@ Jayant Trewn, Caitlin Donnelly, & Jennifer Nao. Reflections on your Connections Across the Disciplines assignment

Bravo for challenging the assignment! You made a coherent, logical, and, most importantly, compassionate case in your Preamble for why BYOD in your discipline (math) is not a good idea. This compassion is evident when you speak of, “social competition,” “dissonance between who’s [sic] device can perform which task,” and how, “students working individually on their devices would only be distracting and disruptive.” I appreciate your candor and bravery to say this.

I think what you argue holds true for all disciplines, not just math. The inequality inherent in BYOD does not depend on the discipline.

I also appreciate the flexibility you try to incorporate with regard to instructional strategies. Accommodating this reality means more work for the teacher. If this stance became a reflex, though, it would start to be less difficult, less time consuming. And in addition to striving to accommodate different learners with different strategies, a variety of instructional approaches for the same content/lesson ought to result in more students making stronger connections with the material: using computers and technology AND covering the same concept or skill without them; lecturing AND offering opportunities to learn through application or in groups.

Your assignment is thoughtful and well done. I like the addition of a social studies component (ideally there would be some concurrent curricular connections with their SS lesson...). And I really like you including a writing assignment.

The only thing I think might be missing is some attempt to “problematize.” I envision this as a discussion at the end of the lesson, with perhaps something to write about, that gets students to reflect on how social issues and their solutions are complicated. A ratio, in other words, is a ratio, but liquor stores per square mile is only one factor, one that could be mitigated or aggravated by may other conditions, such as, perhaps, the ratio of churches in the same neighborhood. I wouldn't dwell on it, but some small effort in this direction would be a good move, one that may not necessarily improve students' scores on the standardized tests, but which would help them become better thinkers, problem solvers. and citizens. And that's not a bad outcome, eh?