Here is the 4th installment of a short story I wrote as the 1st chapter of Redefining Literacy in the 21st Century, written in 2004. The setting is 2014. It starts here.
Copyright © 2004 by Linworth Publishing, Inc.
Reprinted with permission from ABC-CLIO, publisher of Redefining Literacy 2.0
Sally returns to her desk, picks up her tablet and glances at the attendance document that automatically appears, indicating that one of her B2 students is not present, but that he is on the campus. Attendance remains a political necessity, but teachers no longer have to call the roll since the campus proximity system knows the location of all students and faculty on campus by their nametag chips.
A series of checks also appear by the student names on her class roll, indicating that they have submitted their class assignments. Some checks indicate initial submission of the work, others indicate that submitted work has been reviewed by the teacher, reworked by the student, and re-submitted. One student name has no check by it, but one suddenly appears as she is scanning the list. She looks up at the youngster, who blushes and returns his attention to his tablet.
She touches with her finger the Send icon at the corner of her information appliance, and the short message, written earlier in the morning, is sent directly to Mr. Ball’s pocket tablet.
As Sean, the missing student, walks quickly into the room, shaking Ms. Crabtree’s hand distractedly and finds his desk, Sally announces, “As you know, today the Reptiles (“slither, slither” the members murmur at the mention of their team name) will make their presentation. I have to say that I am very excited about this presentation. Johann, Desmone, Alf, and Samuel have all worked very hard on their report, and I think you will learn a great deal from this presentation.”
Ms. Crabtree continues, “But before we get started, I want to mention that you have an assignment posted on your calendars. I want you to read a short story written by a teenager from Croatia. A2 read it yesterday, and we had some very interesting discussions about the story today. Mr. Johnson also contacted the author and she sent a video file, in which she explains why she wrote the story. You are welcome to access A2’s discussion and Nadia Kaufman’s video file from the school’s video archive.”
“Now, without any further adieu, I introduce to you, the Reptiles.”
The story continues here!
Dear David Warlick,
My name is Heather Marsh, and I am an education student at the University of South Alabama. I have read several of your blog post because it is an assignment for my EDM310 class. I will be writing a summary of this post in my own blog on February 3rd. The technology that Mrs. Crabtree and her students use fascinates me. It would have been very beneficial to me if we had this when I was in high school. I love the fact that Mrs. Crabtree can control everything from her tablet, and it sounds very organized and less stressful to look at a screen and see who has and has not done their work. Taking the time to take roll in class cuts down on class time. The name tags with the chips in them are very intriguing. It amazes me how much technology has transformed education.
Heather Marsh
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=513558484937713901#overview/src=dashboard
http://edm310.blogspot.com/