RESPONSES:(originally posted by student participants at CCL):
Information technology evokes issues of access, learning styles, and distraction for education. In the area of access, it has the potential to both even the availability of texts and information for the enfranchised and disenfranchised, or to further disenfranchise some people. In terms of learning styles ( or preferences, or physical or mental abilities) it has the potential to both assist as well as to draw upon a whole new set of skills which some will develop more competence in than others. However, I am most concerned about the ways in which technology and the proliferation of information has, I believe, served to distract educators from more crucial issues of learning and equity. Our society now spends enormous energy (and money) on arguing, instructing, technologizing, and marking as important a technology which is: here to stay and change, available to some but not others, one that will not replace other human skills and capacities. Like the word, the pen, or the book, technology is but one carrier of culture and will be used in many ways. I think it is useful but less deserving of our focus than many other issues in education. Perhaps we should use it more, ponder it less, but ponder critically what it carries or does not carry.
Technology, for all that it offers to educators, cannot be dismissed from any discussion of curriculum or methods planning. There is so much potential for positive interaction between teaching and modern technological media, that any disregard for its effects seem wasteful. Computers especially, however, present a problem in that they require a large amount of new skill acquisition (on the part of students and teachers), not to mention financial reasources, which might be effectively used in alternative fashions to serve the student. Still, technology offers the opportunity for visual learning to occur, where students who struggle with audial/interactive techniques can assert there own capacities for learning without losing a step. Overall, it seems that urban or underprivileged areas might face a greater need for an integration of technology and education, as the at-home resources which many affluent or even middle-class students are afforded are less likely to present themselves. This also, however, requires that teachers in these districts focus their own energies on this process, possibly detracting from the quality of technique and preparedness which a good teacher should bring to the classroom.
I think technology information is a great edition to education. However, it opens up a new world of teaching. FOr example, teachers and students need to know how to use the computer. Also, the school needs to be able to afford to have the computers. If there is only one computer available then the lessons will not be effective. It makes learning a much more expensive commodity.
Information technology has the potential to be a curse or a blessing on classroom education. While the use of computers and other informational technology might advance certain classrooms, others may not have the means, money, and/or staff capable enough to use such technology. Even today, a large variation of materials exists between different school districts and levels. Also, while such technology might assist children in their learning, it might also prove to be ineffective if not used in a proper manner (for example, I've heard of students in my high school taking a computer course from a teacher who was just learning about computers herself). Overall, I feel that technology has the potential to create a more interactive classroom, but it mostly depends on how, when, and why it is used.
Technology is a valuable part of our society. It is only with technology that we have been able to develop various machines, cures, computers etc. It is essential that everyone in this society become a part of this rapidly growing industry or else they will be left behind. There is no time for young children to just learn about penmanship and writing. Computers must be a part of there learning experience as well. Computers should be a part of everyone's learning experience.
I am excited about the ways information technology can serve as a resource for answering questions, connecting people and places, and making the world feel more accessible and smaller to my students. As a teacher I have much to learn about the multitude of possibilities and ways to use technology in my classroom, but am open to new ideas. My biggest concern is in the inequities which exist between more affluent school districts and those which do not have the resources to aquire and keep up the rapidly changing technology available.
i personally am very optimistic about the future of information technology. i think that electronic communication has the capability to be much quicker, reliable, far-reaching, and cheaper than any other mode of communicating ideas. however, i think that it definitely has the potential to cause an even greater divide between the middle/upper class of our country (and also classes in other countries!) than already exists. for example, many previously human-run things are now electronically done, such as ticketing for airlines and purchase of items and services. this can and is very handy for those who can access it but creates a big rift between the haves and the have-nots in an already divided-by-social-class country. another concern i have is in regard to the security of information technology (i'm thinking primarily of internet/email). with all the powerful minds and powerful programs/capability, it seems both a great and powerful device which can be used for the good of people but also a terrible and destructive device in the wrong hands. as security features get better, so do the minds and programs to undermine the additional security. so goes technology, i suppose.
