The Internet and other forms of information and communication technology (ICT) are redefining the nature of literacy. To become fully literate in today’s world, students must become proficient in the new literacies of ICT. Do content area teacher/educators have the responsibility to integrate these technologies into their literacy curricula?
22 comments:
In my personal opinion - yes, teachers DO have the responsibility to integrate new forms of technology into their teaching, and as great a variety as possible.
During my student teaching at CCHS, I developed a homepage called www.letsspeakgerman.com which was mainly created for my German III Honors class, because the students could access their handouts and grammar sheets there in case they missed a class. But I also put the surveymonkey.com questionnaires on there which I executed for my Action Research. So sometimes when my classes went to the computer lab to type their essays, we used the last ten minutes of the lesson to fill out a survey posted on my website.
It made it easier for me to collect data (I did not have to type the information from paper surveys into surveymonkey.com), and I was sure the students were actually doing it. When they took paper surveys home, I had no control whether they filled them out or not, and only noticed later that the participants were lower in numbers than I had planned.
I also developed two blogs for my classes; one about "Anthem" from Ayn Rand for my low track class (http://wedontsayi.blogspot.com/), and the other one for my Junior top tracks about "The Great Gatsby" (http://daisyandjay.blogspot.com/). After having performed those blogs with them, they evaluated this teaching strategy in a survey or directly on the blog.
Here are some data from my low track kids how they liked or disliked their blog:
1.I did the blog: 30%
2. I didn't do the blog, because there was no time: 30%
3. The blog was easy: 50%
4. The blog was fun: 20%
5. Getting started was difficult, but then it was ok: 30%
6. Blogging is more interesting than being in the classroom and reading, or doing worksheets: 10%
7. Blogging doesn't lead to anything: 30%
8. Blogging is a waste of time, because we could have talked about these questions in class: 20%
9. I want to do more blogs: 10%
10. I don't want to do blogs again: 20%
11. I learned something doing this blog: 10%
So -- errr -- you see that most of my lower performing kids did not really enjoy blogging, but they found it quite easy.
One very special success was achieved with an epileptic, very low-performing boy who actually did most of the blog comments, and inserted most of the pictures. I spent half an hour explaining to him how to get a picture from the Internet, how to link it to its path so it's not plagiarism, and how to insert it in his comment. From here on, he took over and was so happy and completely absorbed that he blogged for the remainder of the three days... He received an A. (The language and content of my low track class is not very elevated, but I mainly wanted to grade their participation and interaction with the questions their peers had posted.) This boy surprised me, because usually he never does anything without the teacher's help and constant monitoring.
However, I must say the whole activity was badly organized, because we blogged after they SHOULD have typed their in-class essay. Some kids managed to type it in one day, but the slowest ones took THREE days to type one or two pages of an essay (mainly, because they never completed their homework of making a handwritten draft). So those slow kids did not have time to do the blog, for which we had planned at least 1-2 days.
This taught me that teaching with technology should be a separate assignment, and there should be enough time for everybody to participate in it. This is extremely difficult in a low track class with many behavioral issues and a wide variety of disabilities.
In my Junior top track class, I likewise had some positive and lots of negative reactions to a blog. Here a couple of examples:
1. my feelings on this blog.... its confusing and a lil pointless....uuuummm yeah...
2. this is going to make me SHOOT myself!!
3. i thought that this blog thing was ok. it forced me to do the asignment quickly and get it done, which i might not have achieved if i had to do it in class. It was alright.
4. While i thought it was a tad hard to get use to i thought that the blog was a nice alternative to doing work in class and i enjoyed it.
5. This assignment was very confusing but also easy
6. I didn’t like this activity to much. Doing things on computers was fun but this was kind of unclear and I felt rushed, also we should wait until the whole book is finished to do things like this.
My students' evaluation again taught me that they felt pressured by time, and found my instructions confusing. Many had to create a gmail account first, before being able to sign up for the blog. This took away much of their time. Then, they had to search for the promt, to find where to click on to post their responses....
Next time, I would like to make a demonstration on a smartboard how it all works, so that they have a model to follow before they start.
