Comments on: Thoughts on small computers and repetitive stress injury.

By: egregory

egregory — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 18:40:00 +0000

Tech Corner is a short (~5 min) time during every staff meeting in which I showcase some way that others at my school can use technology to transform the learning in their classrooms. Sometimes I play a YouTube video, eg. Blogging in Plain English (they love all the Lee Lefever videos), and then show them good examples of how teachers are using blogging. I’ve done quick demos on del.icio.us, wikis, the BCeSIS marks program, Inspiration software and more. I keep it short, entertaining, relevant and positive.

Five minutes is usually enough to peak their interest, and I’m always open to collaborating if someone wants more help. As a result, this year I worked with four other teachers, each working on different projects involving the integration of technology in to their teaching. Considering there are only 14 teachers on staff, I’m pretty pleased with the results and plan to continue for next year.

By: pmacoun

pmacoun — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 06:28:03 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to comment Errin. I hadn’t thought about ear buds and am not surprised to hear that texting might also be having an impact. I do a grade 7 animation unit on repetitive stress injuries every year and these will be good topics to add to the unit. Ironically, while I’m teaching my students about good habits I’m not doing a very good job modeling them myself.

I’m interested in your Tech Corner. What is it? Do you find it an effective way to get info across to staff at a meeting?

By: Errin

Errin — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 17:41:46 +0000

Those are good questions. I think part of being a 21st century learner should include how to use technology in a healthy way. For example, how loud should those little ear buds be? And what about posture while working at a workstation? I recently heard of medical reports showing that youths are wearing out thumb joints from texting!

I think part of the training associated with all the excitement to use technology needs to include a good dose of healthy tips, no matter if the trainee is a teacher or a student. I think I’ll devote a Tech Corner at a staff meeting in September to that topic, but I too, would love to hear ideas from others.