I'm not sure how my thoughts on this matter would have changed since prior to the first workshop... Something that I do know I've been struck by is the sheer geographic range of the Math Forum respondents. Several times I've found myself chosing kids to write back to based on the fact that they live nearby, near to a friend or family member, or even because they live far, far away. I've been cautious too, and I'm not sure why, about responding to two kids from the same classroom. Perhaps because it somehow seems less special. I kind of like the idea about being this mysterious person out in who knows where who's writing to a child chosen for no real substantial reason. Nice and random. Does this really have much to do with the question at hand? Well, should a Math Forum respondant endeavor to be a "special" person for a kid, or should they merely fill the function? If I were the kid I would want the special person. I'm curious, too, as to whether some of the folks who've been doing this math mentoring stuff with the Forum for a long time ever try to pick the same kids. Do relationships develop? Is that a possibility? For access to relationships, might mean access to learning.
The most difficult aspect of technology, in my opnion, is not knowing who has access to computers outside of the classroom. Those that do are in an advantaged, dare I say, privelaged, position. Those that don't are at a complete disadvantage.
IT can provide a wealth of tools for visualization and experimentation that are simply not possible to carry out in a high school setting. At the same time, over reliance on technology is a real problem. Some teachers seem so intent on teaching students to use a technological tool that they forget to teach the students how to make a computation without the tool. This is particularly true in math and the sciences where the ease of many modern tools often makes it simpler to teach how to use a tool than to build critical thinking and problem solving skills. As a result, students are often incapable of creating a solution when the tool is unavailable because they don't even know how to address a problem without the tool.
I think I'm in the right place to submit my response. But I may be responding to Anon's response. In fact, this is my primary feeling with regard to technology in education: in many cases, it's more trouble than it's worth. This experience for me is a case in point. I live off campus in an apartment without an internet hook-up, so I have to come to campus to get internet access. Moreover, I have a dog who I am partially responsible, and when I am responsible I need to have her with me. Therfore, I need to use computers in a place where dogs are allowed, which necessitates my going to one particular place on campus. In order to get into this place, I often have to spend 20 mintues getting the key and bringing it back up. Then, when I get ehre I have to struggle with computers that freeze and web sites that don't have clear directions and mislead me. And all this for someone who generally does not consider himself computer phobiic or computer illiterate. In general, I feel that talking about technology in general doesn't make much sense. There are different issues for different technologies and uses. The problems I described have to do with internet use and access. There are different issues for in class use of computers for reinforcement or motivation. And there are still other issues which have to do with teaching computer use and computer science as content. Finally, computers are not the only technology available. Long distance learning, for instance, is a non-computer based technology. My basic feelings are: -The internet is akin to a library. It has valuable resources for students and teachers to use to aid in their learning or research. -If computers are available for every student in a calssroom, there is some software that could be useful for teaching content (this includes software-like programs available through the internet). -Students' knowledge of and comfort with computers and basic applications should be an integral part of public school curriculum.
I believe that people spend too much time eulogizing computer technology. Perhaps since I grew up when you had to painfully tell the computer every single step, I know that the computer only does what the programmer tells it to do. Even computers with fuzzy logic are just mimicking from observations. As they say "Garbage in-Garbage out". Computers are simply a tool-but they are a very powerful tool. They are used to do all that repetitive crap that humans get bored doing. With the Internet, computers are a great source of communication with machines as well as humans. I bet that computer technology is used in at least 90% of jobs in the "real" world. For this reason, computer science needs to be taught to every student from an early age (I am talking grammar school). Learning to use a computer should be viewed just as learning to read. Students need to feel comfortable with the computer. Getting kids used to working with computers at an early age will take a lot of fear and mystique away. For high school students, computer labs need to be open after school hours so that students without computers at home may have access to computers outside of class. Computers are a tool, just like a book is a tool. This means that the computer will never replace humans. Teachers must still teach. Humans must still think and learn and feel. A computer will never rise to greatness, but the user might.
