Posts Tagged ‘enable’
Not lost in translation
Posted on: March 29, 2022
If there is a better and more timely example of “let the children lead”, it might be this one.
The video features a Ukrainian girl seeking refuge in Poland because of the Russian invasion of her home country. She is already in school and her new best friend is Polish. They rely on Google Translate to speak with each other.
The technology does not merely enhance learning, it enables it. Teachers might learn from the example of these two girls on how to do the latter. Enabling with technology is student-centred, meaningful, and powerful.
Enabled by mobile
Posted on: October 24, 2021
Taskmaster is not just entertaining, it can be educational if you let it.
This video looked like a task, but it was actually a cleverly disguised ad for Google’s speech and text translation tools.
Such tools are now more accurate than they were before and are practically de rigueur for current phones. They should not be considered novel or even exciting.
They have good education potential because they can be used formally (e.g., in class) and informally (e.g., while travelling overseas). This is an example of how mobile tools are assistive.
However, the edtech trap is to only call such tools teaching enhancements. That might be true from a teacher’s point of view. The equally (if not more) important view is how they might enable independent and meaningful learning by students of a new language.
Not old enough?
Posted on: June 8, 2020
They might be few and far between, but these teens are not waiting for permission to enact change.
If we wonder why kids seem to be passive or indifferent, we only have ourselves to blame for holding them back instead of enabling and empowering them.
A lesson from “boring” robots
Posted on: January 11, 2019
Much of the press chooses to focus on how robots might replace people or otherwise contribute to a Hollywood dystopian future.
I would rather use this Gates video to highlight how such technology can be boringly meaningful and effective.
Boring because the use of robots does not pretend replace people or cause their end. Meaningful because the robots featured augment instead of replace human function. They enable, not just enhance.
That same principle of meaningful integration as a result of enabling instead of just enhancing is something that can be applied to everyday technologies for teaching and learning.
Enabling Chromebook PIN
Posted on: November 5, 2016
In August, Google enabled a PIN option for Chromebook logins in the developer OS.
That option is available now in the stable OS for anyone who does not appreciate the first world problem of having to type in a long Google password.
If you want this experimental feature, do these to enable the Chromebook PIN:
- Update to the latest version of stable Chrome OS.
- In the URL bar, enter chrome://flags/#quick-unlock-pin and enable this option.
- Then enter chrome://md-settings, enable the PIN option by first typing your Google password.
“Password” will be the only initial option. The PIN option will appear after your type in your Google password.
- Set a PIN and test that it works (log out and in).
Another dot in the blogosphere? 