Apart from the website and the blogs, I developed two WebQuests in QuestGarden; one about "The Diary of Anne Frank" for my German III Honors class, and one about Helen Keller for my Freshmen low track class. Both are accessible on my homepage under the menu item "WebQuests."
We had a big problem in the CCHS computer lab with the Helen Keller WebQuest: there were little videos on it in which you could hear Helen Keller speak, and "listen" to an opera singer by touching her throat and lips. But the students could either not hear those things at all, or it took about 20 minutes to open one of the videos with their MediaPlayer.
We really should have checked the technology in advance.
Things like this happened to me several times; for example when I wanted to show my English Juniors the YouTube video of The Simpsons in which Lisa reads E.A. Poe's "The Raven." However, CCHS has blocked this site, so we had no access to the video in class (until one student brought it to me on a burned CD).
So - as a conclusion - before teachers include technology in their teaching, they really should have figured out how it works!!!
It’s probably not literally in the job description, but certainly a good idea. I prefer to think of it more of a privilege than a responsibility. If the equipment and interest are there, then by all means integrate! Even a self-proclaimed computer illiterate student can still acquire skills in basic word processing, slideshows, and web searches.
As Christina hinted, sometimes content area teachers are hesitant since they feel inadequate to lead students in technology-based assignments. In that case, stress the importance of information and communication technology and link students to professionals or teachers trained in information technology. I’m sure some students would love to show us thing or two they already know dealing with software and web design, networking, or data management. We can always seek out training and support, perhaps from students who self-taught technology skills.
The U.S. Department of Education (1996) defines technology literacy as "computer skills and the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity, and performance." I think our first focus, English teacher or not, must be to insist on students having basic literacy skills before pursuing technology literacy.
I think that it is a good idea for the teachers to integrate new forms of technology into their teaching. More specifically, in the field of ESL, more and more students seek for learning sorces from the internet. The possible reason might be that technology makes good tools.
However, I also believe that technology by itself does not improve education. Teachers may find some challenges in using technology to improve learning. One challenge for teachers is learning how to integrate technology into their classrooms. Many teachers are accustomed to their own teaching style. Yet school officials encourage them to take advantage of new technology. This can mean big challenges in the classroom. As teachers learn how to use new technology, they also need to learn when to use it. Sometimes using new technology isn't the best way to teach a subject. Although technology may enrich the learning of a subject, students still need to have basic skills and knowledge. It is worth mentioning that teachers need to consider if their students have the access to learn through technology. Some deprived students may lack the access.
Another challenges is that teachers have always had to adapt to new equipment. Many teachers may say that the new challenges are worth it. Technology gives teachers exciting new options in the classroom.
So, with all this new technology entering the classroom, are students learning any better? That depends. Computers can certainly make learning fun. But like other tools, they seem to have a neutral effect on how much students learn. Technology in the classroom can't replace the one thing students need most: good teaching.
I absolutely believe that teachers have the responsibility of integrating technology into their classrooms and teaching methods. Technology plays such an integral role in students' lives today, and we as teachers cannot ignore that. It is our responsibility to stay up-to-date with programs and information that could improve our classroom (and this is not an easy thing, I will admit, because it is easy to get comfortable with what we already know), but we have a lot of competition for the students' attention. When they are surrounded by technology at home and have grown up using it, the tired teaching methods are not going to have the same results they once did. I have two young cousins who are five and seven, and they can both use the computer very well, and have been since they were big enough to climb up into the chair and click the mouse. The students who are in the classrooms today have grown up with computers and video games, and the students of the future are even more so familiar with technology.
If we do not integrate technology into our teaching methods, we are really doing the students a disservice, because their futures will most likely depend on it. Employers expect knowledge of computers, and one of the best places for students to learn to work with technology is in the classroom. I am NOT arguing that technology should dominate our classrooms - as an English teacher, I of course feel that there is no substitute for having an actual book in your hands and reading. However, I do feel that there are so many ways to integrate technology into my curriculum - from making review games from the Google templates, to using blogs to spark class discussion, to doing online research to write papers. Technology in the classroom is something that cannot be avoided.