Two initial problems come to mind. First, the internet will make it even easier for business leaders from around the world to communicate and will therefore further increase the speed at which companies can move capital to parts of the world where labor is cheap (globalization). Such a situation could expand the rate at which the job base in working-class areas is dissapearing, meaning further impoverishment for these communities. Educating the children of the unemployed has always proved difficult. Second, statistics show that less than 1% of the world's population has access to the internet. Unless this percentage increases dramatically in the coming years, a tiny elite section of the world's population will reap the benefits of the internet, which includes easier access to companies looking for new employees, faster access to academic information of all kinds, teaching materials, and so on. These advantages will surely aid those connected, but they will make it even more difficult for everyone else to compete in the global job market.
Technology does not afford the student the same flexibility of curriculum and human component that a teacher does. It offers a helpful supplement to classroom activity, but its limitations should be noted. A heavy emphasis on technology should not create an environment in which the teacher's role is diminished or undermined in their own classroom. In responding to student's math responses on the Math Forum, I found it disappointing and frustrating that the interaction between myself and the students felt so impersonal and detached. I suppose objectivity in teacher-student relations might prove advantageous at times, but doesn't a teacher's subjective opinions and biases inform the way that they approach each individual student and the methodology that they choose to employ? A computer cannot make those choices and inferences, and cannot alter a "lesson plan" when it is necessary.
I very much agree with what is written in the paragraph above. While I think that technology is an important educational tool, with great potential for expanding the learning opportunities of many students, I also fear that it has been given too much focus recently. I feel that there are far more pressing issues with respect to fostering equity in the educational experiences of our students. I understand that technology has the potential to equalize the availability of texts and information for the enfranchised and disenfrachised, but surely it has not been used in this way as of yet. Students in disadvantaged schools still have far less access to computers than students in wealthier school districts. Perhaps in theory technology can be viewed as a promising equalizer but in practice it has yet to reach this potential. I am student teaching in an urban school with a fair amount of money to spend on classroom resources and there is still only one computer in the classroom that is rarely used by the students. I do think that technology is an important part of education, but it can never replace the rich human interactions that exist between teachers and students. I just submitted my answer to the Math Forum for this workshop and found the experience to be largely unsatisfying because I could not interact with another person and share my ideas. This absence of human interaction is one of my largest concerns regarding the increasing incorporation of technology into education.
I can only base my feelings about technology in education on what I have experienced myself and the little I have read about it. My feelings on the potential for technology in the classroon are certain but limited. There is a lot of information available on the Internet for students and teachers to use as resources for projects and professional development. In this way, research is made easier and questions can be answered more quickly with less hassle. Having computers in the classroom can also help students to become familiar with word processing, spread sheets, web pages, e-mail, and other applications. Knowledge of this sort will undoubtedly help in college and on-the-job as technology finds its way almost everywhere today. However, there are limits to and problems with this seemingly nothing-but-beneficial concept. Yes, there is a lot of information available on the web, but it is not all "reliable" or "desireable" in kind. Any organization or private individual who subscribes to an Internet service can obtain and maintain a web page. Teaching students how to evaluate the "worth" of a site, when you yourself may be unsure, could proove tricky. Also, students using the Internet would have to be closely monitored. There are plenty of sites out there inapropriate for the classroom. Using various computer applications may also become a problem in the classroom. Students who have computers at home are probably well-versed in "surfing the web", word processing and other applications (that the teacher may not even be knowedgeable of). Students who are not so capable may feel intimidated and turned-off to learning something so seemingly complicated. It could prove problematic if every student did not start off with the same knowledge of the technology available to them. This may require the teacher to take extra time to tutor students, or group work with students of various experiences could work. Any way, it would have to be dealt with and could not just be left up to the student to "figure out". I'm sure if I thought longer I could come up with some additional potentials and problems with technology in the classroom, but those [above] were the main issues that came to my mind.
I have not thought much about information technology's problems or potentials. Some of of the potentials include email communication with people from other countries and research opportunities for both teachers and students. However, the internet is not well organized which can make finding information extremely frustrating and difficult. There is also a problem in evaluating the legitimacy of sources since much of what is put on the web is not endorsed. I have seen my students and other's students work on computers and found that students are generally extremely engaged in this work even when it is not particularly interactive and does not differ much from written material except for the fact that it is on a computer screen. Video, another aspect of information technology, can, I think, be another great potential learning tool. This could allow students more insight into themselves if they use the tool for self-evaluation. Watching oneself on video can be quite revealing! Some of the importance of having this technology in the schools, I think besides increasing speed, etc. is that it allows teachers and students to explore the same kinds of technologies that they are exposed to everyday. For instance, students can learn about film making and then take a more critical eye towards thinking about what they see on television, read on the internet, etc. Problems could also be that students tend to know way more than teachers, this could also be a positive.
