Technology: Impeding or Enhancing Learning?

           

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            Talking about education and how learning should occur has become a complicated topic to discuss in recent years. With all of the technological development that has occurred since the beginning of the 21^st century begs an answer to the question: should classrooms change in light all of these new developments to integrate a new way of learning for students? I have found within my own experience with speaking to teachers, taking teacher education courses, and growing up in an education system that slowly was adapting to the technological advancements occurring, there is a divide in the teachers who think technology is beneficial and those who believe it will be harmful to incorporate in the classroom.

            A quick Google search of “technology impedes learning” shows a plethora of articles of people speaking out against technology – that it should stay of out of the classroom. One of the first articles that caught my eye had a very leading title, labelled as “Is Technology Making Your Students Stupid?” The article goes into speaking about how technology can bring more harm than good to classrooms and that instead of bringing more of it into schools, we should limit our usage of it since it serves to be more of a distraction than anything else (Parry, 2010). Articles such as this are ones that I highly disagree with – ignoring the beneficial aspect that technology brings into the classroom is ignorant and can lead to an extremely useful tool to not be used in the classroom.

            The stance that I have taken on the debate regarding “Technology vs. No Technology” is that technology allows for a whole new avenue of learning possibilities to be unlocked for students.

“Technology is only useful when it enhances learning.” (Drake, Reid, & Kolohon, 2014, p. 156)

            I strongly believe in the message from this quote. Enhancing learning with teaching tools is a large part of education and technology is useful in situations where it is properly implemented and capable of enhancing the learning of the students. It is often assumed that by acknowledging technology and using it in educational settings means that the role of the teacher will be replaced or that the teaching role becomes insignificant, which is far from the truth. Technology gives teachers the opportunity to foster new ways of teaching, learning, and thinking for students. Moreover, technology is used as a teaching tool – it does not take over the classroom or make teacher’s purpose obsolete, but rather allows for students to be able to learn in a new way they have not experienced before (Drake et al., 2014).

            Technological teaching instruments such as iPad’s, computers, and SMART Boards allow for an effective use of technology in the classroom. Having these resources available to teachers and students means that classes will have a wider array of resources easily available to them that can make classroom teachings, discussions, and lessons include deeper learning on the part of all parties involved, which is often limited when only textbooks are available to a classroom (Martin, Shaw, & Daughenbaugh, 2014).

            Various concerns come up when discussing technology: not enough resources are available, teachers being ill-prepared to use technology, and it being a possible distraction for students. Schools should help ease in teachers to the usage of technology within the classroom – allow them to truly understand how to use it and the benefits of using it. Moreover, often times even having one computer in the class can create a new resource for students and teachers to use, creating unique learning opportunities for students. The potential for distraction is also there, but if teachers facilitate the use of technology and work with students to distinguish between educational usage and inappropriate usage of technology, than it will allow for it to be used in the most beneficial way possible. I believe technology in the classroom is a necessity, especially if students are to be learning 21^st century skills. Technology can provide students with a new toolkit that includes having more skills at the tip of their fingers and a new method to be taught that enhances learning for all students.

References:

Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21^st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press.

Martin, S. F., Shaw, E. L., & Daughenbaugh, L. (2014). Using smart boards and manipulatives in the elementary science classroom. TechTrends, 58(3), 90-96. doi:10.1007/s11528-014-0756-3

Parry, M. (2010). Is technology making our students stupid? Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5