We live in a society today that is predicated on technology. So it is only fitting that, in many ways, education is now reliant on technology. While I am all for the use of technology in a classroom, I think it is best used as a means to supplement teacher instruction, rather than replace it.
Throughout my experiences growing up, I know several teachers that have based their entire lesson plan around a video or diagram they found on the Internet. But then, the impossible happens; technology stops working (for whatever reason) and it’s like we have lost our ability to breathe. I am as guilty of this as anyone else, when my phone or laptop suddenly experiences issues at the most inopportune time. However, as a teacher in a classroom, there are several ways around this dilemma. Take the information that was going to be presented in the video and/or diagram and relay it to your students based on your understanding. Or, perhaps proceed with new material and show your students the video/diagram at a later date once the technological issues are resolved. I had numerous teachers throughout high school that would halt a lesson all together when this situation would occur, because they felt limited as to the material they could cover without technology. I guess in some instances this makes sense. However, I feel that the disadvantages of too much technology in a classroom can often times outweigh the advantages, from both a teacher perspective, but even more so from a student perspective.
I think in many ways technology is helpful to aid in student learning. At the same time, I also think it can serve as a major distraction and as a hindrance to learning. For one, if a student is bored, having easy access to their own personal tablet will give them the freedom to search the Internet, play a game, or do other things that do not pertain to learning. Readily accessible technology in a school setting also makes it that much easier for students to cheat or plagiarize material. And likewise, from a teacher perspective, it is a lot harder for you to know if your students are paying attention and doing what they are told. For example, say the textbook is online and accessible from each students’ tablet. You instruct them to take 5 minutes to read a section of a certain chapter. Unless you walk around the room and look at each students’ individual tablet, there is no way for you to know what they are actually doing. And even then, students could see you walking towards them, pull up the textbook, and once you are out of their sight, go back to what they were previously doing. With good old fashioned textbooks, it was a lot easier to monitor your students.
But one thing that is very alarming, as a future math teacher, is how this easy access to technology can effect students’ problem solving skills and critical thinking. There are many great websites out there that help promote learning and problem solving by providing answers to various problems. I am certainly not against this, as again, I am as guilty as anyone for using these websites. We browsed through these various websites together a few weeks back in MATH 371. However, these websites should be used as a means to check answers and understanding, as opposed to relying on them for doing all the work to save time and headaches. When some students have trouble adding 464+332 or solving an equation such as 3x+7+16, I believe it speaks to how dependent we are on technology... that students can be so lazy that they will not even make the time to solve these simple, straightforward problems using their own knowledge and critical thinking.
Please don’t get me wrong; I think technology in a classroom for both students and teachers is beneficial, when appropriately used. But we as teachers are paid to do just that, teach; not to rely on technology to do it for us. Likewise, students need to develop the necessary problem solving, critical thinking, and social skills that I feel best come from an old fashioned school setting. Again, maybe I am old-school (no pun intended), but I often ponder, as a soon to be full time teacher, when is technology use in a classroom beneficial, and when is it simply too much?
But one thing that is very alarming, as a future math teacher, is how this easy access to technology can effect students’ problem solving skills and critical thinking. There are many great websites out there that help promote learning and problem solving by providing answers to various problems. I am certainly not against this, as again, I am as guilty as anyone for using these websites. We browsed through these various websites together a few weeks back in MATH 371. However, these websites should be used as a means to check answers and understanding, as opposed to relying on them for doing all the work to save time and headaches. When some students have trouble adding 464+332 or solving an equation such as 3x+7+16, I believe it speaks to how dependent we are on technology... that students can be so lazy that they will not even make the time to solve these simple, straightforward problems using their own knowledge and critical thinking.
Please don’t get me wrong; I think technology in a classroom for both students and teachers is beneficial, when appropriately used. But we as teachers are paid to do just that, teach; not to rely on technology to do it for us. Likewise, students need to develop the necessary problem solving, critical thinking, and social skills that I feel best come from an old fashioned school setting. Again, maybe I am old-school (no pun intended), but I often ponder, as a soon to be full time teacher, when is technology use in a classroom beneficial, and when is it simply too much?
Andrew Breitzman
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