Recently, I had the chance to sit down with Christopher Magistrale, a social studies and writing teacher for middle school students in the Winooski School District. Chris is one of the 'new school' of teachers, having less than five years of actual solo teaching under his belt. Chris and his crew have decided to 'join 'em' rather than 'beat 'em' with regards to technology integration in their classrooms. I met Chris in his classroom, which looks like what you'd expect a sixth grade classroom to look like - drawings of George Washington adorn the walls, next to bookshelves filled with multiple copies of classics like The Giver and Maniac Magee. Two things caught my eye right away that I did not recognize as the usual fare - a shelving system, filled with laptops, and instead of a chalkboard on the wall, a 'smart-board', which is like a large version of an iPad.
Roy: Let's have a rundown on the technology initiative that you have going on here.
Chris: Well, three of us - myself, Will, who is another middle school teacher here, and the vice principal, met this summer to discuss a plan to distribute laptop computers to each of the 125 students here. We are able to have a 1-to-1 ratio, with a few left over.
Roy: What kind of things are you doing with the students and the laptops to foster grown as opposed to traditional means of education?
Chris: The computers have really been an enhancement to the classroom. Specifically with my classes, we are doing a lot of writing with the computers. We are using a couple of different programs, like Edu 2.0 and Google Docs to better connect with the students. With Google Docs, for example, I am able to see the student's writing as it is happening and be able to give an immediate response, and vice versa. These technologies allow for a closer interaction between student and teacher.
Roy: Have you seen any other technological innovations, for example with the smart board over there?
Chris: On the smart board, I can display whatever's on my computer screen. This gives me countless possibilities of things I can show my students. For example, in terms of student engagement, I could put up a blank map of the United States, with the individual states being scattered around the country. With the smart board, my students can grab the states and put them where they think the state is. With the kids being more involved in their learning, instead of just me lecturing, Its a big win for me.
Roy: Have you seen any real opposition to the integration of Web 2.0 in the classroom?
Chris: Not from the kids. The kids love it. every time they come into the classroom, they want to use these technologies, it makes the learning more interactive and relevant for them. I mean, this is their world. There is slight opposition, I would say from some of the teachers who have been teaching for a long time. After 15-20 years, you become sort of set in the ways you teach, and the overall ignorance of those teachers in regards to how this technology could better the learning experience is the main opposing force here. While the traditions of education are there for a reason, we are using what is at our disposal as a new way to reach the kids. This is not to say that I want to be exclusively a technology teacher. I don't want to teach all of my lessons using the computer. But having that element involved really helps amp-up a lot of our instruction.
You can listen to the entirety of the interview here
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