I am ambivalent about the role of technology in the classroom, and, more specifically, the role of technology in MY classroom. As an aspiring secondary English teacher, I would welcome learning technologies like word processing and hypertexted books as helpful tools in writing and reading instruction. Word processing can help student writers edit a text more effortlessly, reinforcing the crucial act of revision and encouraging creative, satisfying results (as I write this very response, I am reminded of the liberating word processing features of the web when I imagine writing out this response longhand or typing it). Since most texts these days are assembled through word processing, it would also make practical sense to familiarize students with its use. Hypertexted documents, too, provide increased access to the reading process; linking difficult vocabulary words or embedding critical questions in the text can help pull a struggling reader through an otherwise impenetrable text. Nevertheless, most English classrooms I have seen possess, at most, two or three computers. While I could imagine using computers in supplementary ways to help struggling readers and writers, I don't think computing technologies would be effective unless all students had access to them -- an expensive proposition. I also think that we need to exercise caution when using technology for reading instruction. Here's one example: if a student grows accostumed to having difficult vocabulary words hyperlinked to definitions, would she/he ever learn to use a dictionary or context clues to discern the meaning of unknown words? Here's another example: if a hypertexted document contains links to images and sounds meant to enliven reading, will that discourage students from developing cognitive strategies for making boring texts interesting? Or, even more unsettling, would students begin focusing on these irrelevant, "seductive" links instead of learning to analyze those less flashy elements of style,organization, and content which appear in electronic and non-electronic texts? Obviously, technology in the classroom must supplement, and never replace, sound pedagogy.
Just briefly: Some positive aspects are the variety of formats and educational tools available to present material. It also allows the students to get valuable training in an important and growing industry. A major drawback is that consistent access is limited to those students that can afford to buy a computer and pay for internet access.
It seems that there is great potential for the use of computer systems in schools; amazing amounts of easily accessable information is availiable on the web, and students and teachers with access to a schoolwide network have a great communication tool at their fingertips. They could exchange ideas and get extra help both at school and at home through access to classroom folders. Of course, some students would not have computer access at home, and if their assignments involve computer work , there would have to be a way to guarantee them access in school. The largest problem I see at the moment though is that the majority of teachers don't seem to know what to do with the computers they have. Many have mastered software like wordprocessing and spreadsheets, and still have little idea how the system actually works; they don't know how to handle printing glitches, problems with the network, etc. With teachers not having grown up with computer familiarity, it is difficult to imagine most schools using their technology to anything near its potential.
I think information technology has endless potentials for education and that it should be taken advantage of as much as possible. However I only fear that those to whom the technology is not available like the lower classes will inevitably fall even more behind while the upper class dominates even more.
It is interesting to me to be asked this question at this point... I have just been reading Walter Ong's "Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word." His major point is that the invention of writing changed the way people operate cognitively. A smaller subpoint is that modern technological innovations will surely change us as well... And that the objections brought up against writing by the likes of Plato are very similar to those brought up against computers today... 1) They're unnatural and 2) They destroy memory. If these arguments were brought up against writing (and that has obviously turned out to be a worthwhile thing) than it's rather silly to bring them up against computers. Obviously, they are changing us... change that isn't good and isn't bad, it simply allows us to try out a whole new realm. Education ought to incorportate as much technology as all parties involved can use happily and comfortably. It is a tool, not a end in itself and all deserve access to it.
While information technology opens up an amazing amount of doors to the teacher and the classroom, I see many potential problems with its use for educational purposes. The internet has many pitfalls, including a lack of regulation and audit of the information that is put onto the web. There is no guarantee that any information read on the web is true, and for young people, it can be an easy trap to fall into. I am wary about using information technology with students before first ensuring that those students have a healthy knowledge about the process involved in posting information on the web. I feel that while the internet and information technology provide a wealth of resources for both teacher and student, there needs to be much preparation before it is introduced in the classroom.
