Entry #4: Polling and Failing + No iPads Please

SOMETHING I REALLY WANTED TO SHARE THIS WEEK IS THAT I TRIED POLLEVERYWHERE. It seemed cool and I downloaded the Chrome extension so that I could embed my polls into my Google Slides. It was overall pretty easy to use and play around with visuals… So how come when I actually used it in class, I just experienced so much fail??!

The problem came primarily with the fact that on my laptop (which I had out with me too), the poll does start as soon as you get to the slide. BUT BEWARE. On the podium computers (lecterns?), for some reason, it doesn’t work (I tried in Phelps Hall and North Hall). When I go to the slide with the poll, it just had the blank background—no question or live results. So I figured out that I had to still open up polleverywhere separately in order for students to see the question and respond to it. Disappointing…

I also realized that—and this part is due to my unfamiliarity with the site, so this is more on me—it’s confusing activating the questions. I thought that this counted all as ONE set of questions, but it seems like each poll (while available at the same link) was separate. So I had to one by one activate the questions when I wanted the students to answer them. Which would be okay, had I known how to do so more fluently. But I tried!

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A quick side note on Nguyen et al. (2005)… (Pardon my satire? Sarcasm? in this section) I don’t believe in Apple. My biggest beef with Apple is just the nature of the company and its products. This belief started when I was in high school, so it’s been over 10 years. As someone who liked to customize and design her computer and desktop layout, it seemed… annoying?… that someone who had an Apple computer just had a computer that was nice (layout wise) by itself. And that was partially also on the USER, as in.. You don’t know what you’re doing, and you have a nice computer, but what did you do to get there? Spend $$? At least my peers who had Apple computers at that time didn’t have the knowhow to customize their devices. And then come the age of smartphones. It used to drive me crazy how as soon as the next iPhone was launched, people would be in line with their 1-year-old phone, paying hundreds to get the next thing that they don’t actually need. Again… $$ stuff happening… I used to also say the same thing about customization and iPhones, but I don’t even think iPhone layouts (iOS?) look nice… theres a very cluttered look in my opinion. So-I will say that now that I’m older and do have some of my own money to spend (sort of), I sort of always want new things, but I definitely don’t just upgrade devices every year…. But again, most importantly, my Android phone (Galaxy Note 9) is super cute and I have the cutest fonts (that people usually say, “How can you see that?”) to, and it just is more my style.

SO, when someone dedicates a whole paper to iPads, or a whole paper to reviewing whole papers about iPads, I just feel like… People should be exposed to not just one company. Other types of tablets are perfectly equal if not better, just maybe not in name or brand power.

But anyway. I don’t know about TABLETS in higher education, partially because laptops and cell phones are also common in higher ed classrooms. I will say from what I’ve seen in teaching in a public elementary school, that when put into place appropriately, TABLETS can be very beneficial. For example, my co-teacher and I (mostly my co-teacher) installed a program and subscribed so that students struggling with math or reading could make an account to do additional practice. Being able to use technology in school at this age is definitely a luxury, and therefore motivating. (The apps themselves, too, are designed so that students have fun with whatever skill they’re building.) This would affect learning outcomes, probably, as students who use the APP are engaged, and engaged with using the tool… So there is double the benefits at this age. In Nguyen et al., the just skimmed upon some articles that found that while students are motivated (they have fun) with the TABLETS, it doesn’t actually increase learning… And I might venture a guess and say it’s because they’re more used to tablets, so while it might be fun to use, work is still work at this age… And also, the necessary apps probably have mobile and computer equivalent versions, so the TABLET part itself is just… there. The activity still needs to be properly planned by the teacher.

PS. “ Students found various writing apps useful and compatible apps with Microsoft Word” (p. 196). Tell me. What type of person actually likes to type on a tablet??