Well, this blog is going to seem a little off topic with the rest of my blogs so far, which has been singing the praises of technology. However, this blog is a little different, since I want to talk about how much technology is used in the classroom. This does stem from the past week in class, where we were given the opportunity to look at different presentation tools, bookmarking tools and use interactive whiteboards. This was a fun week, since we had the chance to try out these new tools in a fun setting. We discovered that university students like pictionary on an interactive whiteboard, at least as much as kids do. However, looking at all of this technology made me think, is it really necessary to use all of this in the classroom?
I know that technology and all that is offers is just a fact of the world, but should students become so focused on technology that they lose things in the physical world?
I feel that technology has a place in classroom, when it assists instruction and aids in student creativity, but that does not mean that we can ignore what the rest of the world has to offer. Students need to work things out on a piece of paper, long hand, not just be allowed to punch things into calculator. Working things out allows students to understand what they are doing, and then they can use the short cut of calculator. Writing things out by hand gives students a different feel than typing things into a computer, since the ink on paper creates a certain feeling of pride when something is complete. The physical world allows student to look at things through an unobstructed view, since there are no comments at the bottom of the page that scream other people's opinions and there is also a sense of freedom, since the world will not be seeing what you are creating.
Students also need to remember that there are more options than just turning to the internet to look up anything they might want to know, instead they can look at newspapers, interview a local person, or find information in a book. This is often a big challenge for students, as the almighty Google is the first place they want to look for answers. Google and search engines pose issues since the sources of the information are not always credible, so they are not always true. This means that students need to have other means of verifying information, so that they know what they are learning is true.
Technology can also hinder the social aspect of school, so teachers need to be aware of how much time their students are spending using it during class time. If a student is sitting along, typing on the computer they are not gaining basic social skills like communication and co-operation, which might penalize them later in life. This means that teachers have to either, be aware of how much time students are spending using technology, or make a point of having group technology projects, so that human interaction is not lost.
Finally, students and teachers need to aware of physical harm technology can pose, and factor that into their use of technology during class. The over use of technology can cause eye strain, carpal tunnel, back pain and other injuries.
Overall, I feel that technology has its place, but it can be overused in the classroom, so teacher have to be aware of this and plan accordingly.
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