I am interested in the web as a resource for students to get sources, learn about things they never would have otherwise been exposed to, and to equalize access to information. I am not such a big fan of using lots of technology outside of word processing for high school history classes (the classes I teach). I feel that it is more likely to be a distraction rather than a tool. I think of programs like Oregon Trail which are enjoyable and teach something about an historical period and a certain experience, but they do not offer any in-depth analysis of history or allow the student to think for themselves or challenge themselves. I think the interactions between teacher and student and between student and student hold the key to pushing and challenging students to get to the meat in historical studies. Technological advances in the computer can help in some ways, perhaps most with research, but as an integral part of the classroom, I don't know how I would use it at this point.
As mentioned earlier, information technology is a rapidly expanding feature of our culture. The use of information technology in general is not only useful, but, I believe, will become necessary in the future. Since one of the inherent goals of education is to prepare students for real life (to a certain extent), informational technology in education (in any form) will not only be a good idea, but may become an necessary part of the educational equation. Yet, informational technology may present a problem in terms of its cost effectiveness and its availability to a diverse population of students. The only discouraging aspect of informational technology in the classroom is that it is a challenge. Once educators and others alike can determine a way in which informational technology can be presented to plethora of students (young and old) in a cost effective manner, they will only solve but a small fraction of the puzzle.
I believe that people spend too much time eulogizing computer technology. Perhaps since I grew up when you had to painfully tell the computer every single step, I know that the computer only does what the programmer tells it to do. Even computers with fuzzy logic are just mimicking from observations. As they say "Garbage in-Garbage out". Computers are simply a tool-but they are a very powerful tool. They are used to do all that repetitive crap that humans get bored doing. With the Internet, computers are a great source of communication with machines as well as humans. I bet that computer technology is used in at least 90% of jobs in the "real" world. For this reason, computer science needs to be taught to every student from an early age (I am talking grammar school). Learning to use a computer should be viewed just as learning to read. Students need to feel comfortable with the computer. Getting kids used to working with computers at an early age will take a lot of fear and mystique away. For high school students, computer labs need to be open after school hours so that students without computers at home may have access to computers outside of class. Computers are a tool, just like a book is a tool. This means that the computer will never replace humans. Teachers must still teach. Humans must still think and learn and feel. A computer will never rise to greatness, but the user might.
Sorry, I submitted this anonymously before. I just forgot to change the name. I feel technology can provide invaluable resources to further the education of today's youth. There is significant resistance to the proliferation of extensive technological replacement of basic skills, i.e. using calculators instead of pencil and paper. But, I feel that once the basics have been mastered the implementation of technology serves to free up time and resources that can be applied to further learning. In the case of the learning disabled technology can be an invaluable tool that allows freedom from otherwise overwhelming tasks. This serves to allow concentration on the more intricate concepts without having to worry about peripheral concerns regarding a problem. I have a student who benefits from this in one of my classes. He focuses on learning the concept of simplifying an algebra equations without having to worry about knowing the multiplication and division tables because he is allowed to have and use a calculator at all times. I do feel that there is a significant danger in the lower socio-economic class becoming further disenfranchised. As we become dependent upon technology to run many aspects of our lives there are many households in this country that do not even have a working telephone. As our world moves into the twenty-first century it is becoming more and more obvious that access and ability to use and implement knowledge gained through technology is the key to "succeeding" in our culture. The lower class is striving to just get by and put food on the table. I think that there could be a significant social stratification as the people with "access" are empowered to speak and develop the communities and cities they live in, while the lower socio-economic classes might start to feel as if they are out of the loop and have no real say in their government.
I see the expansion of technology as both a great resource and as a potential problem in the classroom. I find that the use of computers, for example, in the classroom can provide experiences for students that a teacher would have difficulty providing on their own. The danger, I fear, is too great of a dependence on computers and a loss of interpersonal learning. With larger and larger schools and classes, I see that it would be easy to sit students in front of computers when what they need is individual attention from a human. Used properly and with awareness though, I see information technology as a great benefit in classrooms.
