Ed, there are two comments floating around in my head about your question.
First, if the kids have time to do personal emails & games, they aren't on
task. That's a bad thing. Second, a student who claims to be "so confused"
is NOT a bad thing.
First: When I do tech-based projects that require internet use, the kids are
usually so dern busy, they have no time for personal diversions. In fact, we
use email quite often to keep in contact with partner schools on internet
projects. However, we use MY email server so I can always recognize the
email server screens. Any student who is caught on Yahoo, Hotmail, gmail, or
any other 'outside' email server or surfing some absolutely unrelated sites
fails the project/LAB/activity. Period. This is easy to keep an eye on when
all the screens must face one way - toward me.
Second: I'd find it a stretch if any physics teacher could claim that
his/her students are never confused. Heck, I strive for some organized
confusion in my classroom. To me, a student who doesn't get confused or
bewildered or overwhelmed from time to time is either smarter than I
(Actually, a distinct possibility!) or just plane not getting it and doesn't
care to get it.
Two of my favorite 'confusion' quotes:
Alan Chalmers ("What is this thing called Science?"):
We start off confused and end up confused on a higher level.
Or one from Uncle Al (Einstein, that is...)
"I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion."
By the by, if you'd care to join us, your cross-town counterparts, in a
fizzix-type project, just holler!
Daryl L. Taylor, Fizzix Guy
Greenwich HS, CT
PAEMST '96
International Internet Educator of the Year '03
NASA SEU Educator Ambassador
www.DarylScience.com
This email prepared and transmitted using 100% recycled electrons!
-----Original Message-----
From: Forum for Physics Educators [mailto:PHYS-L@list1.ucc.nau.edu]On
Behalf Of Ed and Laura Eckel
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 5:20 PM
To: PHYS-L@LISTS.NAU.EDU
Subject: Re: suudent problems wireless in class
I will be very interested in viable solutions to student email, IM,
internet, and
game playing in class, also. Politically, I canNOT choose to be an
"unwired" room
in a much ballyhooed laptop move at my school. I have the ability to deluge
the
techs for information of network usage during class time and the turn kids
in for
discipline (I am at an independent high school). But somehow that seems to
miss
the point of the issue. I was speaking with a parent the other day about
this and
she admitted to getting email from her child during one of my classes when
the
student wrote to say she was "so confused"!
Ed Eckel
Convent of the Sacred Heart
Greenwich, Connecticut