fully integrated or
should it be used sparingly? The
inequalities that could result from a policy such as this must be considered in
depth before a school implements a BYOD policy. Considering Plessy vs. Ferguson in detail might actually be
very beneficial for policymakers when creating a BYOD policy.
Thank you for taking the time to read our COD lesson plan regarding the BYOD policy and saying positive things about it! I think we had a pretty good idea, but I'll have to admit that we didn't come up with it as quickly as it seemed. I think it's really interesting how you suggest that policymakers in schools should consider historical parallels like this when making BYOD policies. That wasn't even the intent of our lesson plan, but you bring up a good point. It is something that should be considered. We hoped that this would be an engaging way for students to study an important case in history because we could use the BYOD policy as a way to connect it to their lives. I'm glad you appreciate how we integrated various activities into our lesson as well, rather than just lecturing the entire time. Taking everything we learned from the summer, we tried to make an effort to do that. I'm glad you noticed our work!
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