Information technology has indeed opened up, and will continue to open up, many more doors for the educator. However there are some legitimate drawbacks to this development.To begin with, an intense and extreme amount of information is now available to anyone through the internet within minutes. As a government teacher, it now takes me minutes to receive information (voter registration, immigration benefits, etc) which otherwise would have had me in the library for hours or waiting for the mail for weeks. There is also of course the downside to this, in that you must be more careful of the reliability of the source of your information. All too often, information found through the internet can be very skewed or slanted to one side, and the viewer must be careful to be fully aware of this bias going into it. There is also the danger that the viewer can be overloaded with choices. they must learn which sites they can handle for length, content, and many more things which are suitable to their tastes. In other words they must have a comfortable road map of sites to follow as they gather their information, but still not be afraid to venture off and try new things. In short the expansion of Information technology can be very beneficial and exciting as long as educators are taught to manage their information input well.
I feel technology can provide invaluable resources to further the education of today's youth. There is significant resistance to the proliferation of extensive technological replacement of basic skills, i.e. using calculators instead of pencil and paper. But, I feel that once the basics have been mastered the implementation of technology serves to free up time and resources that can be applied to further learning. In the case of the learning disabled technology can be an invaluable tool that allows freedom from otherwise overwhelming tasks. This serves to allow concentration on the more intricate concepts without having to worry about peripheral concerns regarding a problem. I have a student who benefits from this in one of my classes. He focuses on learning the concept of simplifying an algebra equations without having to worry about knowing the multiplication and division tables because he is allowed to have and use a calculator at all times. I do feel that there is a significant danger in the lower socio-economic class becoming further disenfranchised. As we become dependent upon technology to run many aspects of our lives there are many households in this country that do not even have a working telephone. As our world moves into the twenty-first century it is becoming more and more obvious that access and ability to use and implement knowledge gained through technology is the key to "succeeding" in our culture. The lower class is striving to just get by and put food on the table. I think that there could be a significant social stratification as the people with "access" are empowered to speak and develop the communities and cities they live in, while the lower socio-economic classes might start to feel as if they are out of the loop and have no real say in their government.
I worry that there won't be reliable information on the web and that students/users of the web will not know how to decipher mis/disinformation from accurate sources. I haven't yet doesn't thorough research on the web, but I have the impression from the limited work that I have done that there isn't much information pre-dating the 1970s in the way of newspaper articles, printed journals, etc. for a researcher to tap into. However, the multi-media aspect of the internet is very exciting because it can round out ways in which we research by combining images, sound, and text at one site. Obviously this can be much for interesting for students and can tap into multiple ways of learning at once. It also shows the flexibility and movement that information has, as web-sites are revised, scrapped, etc.
Making sure all students and Parents have access and are literate enough in the technology to use it is one concern. This is a two edged sword as we want to bring the disadvantaged students on a level playing field with those who have. This will also make them more competitive in job markets in the future but what do yo do when they don't have access or the Parents do not use it. You get yourself between a rock and a hard palce in a hurry. I also worry that we are begining to sit our children in front of computer screens as much as they sit in front of the TV or even more. I think they can become isolated and depend on the internet more than the library or talking face-to-face with their parents, teachers and classmates. This is not to mention the potential reduction of physical activities either related to fitness or just getting out to see what's around them. Just think I have spent the past five hours today jsut working on the computer. Don't get me wrong it is a wqonderfull toool as I was able to scan pictures into my system and print them out in color in suppor tof an assignment but I hav spent a awful long time infront of this screen today.
I agree.
