Does technology in the classroom enhance learning? At first glance, the answer is very clearly a resounding yes; with, the debaters Megan and Brittaney doing an excellent job of reinforcing my previous understanding(s) of how technology can be a marvelous classroom intervention. Their point was supported by an article from Stanford: Technology Can Close Achievement Gaps, Improve Learning. I was especially interested in the article, because of it's claims around benefitting students who are are at risk of dropping out. I also REALLY appreciated how the article highlighted the importance of school division's having a plan for the educational technology before making the purchase - I find that often times technology is provided as some sort of magic bullet, with no meaningful plan in place. Moreover, I was intrigued that both sides used the "No Significant Difference" phenomenon to bolster their arguments. Of the many compelling arguments presented by Nicole and Daryl on the nay side, the one that resonated with me the most was the one from NPR titled: Attention, Students: Put Your Laptops Away. It resonated, because I believe I have experienced what it describes first hand. With my laptop in toe, I am undoubtedly able to get more things "down", and quicker. However, ask me what I just typed up, and I will likely be at a loss for words. More compelling yet, is the point around tablets and computers themselves providing the distraction(s). The same device that is supposed to make me more efficient is actually in many respects slowing me down. Imagine, using a dishcloth that was so dirty that it made your dishes dirtier at a quicker pace than it was able to clean them - Yikes! To conclude, after weighing the arguments and the evidence, and overlaying it with both my classroom experiences, and personal experiences I concluded that technology can indeed enhance learning in the classroom. For me the real world examples are simply too numerous. The caveat however, is that it must be planned and implemented properly, or else the risk of it detracting from learning becomes greater than it's potential to assist with learning. It is never good when the medicine is worse than the illness.
Matthew Fehr
5/22/2022 01:40:41 pm
Great blog post Chris. It was very interesting that you brought up the NPR article and how technology makes it far easier to record information without necessarily processing it. I don't think this phenomena is anything new - I remember autonomously taking notes (by hand) during undergraduate lectures 20 years ago without every reading or understanding them. I think the only thing that has changed is the volume of data we can record.
Christopher Kampman
5/25/2022 02:46:49 pm
Thanks Matthew!
Britney Savage
5/29/2022 04:44:36 pm
I enjoyed the read, Chris! The one idea that you pose about having a plan for technology before the tech is purchased resonated with me. At the start of the school year we all had smart boards put into the remodeled school for online learning, which is fabulous. However, there was a small problem as our computers were not high powered enough to use these installed smart boards. That being said these smart boards could be a great asset to teaching, although the computers were not planned out well enough for everything to do its job well (including all the technology). Countless hours were used trying to figure out other programs in order to project material well as if there was a smart board or white board "in the classroom". Comments are closed.
|
|