Experimenting with the Hipstreet Flare 4.0

So, I bought a cheap tablet from Walmart to experiment with for BYOD. I didn't own a device for myself so I thought... why not get one since students may be bringing their own to class coming Fall 2013. Well, my first tablet experience was not good. The review on the particular tablet I bought indicated that the machine was faulty. Hipstreet tablet received fairly poor reviews. After reading the critiques, I wanted to experiment with the device for myself so I can come to my own conclusion.

Well my experience was not good with the device. I experienced some deficiency when try to type  information for my blog. The text box gets covered by the pop-up keyboard on the screen  when your trying to type. This was frustration because I could only see one line as I typed which made it hard for me to read over what I had written. This was definitely a disadvantage that could hinder students learning in the classroom using this tablet. Another problem which was indicated in the reviews that is similar to my experience was the tablet kept dropping the WI-FI signal. Wearing my teacher's hat. I began to consider the devices use in the classroom. I decided to return the device back to Walmart and save my money for a much more expensive device that I would be able to use comfortably at home and in the classroom.

As I continue this journey educational technology (JourneyEduTech), I am becoming familiar with how to integrate technology in the class for 21st century teaching and learning.

I can say with certainty that the Hipstreet tablet isn't powerful enough to handle multiple open screens, streaming music or video, or playing games simultaneously. Even the camera quality is awful. As one of the critiques said in an Amazon post "you pay for what you get", however I am not ready to part with my $115 on something that doesn't meet my basic need to surf the web and listen to music at the same time without the system slowing dramatically. I will be getting a refund!

Post a comment about your tablet experience. What brand do you possess? Also, provide some positives things about your device that makes it suitable for the classroom environment as well as some things that could be improved upon.

Teaching and Learning in a Digital World .

Here is a link about a workshop taking place at Castlebrook H.S. in the Peel District School Board for teachers about 21st century teachers and learners. They're look for presenters for this workshop on Aug 21st and 22nd, 2013. Check out the YouTube video. Click the link! http://youtu.be/GoG8kdnm444

Impact of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative on teachers and students in 21st century classrooms

Here is a research paper written about the possible impacts of Bring Your Own Device in the classroom. Take a read. Make a comment!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ql3VztR5oD6j6VwTxrlrjAHSr3GNkZf9ZOmgSRALfGU/pub

21st century learners in 21st century classrooms: Is Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) the key?

The Peel District School Board have implemented an initiative for students to begin bringing their personal devices from home to school as part of Bring Your Own Device initiative. The boards goal is to provide all school with Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) by September 2013 so that students can use their device to access Wi-Fi as part of the learning environment. When you visit the Peel District School Board website at www.peelsb.com the first thing you see is their publications about the BYOD initiative. I encourage bloggers to take a look at their publications and blog here about it. Post your comments, concerns, or anything you would like to share about the idea to have students bring and use their personal device in the school environment. Do you think this is the right move by the board? Please share!

OpenCourseWare.... A thing of the past, present, or future?

https://moodle.yorku.ca/moodle/pluginfile.php/470281/mod_forum/attachment/325801/Open%20Educational%20Resources.pdf This article written by Tom Caswell, Shelley Henson, Marion Jensen, and David Wiley suggest that opencourseware maybe the solution to provide education for all. Based on the article Open Educational Resources, "Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares that everyone has the right to education."  I agree that universal education should be afforded to all, however, opencourseware should be able to be accessed by everyone for it to be universal. So, one barrier to universal access is the availability of Internet for everyone to access. Currently, as far as I know not everyone have access to Internet and those who may benefit the most from opencourseware for educational purpose are more concerned with their basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing rather than accessing the Internet to see what a particular course consist of. So, although opencourseware may have had the potential to be a transformative platform for individuals to improve their lives. Its not! 

Also, based on the above mentioned article there was not a lot of educational institutions that participated in opencourseware initiative. This could be problematic because only particular interest are being promoted. A variety of institutions not just university but colleges and trade schools should be involved in posting their course syllabus and instructional material online for individuals interested in learning about a variety of different professions, trade, or things to gain access. With the small pool of opencourseware (OpenContent) available it can't have the universal status as the article would want you to believe.

When comparing MOOCs to OpenContent, I think MOOCs have much more transformative benefits in society than OpenContent because of the difference with the interaction with the information and content in a course. However, I reiterate until the cost of accessing the web becomes affordable for people who can`t afford to attend formal schools and want to improve their lives is able to access these educational tools universal education will not be achieved.