Four years ago, Chris Nagele did what many other technology executives have done before — he moved his team into an open concept office.
His staff had been exclusively working from home, but he wanted everyone to be together, to bond and collaborate more easily. It quickly became clear, though, that Nagele had made a huge mistake. Everyone was distracted, productivity suffered and the nine employees were unhappy, not to mention Nagele himself.
Classrooms are essentially open offices. Well, they’re even worse than open offices since the desks and chairs are usually not comfortable and their is no ownership of what little space the students get.
What’s more, certain open spaces can negatively impact our memory. This is especially true for hotdesking, an extreme version of open plan working where people sit wherever they want in the work place, moving their equipment around with them.
Whoa, that sounds a lot like how classrooms work now!
“Educational technology is now more about pedagogy first and then choosing the appropriate tool(s) for the job.” – Kathy Schrock, USA As an independent educational technologist with more than 20 years in the field, Kathy Schrockhas experienced first-hand how technology has transformed education — not only by engaging students, but by helping teachers manage their…
Our smartphones make it harder for us to think whenever they’re near – even if they’re turned off, according to a new study published last week. “It’s not that participants were distracted because they were getting notifications on their phones,” said the lead author of the study, Adrian Ward, an assistant professor at the McCombs School of…
It follows the discovery by teachers that children familiar with traditional computer spellcheckers were simply applying it to the tests. Source: Pupils find spellchecker ‘cheat’ in literacy test – BBC News They taught the students TOO well!
In 2013, the superintendent charged our district technology committee—comprised of board members, teachers, administrators, parents and students—to come up with a plan that would provide an equal education opportunity for all students. Beekmantown’s poverty rate is the highest in Clinton County at 53%, and 30% of our students don’t have access to the internet at…
A few years ago, during a media interview for one of my books, my interviewer said something I still ponder often. Ranting about the level of distraction in his open office, he said, “That’s why I have a membership at the coworking space across the street — so I can focus.” While I fully support the backlash…
A decade ago, smart devices promised to change the way we think and interact, and they have – but not by making us smarter. Eric Andrew-Gee explores the growing body of scientific evidence that digital distraction is damaging our minds Source: Your smartphone is making you stupid, antisocial and unhealthy. So why can’t you put it down?…