I strongly believe that technology should play a large role in the classroom. There are a vast amount of resources on the web and there are countless educational software programs that can be used in the classroom as educational tools. Such programs and websites provide an interactive, interesting way for the students to learn. I especially like some of the math projects that involve students and make them interact with math in a way that only a computer can. Let's be honest - kids love computers, and they will jump at any opportunity to use a computer. In my current fourth grade class, my students have computer "buddies" and they are constantly asking when they can have a chance to work on the computers or if it is their turn to explore the internet. I have never seen kids so excited about learning. One significant problem that I can think of is that computers are expensive and it is not realistic to envision a classroom with enough computers for every child. It is also not realistic to envision a school with enough computers for every child. Teachers need to be very creative in the ways that they choose to use computers in the classroom, and they need to think of ways that they can reach every child with the limited technological resources that they have. Another problem that I foresee involves technology taking over the role of the teacher. At what point do we realize that we are simply interacting with a computer and we are not learning from a human? At what point do we lose the compassion and humanity in teaching and learning? While computers are a fascinating educational tool, I am a bit nervous about them taking over as the "new" era of teachers, and I am a bit nervous about computers stripping teachers of their personal interactions with students. Technology in the classroom opens up many different avenues that were previously impossible to navigate. I think that teachers need to be selective in the kinds of technological programs they use in their curriculum and I also think that they need to be very creative in how they integrate technology into their current curriculum. Many teachers will need to become familiar with computers and will need to educate their students about how to use a computer. Integrating computers and technology into the classroom will be a slow process, and I think that teachers need to embrace the many opportunities, but also be cautious about using/relying on the computer too much!
I'm not sure if I sent this. I think that I did, but to be sure I will write something again. Information technology is far too often used without regard for the credentials of the sources of material and without consideration for better alternatives available in print or other media. Far too often spending money "technology" is a convenient way to allocate resources to education without really doing anything substantive to change the nature or quality of instruction, particularly in the area of course content. The over use and misuse of technology pose a very real risk of greatly watering down the curriculum content to make room for teaching the use of a tool rather than focusing on the core content of the course. My own personal view places technology in the place of a tool. A computer is just a fancy calculator which is, in a way, just a fancy hammer. If you don't know how to build a house, then a computer is not going to tell you, though unlike a calculator or a hammer, it may be able to point you to some more or less reliable sources of information about house building if you already know how to use it for data access. My point is that you don't just jump in and build a house for the sake of building a house because your tool shed contains a hammer, nails, and wood. At the same time, just because a computer is available does not mean that it is a better way to learn basic ideas. Computers can be useful for modeling experiments, data analysis, graphing, etc. However, these are secondary skills and not part of core course content. An Enlish course should teach writing, not word processing. A math course should teach theory and application, not how to use a graphing calculator or a spreadsheet. People given the basic knowledge in their course work will be able to pick up needed tool skills on the side. The focus of education must not become technical literacy or we are dooming students to a technological cousin of technical education and not creating the sort of mental stimulation that will serve to make them critical thinkers and students of a broader world of knowledge. I have seen internet research too often substituted for library research not because of the quality of material available, but because it is quiker and easier than a well posed search of scholastic material in a library. This reflects a basic social evil of life in the last years of the 20th century. That theme is the apparent need for instant gratification. Because computers often create fast, easy, and flashy presentations or ways of approaching a problem, they are often favored over more mundane, but also more fundamental approaches. As a result, basics skills are brushed over because calculators and more advanced computers are capable of carrying them out more quickly than a human. This means that essential critical thinking and analysis skills that go along with techniques associated with reducing mental calculations possible and practical are ignored. That means that when a computer can't solve a problem, because its software has limited capabilities and objectes as set by those that coded it, the user is equally incapably of attacking the problem by other means.
I feel that technology at large offers an incredibly important, powerful, convenient, and accessible form of learning to students. The media and technology at large hold the potential to revolutionaize classroom learning and teaching as well as global communication, understanding, awareness, and appreciation. I think that technology holds the key to connecting the rate and benefits of global learning development, interaction and progress. For the firs t time, students may concverse and obtain access to resources that would have been inconveniently inaccessible prior to such technological revolutions as the world-wide-web. Today, students can interact, ask questions of, and tap into resources halfway around the world that could not have been available to them otherwise or only at great cost of time and money. At the same time, the rapidly developing technological revolution is leaving the youth of many disadvantaged and developing countried very far behind. The drastic and widening differences in technological resources between first and third world nations is in essence segregating the world's population in terms of economic mobility and political power potential along the lines of white, European, middle-to-upper-class leaders and entrepreneurs and colored, "ethnic minority," impoverished workers.