MOST DEFINATELY...can I leave it there? But seriously, the answer to this question is a no-brainer, and I agree wholeheartedly with everything that Katy said about how technology enriches a classroom. Students today have grown up using all forms of technology and many will relate better to lessons that incorporate some form of it. Music, movies, cell phones, the internet, etc. continue to bombard students with the newest technology, and the "tired classroom practices" can be a real drag if a student has become accustomed to a 3D, multimedia presentation of everything else in his or her life.
Sometimes I believe we have all accepted the fact that students do not and will not ever enjoy school and that there is nothing we can do about it. However, the use of technology can change the way students view a class or school in general. Think about all the extra camps, special learning weeks, and field trips students participate in voluntarily. Most of those use some form of technology students don't get in the classroom. And while I hate to keep referring to Katy's blog, she makes a good argument about how students will have to be able to function in a technological world, and what are schools there for if not to TEACH students to function in and improve society.
Despite my wholehearted support for technology in the classroom, I realize there are problems associated with its use. As Jo Shan pointed out, not everything is better when taught with technology. I also realize that not all students will have access to technology at home, so there are some limits to what you can assign outside of the classroom. Those are two legitimate reasons not to use technology. However, to those who say "technical difficulties" are too much of a hassle, don't. Most of those problems can be solved easily with a sound/picture/link test before class begins. The rest can be solved with a backup plan. As for those teachers who say they are not comfortable enough with technology to use it to teach, get over it. No offense, but we live in a tecnological world with many resources - use them and take some classes to help you learn.
I believe that it is all teachers responsibility to not only incorporate technology into the classroom, but they also have to show the students how to use it properly. Too many students get information from the internet and they do not know who the author of the content is. It is our job to teach students how to find information from proper sources when they are reading for educational information. For instance, we must let students know that WIKIPEDIA is not a primary source and should not be used for research.
Students are surrounded by electronic gadgets everyday. You can not walk on campus without seeing students with an IPOD connected to their head. I have uploaded audio summaries onto my website to allow students to download the summaries and listen to them on portable music players.
I could go on forever about Technology use in the classroom but I will end here.
I agree with everyone else: we have the responsibility to integrate technology into our classes; students need to be taught how to use the technology; teachers need to get over their fear of technology; and technology by itself does not necessarily improve instruction.
I have spent a good deal of time studying media literacy, and I think it's important not only to teach our kids to use technology, but also, as Andy indicated, to teach them to evaluate electronic sources. Students are so influenced by the media (including the internet). I think it is our duty to teach them how to analyze the messages they're receiving so that they can be better decision makers with regard to those messages. And the more they know about technology, the more they understand how those messages are put together. Knowing how media messages are put together will empower our kids to be less manipulated by the media.
And, of course, not only are they constantly bombarded with electronic messages, but they also need to know how to use technology because it's increasingly how people communicate.
Every year I'm a little surprised by what kids don't know about using the computer. Of course, some of them are highly computer literate. But there are always a few who don't know how to double space without hitting "enter" twice at the end of each sentence. Or the kids who don't know not to center their entire essays. We can't assume that they know these things already. And we can't shift the responsibility for teaching it to someone else.
Something tells me that I should play the devil's advocate and post a comment that says teachers do not have the responsibility to incorporate technology into the classroom.
In all honesty I agree with everyone here. Teachers should be using technology and most importantly ensuring that students understand new technology and how to properly use it. Andy, and some others have brought up the point that students often have no idea how to effectively find information that is useful. Most often they choose the first site from Google and write everything down.
I think we have all witnessed this in some way. Just for a quick example, I assigned a report for a Junior/Senior Forensic Science class. I required five sources of information. An alarming number of students sited www.google.com as a resource. Also, I looked at many of the websites and found very few that actually contained information from credible sources. (I should have known, but I was student teaching.)
As a closing thought, if teachers should be required to integrate these technologies, who will be paying for the workshops or classes needed to educate teachers on how to use the technology?
See you in class!
