Discussion Group 2
Please comment on Phuc and Emily’s statements during the Great Debate. Do you agree with either of them? Neither? Where do you fall on the continuum of technology integration? What benefits does technology offer students and faculty at school? What do we sacrifice in order to bring new technologies into our classrooms?
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Office phones, electricity, running water, and flushing toilets are examples of technology that have been easily integrated into our schools and most of us have learned to use them to our advantage. We just need to be patient with the new technology and use the new methods to help us be more efficient teachers.
Furthermore, the process of learning to deal with a new concept keeps our hands dirty. We again learn what it means to be a student dealing with a foreign concept. I believe this is something we can’t lose track of. Once we forget what it’s like to be a student, we forget our roles as teachers.
flushing toilets don’t command our attention and aren’t addictive(unless you are a cat or dog) like surfing the web or playing with your iPhone or tinkering with various computer elements to create funny pictures – so much time can be spent on the web, searching and viewing…I know it will be intergrated and can be helpful, I worry that it is distracting from learnning AND from creating real relationships.
More kids may spend a lot more fairly unproductive time surfing the web than we imagine. The question is whether the antidote is technology training or more time spent learning another way. It is estimated that by 2014, 50% of school learning will be on-line. When the digital age enters teaching, who will act to preserve the balance? Is a balance important?
A recent study of undergraduate students (by Shelia Cotten at University of Alabama) found that online social networks actually help students engage socially. Boys were found to recover more quickly from depression if they reached out to friends via email. I think many of us over 30 folks fear that being online isolates kids. This study actually found the opposite to be true.
It seems to me like the real question isn’t whether or not we accept/deny technology, but where do we want to be on the spectrum. Does anyone want to talk about this in person?
I don’t think that technology is just another tool to use when needed. I think it has a more insidious effect than we might assume because I think people are drawn to it. A reason to emphasize face to face learning is to maintain a balance.
Technology I suppose has always been a double-edged sword – I am reminded of Spencer Tracy in a wonderful moment of the film “Inherit the Wind”, “Sometimes I think that there’s a man in a room that says, Madame, you can have a telephone, but you lose privacy, and the charm of distance”. Some thought the abacus would be a detriment to mathematical understanding. This was also a fear when other calculators (electronic and mechanical) first came on the scene. The fact is that we live in the age of technology, and would it would be a mistake to ignore it, or at least not acknowledge it. Could we, or would we want to, live in a world without the automobile? Or electricity? Or television? Does that make life “better”? It depends upon your point of view. As Medina mentioned, and to which Phuc referred, U.S.A. Today has become the most popular newspaper in the U.S., mainly due to its use of pictures and graphics? Does that make it “better” than the N.Y. Times? Herman’s Hermits (and I like Herman’s Hermits!) were/are more popular than Beethoven, and maybe some would argue “better”. Really.
I do love the fact that I can jump from link to link on youbube or other sights – it makes me feel like I have an up to date encyclopedia (remember those) at my fingertips. Hard to argue against that.
There are numerous analogies I could use…. I suppose there would be great satisfaction cutting a cord of firewood as it was done one hundred years ago, but boy, am I glad I have a chain saw.
there is also the discussion to be had about what we do when technology doesn’t just get in the way of one person’s learning, but when it disrupts the group. I don’t care if a kid talks on his cell phone in the hall, but when it’s ringing in class or they’re texting and laughing while I’m talking…well, that’s another thing altogether.
Even though I am not in this group, I am joining it. I absolutely HATE that we are all sitting here and not talking to each other. Then again Jonah and I are both Non-Dominant, Informal folk so I guess it makes sense we agree.
Yes, I would like to discuss in person. Does this really count as a discussion?
I do agree that we, as teachers, need to keep up with technology so that we can understand our students better. I also like to use various technologies in the classroom as a way of reaching different learners. I think there is a difference, however, between technology in the classroom and technology for personal use. Maybe we ought to be clear about which we are talking about?
Like for example right now I’m trying to communicate with someone and he’s too busy talking to his neighbor to give me the time of day. Technology can too quickly erode personal interaction.
We can’t keep the students from being distracted. Are cell phones THAT different than doodling and day dreaming?
Doodling can be creative – I looked at my old notebooks from college, and I didn’t remember the notes I took, but my doodling was pretty impressive. Cell phone conversations are ephermal – doodling makes you think!
can I leave the room and just keep my computer on? Does this still count as participating?
I just hope we can instill in our students (as well as ourselves), when technology is an appropriate tool, and when it is not. I’m with Sue on this – when it comes to communicating with each other – nothing beats the old fashioned, face-to-face dialogue. I for one am not a fan of communicating via e-mail or telephone, but that’s the reality of the world in which we live.
I agree that it is important to find a balance with all this technology stuff. The question is: do we do this on an individual basis, or do we set community norms?
Actually, this feels more like a typing contest than a discussion. I can’t keep up! Hard to post thoughts that are sequential here….can we have coffee?…
Thank you, Heather – I quit!!!!
…to face-to-face discuss, I mean….