Use of education technology is a somewhat problematic premise, because it has generated a heated debate on whether it helps or hinders learning. Recent dramatic increases in technology in our society have led to proliferation of technology in the learning institutions (from elementary school to the graduate school) at a rapid rate. Integration of technology in schools has changed today′s education and also the way teachers and students use their classrooms. These changes have both positive and negative impact on learning. Here is how technology helps and hinders education.
A few months ago (and more recently), we asked for your help: we wanted real-life teachers to share what was happening in their classrooms technology-wise. And share you did! We heard from so many of you, and we′re going to be sharing your classrooms with our fabulous readers starting today! I don′t know about you guys, but I find it so insightful to see what other folks are out there doing. Sometimes they mention a tool they use or an application for a particular device that I hadn′t thought of, and I wish I had been able to think of that particular thing so much earlier! This is why collaboration is so awesome, and important.
As a teacher who has been using technology in my various learning environments for the past seven years, I pride myself in never doing the same project twice. When I taught high school physics two years ago, I was guilty of doing too much of the work for my students. I had just begun using iBooks Author so I would spend hours creating fancy units of study for my physics students. If they made an iMovie or a Keynote I would certain bundle that material in the book; however I was still doing most of the hard work. Also, the audience who viewed the book was limited to the four walls of my classroom.
The advent of online education has been a wonderful gift for both educators and students. It has allowed teachers to reach out to students in other parts of the globe and has allowed students to form a study group without actually being together physically. Online education is permitting students who live in a rural or isolated area to attend classes from the comfort of their own home and it has added to home school curriculums across America. However, there is one drawback to all of this innovative technology: The lack of socialization.
Bringing technology into our classrooms helps teachers in a variety of ways. From bringing great multimedia and injecting real people and real life experiences into what might otherwise be bland lessons, to making grading and classroom management easier, more seamless processes, it might be easy to forget how we even did things before our devices were the staples of our school days.
Many school districts are rolling out one-to-one programs where every student has a computer or tablet, and they are usually doing so with small pilot groups of teachers in the first year. Are they really testing out these one-to-one programs to see if they work with the possibility of shutting down the program after just one year? In most cases I would say no. It′s more likely that they are choosing their best change agents and best innovators to help implement the program, improve the program, and spread the message to other teachers so that the program can expand successfully.
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