Reflective Tag: This essay focuses arguing one side. I learned a lot of this during APLANG in high school and this paper was a good refresher to what I learned. It also helped in my later essays in particular my research essay.
Hyperlink:essay #2
Technology out of the Classroom
Born in 1997, technology was not the only tool for the development of a newborn, toddler, or students in elementary school. Once in high school, everything had transitioned to being done on the computer, Internet, or SmartBoards. At Norfolk Collegiate School in Norfolk, VA, the school installed SmartBoards into every classroom and each student was required to buy an iPad. In a short time technology took over the course of learning and our lives. There are both positives and negatives to this evolution. Technology is great in helping people gain access to resources and help make aspects of our lives easier; however, it is harmful to education and should be left out of the classroom because technology can be distracting and cause students to cut corners.
In today’s society, we are able to access all the resources we need quickly with a push of a button. The Internet helps us do so because everything has been posted either on a website, database, or on an online news source. For students, this makes writing papers and doing research easier. They do not even have to leave their room or couch. Instead of spending all their time in a library searching through books, students can use keywords on databases to find exactly what they are looking for. Technology also has made our lives easier. For example, cell phones have made it easier for people to communicate. There are no more pay phones on the side of the road and no waiting around to see when your friends and family will arrive. Technology has also changed simple tasks such as washing clothes. People are able to throw clothes into a machine in order to do the work instead of washing the clothes by hand. The simple task of parking a car has become easier with the new technology of rear-view camera and park assistance. It is the little things people take advantages of because of our constant development of new technology. As it develops, access to resources and the way of life will continue to change.
Technology has been implemented into schools around the county in order to better learning. This, however, is not necessarily true. Students have resulted to doing every assignment using their iPads or computers such as taking notes and doing projects. Research has found that hand writing your notes is the best procedure because it helps reinforce what is being taught, “research shows that taking notes by hand is better than taking notes on a laptop for remembering conceptual information over the long term” (“Take Notes from Hand”). When taking notes on the computer, there is a possibility of getting distracted with social media or computer games (“Take Notes from Hand”). If a student is distracted with other things on the computer there is a chance that the information being taught, is not being comprehended. Students may believe that they can multi-task and still do well. This is not true according to MIT professor and director of MIT’s Initiative on Technology and Self, Sherry Turkle, who states, “…when you multitask, everything gets done a little worse…” (“Digital Demands” 427). Instead, the student could be taking notes with not understand what is being written down because of their attempt to multitask. Especially now that teachers are often teaching using technology, students are most likely going to just write what is on the screen and not listen to the additional lecture. The traditions way of taking notes may not be students’ favorite thing because it involves penmanship, but it is the most affect way of learning new information. Taking notes and performing other tasks on the computer is another way of taking a short cut by not learning the information, just typing it.
Growing up with technology in the classroom changes a student’s critical thinking. So often students and teachers rely on PowerPoint for all of their projects and lessons (“Digital Demands” 427). Although this is a good technique, there are other ways of teaching and giving presentations such as lectures, posters, or worksheets. Even in college, teachers rely on PowerPoint to give their lesson rather than using these other teaching techniques. It is as if students us PowerPoint to make the presentation easier and to skip corners, Sherry Turkle states “…using technology to skip and to cut corners and to not have to do some of these very hard things” (“Digital Demands” 426). Students are less likely to pay attention to the teacher speaking because they are more focused on what is up on the screen. Turkle argues that students lack creating a structured argument, “…because they need to be taught how to make a sustained, complicated argument on a hard, cultural, historical, psychological point” (“Digital Demands” 428). This is because of the use of technology during all process of creating an argument. For example, when writing a paper students often do not try and write their thoughts using a outline or notes method to organize. They begin typing their paper on a computer and can easily get distracted with all the resources available online. Using the same techniques constantly such as the PowerPoint represents a short cut for teaching and will not have students paying 100% attention.
There are, however, people that support technology in classrooms and believe that it is important in the development of young children. Even before children go to school, so much is now available on an iPhone. Children often beg to play their interactive learning games on their parent’s phone. The use of technology continues into elementary school. At Norfolk Collegiate School, the elementary teachers use the SmartBoards to help engage students in subjects such as math. The “magic” of the SmartBoards draws the children into the lesson because of their little understanding of technology. There are many fun and interesting apps available for elementary students. People may support technology in the high school to teach subjects using videos and notes. Others may believe that typing the notes will help with organization because of penmanship; however, this is cutting corners because less is being remembered. Although people may support technology in the elementary schools, it should not go any further. Upper level learning needs more structure with fewer distractions. There are some useful uses for technology in the lower education levels, needs to remain out of class that involve intense studies and concentration.
Although some may support of the idea of technology in the classroom, research shows that it is not necessarily the best. The laptops can distract students from the lesson and it can cause them to take short cuts. Technology may not be good for the classroom but it is extremely useful for everyday life. As the technology develops everyday, the way of life will continue to change. People’s opinions on this matter will continue to change and develop as technology itself changes.