I also agree with much of what has been said. I want to point out that the IL standards actually say technology should be incorporated into the classroom by every teacher. Here's the site: http://www.isbe.net/profprep/CASCDvr/pdfs/
24120_coretechnology.pdf
That said, not all teachers are very technologically literate, and having to teach their students anything on the computer is daunting enough to keep them out of the lab. It is the responsibility of the school to pay for professional development to correct this, but finding money to do this is easier said than done. The responsibility then falls to teacher education programs...thus, in another generation we may have teachers who are more comfortable using and teaching technology.
As Rachel pointed out, not all students have access to technology at home, or at least not homework friendly technology like computers and the internet. We absolutely cannot assign technology-based homework under the assumption that kids can do it out of school. Even schools like CCHS that have computer labs open before and after school and during lunch hour are hard pressed to say they are allowing access to technology to these students, as the same students often ride busses and eat in the cafeteria, minimizing the time they can use the labs.
That all said, I do think it is a responsibility of the teachers. It is part of our job to test the technology for our lessons before implementing them, and shifting gears mid-class if the need arises. This is really no different than any other lesson that suddenly goes downhill 10 minutes into the period. Finally, I think that many teachers agree with Julie Patrick's description of technology teaching being more of a priviledge than a responsibility. I strongly disagree with this, as this is what continues the gap between many of our students. Priviledges go to students who are ahead, those whose parents make themselves heard, and those with enough moeny to get it outside of school. The school, while playing the priviledging role too often, is a public institution and should provide services for all, not only for those who are "gifted", demanding, or can afford to pay extra.
First off I would like to applaud Christina V. for her dedication to incorporating technology in her classroom. I too agree that it is our duty to integrate technology when and where we can. In my classes I use web searches, webquests, power point, United Streaming videos, and on occasion on-line quizzes. My classroom computer is linked to the television so I can show the students cool websites or a news report without reserving a school computer lab. Another aim of mine is to bring my students into the computer lab at least once a month, depending on availability. At CCHS there are certain guidelines that “should” be followed when reserving time in the labs. For example; there is a two consecutive day limit, you cannot reserve a date more than two weeks prior, and you can only use the labs that are designated for your department. Unfortunately, some teachers are deterred from using the labs because of the overuse by other teachers, hence the need for the guidelines. But I am not complaining, because I know there are many schools out there that don’t have the resources that we do and therefore struggle to meet the technological demands of today.
Students today, unlike most educators, are more aware of and have access to the newest technologies. That is why it is important that we as teachers foster that knowledge and incorporate it in the classroom. For some students that will be the only time they will be able to use a computer or have access to the internet, like Rachel and Rivanna said. That makes it all the more imperative that we teach them how to use technology wisely and efficiently. When accessing the World Wide Web, for instance, one must be careful about finding reliable sources.
Personally I have wanted to create a class webpage since I started teaching, but the time, motivation, and knowledge has come and gone. But now this class has sparked my ambitions once again to incorporate more technology into my classes.
Technology, Technology, Technology,... it will save us all!Wait a minute, I know I read somewhere educators must be weary or careful of incorporating high-use and reliance on practical applications of instructional deleiveries BEFORE theory and timely studies have been conducted, analyzed, and reviewed. In other words, lets not put the cart before the horse. Let the students pull the weight of the cart.
I believe students need to be taught and learn content through multiple sources of media. I to, like Monica, used United Streaming, You Tube, Power Point, etc. in the classroom while student teaching. And, like Dr. Voss, had technical problems from time to time in the computer lab getting all the computers to come online. But, we as teachers need to harness the strength our students have will regard to computer/technology literacy. I can make an assignment in which all students will create a Power Point project (in general) and teach them the basics of how to use the technology and what I am looking for in a final project (grading rubric). I also know there are 10 or more kids in that class that are "experts" in Power Point, I am going to harness this power and group students togehter so they ALL can have a better and richers understanding of technology while at the same time develop a better more creative project. Use peer-teaching.
I know, at this point I sound very crass about the importance of technology in the classroom, but you see there is a reason I teach social studies, I like to get inside the head of other people. I want my students to try and get inside the head of other people (why are they behaving the way they do? etc.)Let's not forget "old school" training: talking with others face to face(instead of always on a computer screen), walking a mile in anothers shoes (instead always on a virtual field-trip), listening to a scratchy 45rpm (instead of always using blue-tooth CD-Roms or whatever).
