Technology and Education - Darian

 Darian Charlo

Mrs. Baldwin

Writ 101

10/21/12

 Technology and Education

What is technology? Is it the newest generation of iphones and ipads? Is it touch screen computers, and TVs? Is it wireless or controller-less video games? Or is it being able to do things that we haven’t ever done before? Doing things that never would have happened in a million years, things that people before our time probably wouldn’t even have dreamed about. According to a college edition of Webster’s New World Dictionary, first copyrighted in 1959, technology is, “ the science or study of the practical or industrial arts,” and or, “applied science.” Merriam-Webster online; a website that is updated daily, says that technology is, “the practical application of knowledge especially in a particular area.” So the definition of technology has changed somewhat, from referring more to science (building spaceships, improving medicine, creating robots) to simplifying our every day lives (instant communication, the ability to shop online). It is true, technology is something that is constantly evolving, because people are the ones creating technology, and people are always evolving in their thinking and interests,  but why not take advantage of it’s many uses, for the purpose of education?

Technology can be distracting, there’s no doubt about it. Cell phones and other multimedia gadgets, with their multitude of apps, allow students to get lost and totally tune out the world (and teachers). Jennifer Cox, an assistant professor of communication arts at Salisbury University, said in an article, “I understand that short attention spans crave constant stimulation. I also teach my ‘Introduction to Journalism and Public Relations’ class in a computer lab, where the siren call of online distractions is hard to overcome.” But who’s to say that the apps on the smart-phones and ipods can’t be useful? If the excess applications were gotten rid of (angry birds, instagram, jedi lightsaber, etc.) you’d end up with some pretty educational devices. There’s conversion apps, translators, apps that explain math formulas, even apps that show the constellations of any given area using a device’s camera. All of these things would be a lot of help in the classroom, to teachers and students. 

Along with the use of technology comes the possibility for the loss of basic skills, like knowing how to do manual citations, math calculations and writing (penmanship). So some might argue, “how did you find the definition of technology in that old dictionary?” Well not by using a computer. I had to know that words in a dictionary are organized alphabetically, and how did I know that? My teacher in the second grade taught me that if I wanted to know the definition of a word I had to use a dictionary, so thusly I had to know how to use a dictionary if I didn’t want to be in the dark all my life, and never know what a platypus was. But it was the most readily available tool, and the easiest to access as compared to computers which were fewer and more time consuming to use. Where as now computers and other such devices are the most efficient; it’s a lot easier to pull out an ipod and look up a word than it is to go find a printed dictionary and clumsily  search for something. 

I believe that there’s got to be a way to make technology work in the classroom, a way for it to be an asset instead of a hinderance, and Gary and Jeri-Ann Jacobs High Tech High is a great example of this. It was basically founded, “as part of an initiative by business leaders frustrated by the lack of workers qualified to meet the demands of the 21st-century economy.” The school tries to combine “technical elements with a liberal arts curriculum,” which has evidently worked very well because it has done great in evaluations; “77% of their graduates have finished or are currently enrolled in post-secondary education, including 69% of students who were the first in their family to go to college, and 67% of students who qualified for free or reduced-price lunch..[and it] also scores in the top 20% of schools in the state on California’s Academic Performance Index.” The students there have a set period of time to complete paranoid-style projects, which are significant to the students themselves as well as others. So for example in biology, one of the projects was to create digital curriculum materials, that included instructional videos to be used by other teachers across the country. But of course the students would have a difficult time completing these kinds of projects without tech gear like desktop and laptop computers, audiovisual equipment and a powerful school-wide server. 

“However, as wise researchers and policy makers have long recognized, the presence of technology is no guarantee of meaningful improvement in teaching and learning. All too many schools have invested heavily in interactive whiteboards, laptops, and multimedia centers but have only seen superficial changes in practice or outcomes.”

Then what makes the school work? It’s the fact that “students are treated as active meaning makers with the capacity to do interesting and valuable work now.” The students don’t feel like they are doing work for nothing. there’s more meaning to what they accomplish. They are creating knowledge, which is different than just receiving it from someone and then being expected to use it some time later. That’s the major difference I think, that students are allowed to be responsible for what they learn. (“Differently”)

So perhaps the solution is that we must change the teaching styles (environment) so that technology can be utilized to it’s maximum potential. Having a teacher dominated environment, and then giving students computers and media devices to distract them isn’t going to work. The result from that situation will not be increased learning opportunities. Teachers must find a way to integrate technology in the classroom in such a manner as to increase the chances of student productivity and understanding to get the most out of school. Technology isn’t the enemy, it is so much a part of our lives anyway that it makes sense to incorporate it into schools. Sure technology is progressing, but so is the way we think about learning, and what it means to teach. ("Differently")

Works Cited

Cox, Jennifer B. "Reclaiming the Classroom With Old-Fashioned Teaching." The Digital Campus (2012): B24. Print.

Mehta, Jal, and Sarah Fine. "Teaching Differently...Learning Deeply." Phi Delta Kappan Oct. 2012: 31-35. Academic Search Elite. Web. 14 Oct. 2012.

"Technology." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. <http:// www.merriam-webster.com/>.

Technology. Webster's New World Dictionary. College Edition. Ed. Joseph H. Friend and David B. Guralnik. New York: World, 1959. 1496. Print.