The article Study: Emerging Technology has Positive Impact in Classrooms by Ryan Lytle from the U.S news discusses the many pros and repercussions of technology in a classroom. In the article Lytle interviews teachers and asks them why do they need technology in order to teach? One teacher replied it was an effective tool to help students do there their classwork at home and come in with questions about the work in the day. She mentions the fact that technology should be used in a way as not for experimentation but, for those who desperately needed it. Lytle points out the fact that many schools are given the budget for technology such as mac computers, tablets and do not use them to there full ability. In the article teachers share strategies for use of technology ranging from delivering lectures online to developing information systems which, would allow students access to a library wherever they go around the campus. Lytle raises an important question when he asks about the expenses towards lower income schools? Generally schools with staggeringly low income areas hardly receive the help needed and adding technology will only lower the budget for other things such as textbooks, school materials. He also raises the question using an example such as if a school district has 500,000 students in 64 schools and obtains only 100,00 computers who than gets them? The repercussions are great when experimenting with a method not knowing if the results are good or bad. Lytle also mentions that while having technology can be both good and bad in some cases no one stops and asks the teachers about their opinion. One teacher says that instead of using large amounts of money on a approach that may not work to use it to better train teachers which are the source of learning.
My ideals about technology are similar to those of this article. In a way i say if you are effective with the technological object then yes you deserve it but, to give schools all these different techs and expect great results is just obscene . I have worked in classrooms using cubes, shapes, compasses and have received knowledgeable results on my part. The controversy stems from many sides with beliefs that students are growing up with more gadgets than the generation before so we should teach them with new “mac computers”. Yes many fields require computer programs so give those schools the necessary means. I am not imposing on the basis of not having technology though it may seem like it. I agree with giving schools resources because i would want it in my classroom as well. I think smart boards , projectors are useful tools in a teachers belt. I am considering providing lectures online for my students and doing the homework in class as a experiment. For that i need all my students to obtain access to the social web.
Sounds like an interesting article, Luis! What I gleaned from your review is (1) resource distribution tends to be unequal (it’s all about the Benjamins) and (2) teacher training is a vital component. Certainly, there’s no reason to expect that simply providing technology to a school would have any impact on student learning at all; if a teacher is not already familiar with it or does not already know how to use it in his or her class, then there’s no point in providing it. Luckily, modern teacher training programs often include classes like ours (!). There’s not just one correct way to incorporate technology, which is the main reason we spend time discussing different ideas in our class.