Aug 28 2009
Integration of Technology
Schools have recently been updating their teaching programs to keep up with the new age of technology. Some of the schools are trying to enhance the student’s education by the use of technology. However does the extra technology just add on to the classroom or does it really affect the way the students learn? Jeff Utecht states in his article Evaluating Technology Use in the Classroom, “In the past, [he has] had administrators tell [him] “I walked into the teacher’s room and all the students were on laptops.” As though just the sight of students working on laptops meant they were engaged in the learning process.” He questions that just because students have a laptop in front of them, do they actually use them the way the school expects them to? A student once told me that these technology programs usually take a while before they work because for the first couple of years the students don’t use the laptops they way the teacher wants them too;, but the students use the computer to play games or go on Facebook. Even though this student hadn’t done extensive research on the topic, this student has experienced a school that integrated technology into their education, and this is what she experienced. It may not be a total reliable source, but it can still suggest that even though students are sitting behind computers, it doesn’t mean they’re working.
There was a study done by Kathleen Patrice Gulley from California State University, Sacramento. She suggests that integration of technology is almost inevitable because of the changing times, yet she does suggest that “Many people who grew up in the pre-computer age worry that the use of computers will take the emotion and heart out of the classroom.” This is a valid point to be looked at since most students and people in general feed of their emotions and if this is taken away, people may have a harder time learning. However the counterclaim is that the new technology can enhance the learning by giving students a wider range of help. So it is more of a balancing act of being able to full our primal needs of emotion and to be able to learn in such a way we won’t forget it.
Resources:
Wehrle, R. (1998). Computers in education: The pros and the cons. Retrieved on February 18, 2003 http://www.edweek.org/sreports/tc98/intr…
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080712164252AA1iB7Y
http://www.thethinkingstick.com/evaluating-technology-use-in-the-classroom
4 responses so far
Hi yuup01pd2010,
I suspect that is not your real name, but is it okay if I call you yuup for short?
I have been around for a while, long enough to see the technology integration cycle repeat at least a few times. This is a very complex issue, and I think now for the first time, we may be at a point where we can break the cycle. This is what I have noticed. Some form of technology(new generation of computer and/or related tech) becomes available. In the early stages, a small number of teachers with no lives “get it”, see the potential and introduce this to their students however they can and they all explore together. Shortly thereafter, the “new tech” is seen as important by others higher up the food chain, or by Industry or Government who step in and “take over”. They think they “get it”, but often do not, but still make a great show of pushing the “new tech” in every where as fast as they can with nice little scripts of how everything should be handled. The original few are now told how and what they can do, and spend much of their time running around helping others who “really don’t get it” and “don’t want to get it” produce the intended scripted results. Sometime after they have helped someone turn on their monitor, plug the network cable back in, create a shortcut on the desktop or overseen yet another fabulous bullet ridden, effects heavy powerpoint presentation for the thousandth time, they develop a twitch, usually in one of their eyes. If they are lucky, they will be around when the next big thing rolls out, like that internet thingy and they get to start all over. The pattern is something like this: new tech used by a few teachers with students in a discovery mode, much fun and great learning occurs,. New tech goes mainstream and is co-opted by outside influences, sterilized, controlled and pushed out to all, ready or not. Rinse and Repeat. This fits very closely with what you describe in your conversation with the other student. They may not be using the laptops in a way that is productive, and it may be because the teacher either doesn’t have a really good grasp on it, or equally likely, may be so restricted by the other parameters over which they have no control, that their hands are tied.
We are currently in the beginning stages of just such a cycle now, but I have a feeling this may be different. The number of teachers who “get it:”, seems to be larger, and because of new forms of rapid communication, it is easier to become part of a network of others who have similar views. (This also in part touches on the second idea, that of technology dehumanizing us, I think the reverse may be true). As well, things are changing much more quickly now, and it is getting harder to co-opt anything . By the time the various committees have met eough times to decide what the “next new thing” is, and drawn up the 3-5 year long range plans, there have already been one or more new “next new things” introduced. Finally, even the things that were once controllable are now able to be bypassed one way or another, or better yet, some of the twitchy eyed veterans are in positions with enough authority to say “enough is enough”.
Interesting observations. I am also a teacher and a number of years ago every student in our secondary school received thier own laptops. The first year, they were as much a distraction as a help, but still very useful. I noticed one big thing. While the level of productivity decreased, the quality of the work produced greatly increased. Then something else happened. We introduced online classes , using dimdim as a classroom and began interacting with other schools. With this added motivation things changed and the level of productivty, as well as the quality of work began to soar again. Stilll, several years later, this hold true. Subjects that use technology to integrate with other PEOPLE are still the most productive.
What is this “new age of technology” of which you speak? I was using computers for school work at home 30 years ago. “New” is a relative term.
I bet when the pencil was introduced, teachers were worried about the doodling…
Thanks for linking to my article and having a go with what you see as a student in a school trying to use technology is real learning ways. The end of your post about emotional connections spoke to me. You state:
“This is a valid point to be looked at since most students and people in general feed of their emotions and if this is taken away, people may have a harder time learning.”
I agree that learning something is tied to emotions. But does technology take that away from people? I’m willing to bet that you and many of your friends have a Facebook page. Do you go there, interact there, “hang out” there, because you feel less connected to the people you are with there? Facebook is a great example of how technology can help feed our emotional ties to people and information. You go to Facebook because you have an emotional tie with others there that you have become “friends” with. You want to interact with them, you want to know what they are doing.
Sinead makes a great point above. For years we were told that computer geeks were some of the loneliest people in the world. That they were these nerds who sat by themselves in back corners of houses, libraries, and rooms just doing their thing.
What we did not see, and what few still are willing to admit, is that technology has brought us closer to those we love, and care to learn about. We now walk around with cell phones connecting us to people when we want, Facebook is now well over 200 million people strong (4th largest country in the world!) all because they allow people to connect to each other and form those emotional bonds.
So as you continue on this journey of learning in your senior year I ask you to think of technology in this way. How can you use technology to create opportunities for yourself to learn from others? This blog is a great example, you opened yourself up emotionally putting your thoughts out here for me and others to read, think, and even share our thoughts back. Is this learning? Are we connected? Is this better than without technology?
Technology has helped to make us the most social generation in the history of mankind. How do we use these social connections to further our own development as a species? How do we learn to truly learn from each other across space and time? These are the questions that lead to deep emotional learning.
(Say Hi to the class for me)
Jeff