Teach the basics, use peer-teaching, allow them to incorpaorte both "old and new school" technologies. Don't let kids sit on there ass for hours and hours at a computer thinking all the worlds problems can be solved at that computer terminal.
It is true that the ISBE does require all teachers to integrate technology with instruction and activities. Personally, I agree with many points that have been posted. The truth is that it is not practical- for various reasons-as a teacher to integrate new forms of technology. I just make it my business to know how to use the technology I have available to enhance the learning of the students. For example, students share their writing using the ELMO, make a powerpoint, & participate in webquests for various units. If a tech grant comes up through work, then I try to get my name on the list. I can tell you the tech strenghts of several other staff members & I don't hesitate to ask for help/advice. The most tech savvy are those who are the most interested in it.
I agree with what most everyone has stated. It is definitely the responsibility of teachers/ educators to integrate ICT into their literacy curricula. I am fortunate to teach in a school that tries to stay abreast of the new ICT for our teachers and students. This summer I had a smart board installed in my classroom and I am very excited to be able to have at my disposal a way for myself and my students to show and present many accessible teaching helps and explanations through this means of communication.
It is true that our students are very ICT savvy and can help us when we stumble. (What a great way to let them know you are also human.) A freshman student that I taught, he actually just graduated this past May, was running his own web design business since 7th grade, needless to say he always showed me tricks to help with anything I needed when putting together any type of presentation. When I do not know something about the programs I use I will either do the research or ask for help. Just when I think I have mastered a skill something else comes up and forces me to learn a new process. CI 651 has helped me with another new learning experience, blogging, and I would like to try a blog page for my reading classes this year.
With so much information to access from the realm of ICT it is our responsibility to integrate it into our teaching and have it accessible. If you or your students do not have the ability to use computers at school the public libraries have access as well as teaming them up with a friend that will let them use their home computer. A teacher must be creative in the ways he/she makes these technologies available to the students even if it is staying an hour longer after school or coming in early for his/her students to take advantage of the ICT for their classes. Many times I have stayed late or come in early to allow my students access to the computers and it is at these times one gets a chance to better understand their students. The even more relaxed climate offers different learning opportunities where some students needing help are not as hesitant to ask their peers or the teachers for help. YES I do think it is our responsibility as educators to integrate the ICT technologies into our classes and take advantage of the internet and other forms of communication and what they can offer to their world of learning.
What can I say, I agree with the rest of the class. I believe it is our responsibility as teachers to ensure that our students are functionally literate. In this digital age, that means technologically literate, as well.
Perhaps the responsibility lies more with some teachers than others, though. For instance, I won't spend a week giving kids a basic lesson on keyboarding skills when, hopefully, there is a keyboarding class taught by someone more qualified and less preoccupied with ensuring that other content material is being covered than I am. I will, however, require that students understand how to use online sources for information, which, as Andy and others stated, is an area that students definitely need some guidance regarding. I may also require that students apply other forms of technology, such as understanding how to prepare a PowerPoint presentation or participate in blogging.
All in all, I kind of feel as if technology is a must in the classroom these days. Not only to ensure that students are keeping up with the pace of our world today, but also to keep them interested. I know that some students need to be encouraged and guided on the use of technology, but mostly, I think technology must be incorporated to keep students interested. Most kids these days are engaged in using technology based materials (video games, movies, internet, etc.) during most of their free time and if teachers can't find a way to incorporate what students' find familiar and engaging (technology)into their lessons, the students aren't going to pay attention.
So, in closing, I do believe it is our responsibility to incorporate technology into the classroom, both for the students' benefit and ours.
I typed my answer and then I wanted to preview it and it erased my answer! Technology is not perfect.
I agree with Chris, we cannot allow students to believe that computers will solve all the world's problems. It is our job as a teachers to teach technology but to teach them how to evaluate what kind of information they are receiving. I am talking mainly about the interent. As Monica said we need to inform them about reliable sources. I plan on learning about technology from my students but I will teach them what is crap and what is not. I believe that teaching them powerpoint, exposing them to web quests, even making a class web page is a great thing but my own technology knowledge is limited, so I am hoping we learn together.
