Creating a Digital Dialogue

The addition of the chromebooks has genuinely enhanced the level and depth of participation in my classroom. With the chromebooks, my students have been able to collaborate both in and out of the classroom, therefore, taking their understanding and analysis to a whole new level.

After talking with Joe today, I was absolutely astounded by the creativity that teachers can use when utilizing this technology. He said that he would share a presentation with the students, and then the students would create their "response" on a slide through a shared Google Slides file. Through this method, students had time to reflect on the presentation and their response, but more importantly, it's all-inclusive. Through a digital dialogue, all students speak up and everyone benefits. Through this shared document, students were able to take the time to craft their response in a meaningful way. Moreover, along the way, students were able to read each others' input. 

My understanding of Joe's assignment was that he took the class discussion to another level. Students had due time to create their responses and everyone had something to say. As much as I would love to have a similar experience without chromebooks, I think that the technology allows for these discussions to take place on a daily basis, whereas if these discussions took place without this tool, I think I would need to give the students more time to prep and would fear that all of the students would not share some or all of their thoughts.

What are your thoughts on the utilization of chromebooks in the classroom? Do you think that we should be straying from these sort of digital discussions or be using them more? Where do we strike a balance of physical interaction and digital dialogues?