Do Computers Undermine Conversation in the Classroom?

Watch a teacher work.

I received a question via email about computers in classrooms.

How do we use computers and still preserve the culture of the classroom as a social space where we and the students can see each others’ drafts and work in progress, where we can walk around and see over their shoulders, listen to them talk to each other etc? With screens they disappear from the social space into the screen.

Many teachers are hesitant to introduce screens into their classrooms, which is understandable given the 1.5 years everyone in schools spent separated from one another by screens.

But classroom conversation only needs two ingredients—something interesting to talk about and the opportunity to talk about it. Neither of those ingredients demands a particular medium. (Perhaps you have observed some quiet classrooms built around paper lessons?) But each medium does demand different kinds of pedagogy for conversation to flourish.

For example, on this screen, we offer students a connection between a graph and some spaceships.

There is a lot of potential conversational energy here but we need the teacher to turn it into kinetic conversational energy.

Watch a teacher do it. First, Amanda Ruch from Chicago Public Schools sets up the conversation as a whole class. Then she sends her students into a routine where they randomly pair with another student for a conversation about the screen. Crucially, she asks each pair of students to look at only one laptop.

You can see the difference from the start to the end of the video: one student per device turns into two students per device.

Pedagogy needs to evolve with each new medium but the needs of classroom conversation remain constant—something interesting to talk about and the opportunity to talk about it. In Ruch’s classroom, the device functions like a photo album or coffee table book—an object of interest. And with Ruch’s pedagogy, the device serves a conversation rather than replacing or being served by the conversation. 

What Else?

• The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation funded a survey which found the US public thinks math is a) the most important subject students take, b) the subject most in need of an upgrade. Slide 13 offers a pretty interesting contrast between what US parents think math class should be like versus how they think it actually is.

• Another survey—this one from Teacher Tapp in the UK—paints a depressing picture of teacher morale.

• Something that’d improve my morale? If someone would figure out where I can buy several hundred of these little number boxes that Amy Chang found in a math closet.