Students need to know computers are a facilitator to learning but they also need to know that writing a letter with an actual pen or pencil, reading a hard back book or even reading the old fashioned newspapers are still the main ways one needs to use to communicate.
Just like anything else in life, technology in moderation along with other teaching methods will produce students that are well rounded and able to make their own choices about what method they want to use to get their point across. It is our job to expose them to what is out there, teach them how to judge it and then show them how to use it, from there it is out of our hands.
P.S. I liked my first answer better!
So yes I obviously agree that teachers have a responsibility to teach their students how to use new communications technologies. As Rivanna pointed out, they are even required by our state standards. However, I feel some common sense should be employed before buying in to the "new technology" bandwagon 100%. I will digress in a somewhat amusing example.
Four thousand years ago, I bet there were some old-school farts saying, "wait, what's the deal with this cuneiform writing nonsense, no one communicates the old way anymore, with good old oral tradition!" And yet, they did not stand in the way of the new technology of writing on clay. Similarly, today's teachers cannot try to stand in the way of new technologies that their students are inevitably going to use just because it's not what they grew up knowing and using and it's not what we have all been taught is "formal" communication.
However, just as we did not abandon oral communciation in favor of writing on clay tablets, we will not abandon writing for typing, texting, and IMing (I hope!!!). New technologies must be learned and explored, but not at the expense of ignoring older medias and traditions. For example, a blog (such as this one) might be a fun and nifty way of getting kids to express themselves, but let's face it: no one writes on a blog with the same quality or effort that they write for a formal audience. Students still need to learn correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation, since as this and other blogs used in my education courses illustrate, most people don't practice these things in blogs, whether they are spell-check enabled or not. However, the blog provides a unique opportunity for students to read and react to their fellow students' writings. Therefore, the teacher must determine her purpose in teaching with the technology, rather than just using it because it seems the thing to do.
Teachers have a responsibility to filter through new technologies and decide which will provide truly meaningful educational experiences for their students, and which are over-priced or over-hyped wastes of time.
Well now I am irritated with technology. I have signed up for a google account 3 times in order to post a blog and each time I try to log on to this thing it tells me my password is incorrect!!! I just wrote my entire blog and it would not let me publish it! So I signed up for another account using the same user name and password I have each time and it deleted my comment. I think this is a prime example that technology can be wonderful but whe it does not work it can leave you in a bad situation. I respect the idea of the blog as a means of establishing open dialogue in which everyone is an active participant.
That being said I do think it is important to educate your students on the latest technologies by incoprporating them into your curriculum.
The visual arts feild has a many opportunities to do this. There are many types of computer art that art becoming prominent in the arts. Graphic design is almost fully computer based now.
I however do not feel that technology should completely replace traditional forms of art.
I also feel that we should educate our students not only on the positive aspects of technology but also on its perils. There was a student I worked with this year who used his myspace page to make threatening remarks about students, the school, and a specific teacher. I have also seen that students set up public pages showing themselves engaging in illeagal activies. I think we need desparately to educate our students on the consequences using pulic web space inappropriately can have.
Our students are clearly already interacting regularly with all different types of technology and if they are not they need to learn them in order to acheive full literacy in today's society. I do however see some potential roadblocks in this mission to educate students. In the school where I student taught there was one computer lab for the entire school. When we needed the lab in order to do internet research on a project the lab needed to be reserved well in advance. There were times when we could not use it. In the classroom there was a total of two functioning computers and there was no consistency between them in the types of programs that were installed. There were constant issues with these computers not functioning well. That being said, I feel that it is not solely the teachers' responsibilities. The district needs to take the proper steps to make sure the teachers have the equipment needed in order to incorporate technology.
One of the negative aspects of posting a response blog late in the game (or week) is that most of the “good” answers have already been posted. Thus, I add my two cents of agreement with remorse that I have nothing more interesting to contribute: Of course we have the responsibility to introduce our students to modern technologies.
