Oct 02 2006
electronic warfare in the classroom
As a newly qualified teacher, I’m really determined to lift the image of physics at my school. The old labs are being replaced this year and should resemble a trendy MFI kitchen by the time Christmas arrives but there is very little ICT within the department. For example, the introduction of Standard Grade some 20 years ago was accompanied by a proliferation of Physics software for the BBC microcomputer. Unfortunately, other subject areas have since blossmed into PC-savvy, interactive whiteboard wielding technology warriers, leaving the physicists on the Luddite side of the ICT divide.
This is where I thought I might be able to make a difference. My department has a single digital projector and nobody else uses it. I might not have my own room but with an Apple iBook under my arm and a digital projector to go, there’s not a lot to stop me trying to inject some 21st century course delivery methods into my lessons.
I learned on my final PGCE placement last year that PowerPoint is a powerful behaviour management tool. Provided you are prepared to do the work in advance, PowerPoint can be used as a means of displaying course material without taking your eye off the pupils, very handy if you teach a class like my own 4.2! An additional “coolness” factor to this approach was my use of the Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse. This little beauty lets me wander around the classroom without relinquishing control of slide transitions, allowing me to check each pupil’s workrate as I go.
It’s a pity that these little technowarriors realised that the mouse functionality was achieved via Bluetooth connectivity. Before I knew it, they were attempting to communicate with my iBook and brought chaos to the lesson. Messages such as “Please may I go to the toilet, Sir?” flashed up onto the screen and brought gales of laughter from the kids. After 20 or so messages I conceded and brought the lesson to a close.
I have since discovered that Apple computers do not have to remain discoverable to operate with a wireless mighty mouse. Instead, open the Bluetooth preferences and add the mouse (or any other device) to your Bluetooth favourtites menu. Then turn off the discoverable option on the main Bluetooth menu, this ensures an automatic connection to your mouse when it is turned on but prevents kids from assualting your laptop with their mobile phones.