As a few previous comments have specified, it is important that today’s teachers work to integrate technology into the literacy curricula not completely replace traditional books, paper, and writing instruments with newer technology. Just as oral traditions used to be the norm for sharing information and knowledge (see Erin’s comment), hard copies of books, journals, and DVDs may be anomalies in the education field many years from now. However, the latter are not obsolete yet, so as teachers of well-rounded students, it is our responsibility to provide opportunities to encounter and interactive with both “old school” and newer ICTs.
That said, I agree with the other teachers’ posts that draw attention to the importance of well-conducted continuing professional development opportunities for teachers of all technological abilities. Just as we are expected to try to differentiate instruction for our students, so too should school districts strive to offer various levels of technology instruction to its faculties and staffs.
Ok, this has kind of already been said, but I feel a rant coming on. As teachers, we are responsible for giving students the skills to compete in the workforce, and yes, students need to know how to navigate the internet and word process, and we as teachers are the ones who have to make sure they are getting the necessary exposure to these things. However...
It seems to me that there is a question that is missing from society in general: is technology making quality of life better? The seemingly obvious answer is yes. I no longer have to waste money on stamps to pay my bills; I can research countless resources in hours instead of weeks; I can communicate with loved ones instantly; and I can order pizza without leaving my couch! I appreciate these conveniences, but they’re not really improving the quality of my life. I like that they exist, but I don’t know that I am better for them. I don’t know that society is better for them. Throughout the year, I was always shocked when students would complain about not having computer access at home. I can identify with the frustration of not having home internet access, but no computer at all? It wasn’t until later that I started to think about that information differently. How were those kids affected by not having a computer? Is it likely that the lower classes of the US will ever value technology the way middle and upper classes do? Although one can obtain a used computer relatively inexpensively, will a parent who works twelve-hour shifts and spends little time with her children to begin with ever see the benefit of owning a computer? Students are not only learning when they’re at school! Not to mention, who is to say that school (and the rest of the world for that matter) is right? Computers are as addictive as televisions, and that’s a bit frightening. What are the long-term effects of spending even more hours a day in front of a brightly-lit screen? What about attention spans, development of new skills, and the desire to help our fellow man? Is technology really improving these things? What really concerns me is the suspicion that these questions are not going to be publicly addressed any time soon because computers are convenient. They are helpful. The English canon needs to include Vonnegut’s The Sirens of Titan because he puts it so beautifully: sooner or later, the human race is going to realize that there are machines that do everything we are capable of doing better than we are capable of doing it. Why would we ever want to get to that point?
It is important for content teachers to integrate technologies. For one, using a variety of methods of instruction, different types of activities, and different forms of assessment helps students stay interested. Using technology can also a good way of demonstrating the applicability of the content area to every day experiences. However, I think some teachers get carried away with technology. Sometimes, the technology becomes the show in the classroom and replaces the content instruction. It is important to keep in mind that there is a time and place to incorporate technology into content instruction.
one of the big problems with technology is, who can afford it? Some schools these days cannot afford text books, the newest development in smartboards is probably not in their future. In the MAT program we were lucky, the school, through a federal grant, was able to give us laptops.I don't think this happens very often. And technology can assist in furthering learning. I just don't want to see a world where only the rich can afford to use technology, and the rest of us are stuck with slates and chalk.
However, that does not answer the question about the use of technology. I, like most everyone else here, agree that technology should be integrated into education. Teachers should use it. Students need to become more familiar with it. And the future will depend upon it. I just don't want it to turn into a crutch.
I had a class here at SIU where the entire semester was on the web. Every lesson. Every concept was there, and that was all you needed to look at. I attended three classes. The first class, the midterm, and the final. I got an A. If we allow technology to do our jobs for us, we won't be doing our jobs.
I feel that students should become proficient in the new literacies of the ICT. With that said, teachers have the important responsibility of weighing how much of these new technologies they will allow into their curriculum. I think that it is very easy to be lured into the excitement of modern technology. Students and teachers alike are easily impressed and want to be in the know. As teachers, we have to be careful to understand the difference between getting our students excited about learning and getting them excited about doing something they perceive as being “cool”.
Personally, I feel that the technology has a way of becoming impersonal and cold. Students should be learning how to communicate and interact in positive ways with teachers and peers.
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