Who is More Prepared for Technology in the Classroom?

Old teachers or young teachers?  New teachers or experienced teachers?  Young children or older children?

I believe the answer will always be, “The kids”.  However, I believe it more important to debate and discuss new teachers vs. experienced teachers.  I would guess younger teachers feel more comfortable with technology and will be more likely to use it.  On the flip side, I believe older teachers have a better grip on yearly lessons, how to run classrooms, how to handle classroom management, and troublesome children.

It is a toss-up as to who would be better at implementing technology in the classroom.  I do not believe age has as much to do with it, but I believe younger teachers may have a better understanding (or appreciation) of what technology can be used for in the classroom.  However, I believe it may be easier for experienced teachers to inject technology into already established lessons, whereas a younger teacher may be struggling to keep his or her head above water, without worrying about the amount of technology he or she utilizes in the classroom.

I believe some lessons lend themselves to technology more than others, and I hope that I will find ways to incorporate technology as much as possible.  I know this is a shorter post, but I open it up to anyone who wishes to add their own thoughts or comments at this time.

Children Too Young For Technology?

Is it possible that children are ever “too young” for technology?  It seems as though we have entered an age where 8 year-olds get smart phones for their birthdays!  Of course it all depends on the parents, but looking through an educational lens, are there certain tasks that students need to learn, that cannot be performed or assisted by a computer?  (Other than the obvious hand writing and cursive.)

In a 5th grade class I observed, the class was putting together science posters, on the 5 (now 6) kingdoms on the earth.  Students were broken into smaller groups, but interestingly enough, the laptop computers stayed in the corner, while students practiced spacing letters on scrap sheets of paper, attempting to get the hang of proper sizing of letters and how to center titles.  Some may argue that students could print the titles out and practice spacing whole-words out, while others may find it very important for students to work on mechanics, learning to spatially and mentally predict, using their eyes, hands, and mind.

I am not saying either way is right or wrong, as I have not had much experience in elementary schools.  I know in middle schools, if students had access to computers, they would likely be on them for this type of project, however, middle school students generally have a more developed ability of spacing and centering (probably due to what they did in elementary school).  (So perhaps they wouldn’t have to practice this?)  I would also like to point out that these 5th graders were on computers last week, gathering photos of their different kingdoms, so they did have some technology influence in their project.

Are there any other things or opportunities that people can think of, where students may be better off, completing tasks by hand, as opposed to relying (perhaps overly relying) on technology?

One last question.  At what age do you teach students they can research any type of information they’re interested in, on computers?  If schools have computers available, is it bad to give students “free time” on them?  Do students learn as much through purely exploring, as they would in a guided and structured lesson?

Can Technology in the Classroom be Bad?

Although it is tough to find specific examples of this, the answer is yes…BUT, only when teachers lose sight of the reason behind bringing technology into the classroom.  To enhance student learning!  If technology is flashy and fun, that’s all well and good, but if it is not improving a student’s learning experience, it is not necessary.  I am sure there are many examples of unnecessary technology in the classroom and people may post comments that include specifics, but I know they are out there.  For example, using technology to pick partners, when there are other non-technical ways of selecting classroom partners, could waste time and take away from student learning.

Today was my first day student teaching.  I was impressed and happy to see that my co-taught classroom has not lost sight of the purpose behind technology.  I was informed that a 5th grade class was going to be taking their ELA exam on laptops, that afternoon.  HOWEVER, students with disabilities (students that are normally targeted with technology) would be taking the test with paper and pencil.  As I know students with disabilities usually get assistive technology before anyone else, I was interested in the teachers’ reasoning for choosing to have them take the test without technology.

My cooperating teacher explained that the computers distract students from utilizing their test taking strategies.  Since this was part 1 of the ELA exam, students were expected to read short passages and answer several questions, related to the passages.  It was the teachers’ fear that students who take the test on the computer would not go back and re-check their answers.  Earlier in the year, (when students with disabilities were given the test on the computers) grades reflected that they would finish the test and simply click submit, without double checking their answers.  On paper tests, the teachers observed students re-reading questions and answers, before handing in the test.

Some may argue that the computers could be helpful, if properly utilized.  I am not sure about NYS rules, in regards to setting students up with a computer program that could read passages, but if this was allowed, I am sure this would improve student scores.  From what I have seen in other classrooms, students who have access to computer programs that read text (through headphones), generally benefit.  However, I am not sure NYS rules would allow this as an option.

I was interested in the decision to keep students with disabilities off computers; for fear that they would not utilize their test taking strategies.  If both teachers were afraid taking the test on the computer would impair test scores of students with disabilities, could it be possible that the general education students were also having affected grades?  Is testing on computers going to be the way of the future?  If so, should students be practicing their test strategies on computer related tests as much as possible, before students get older and the stakes of testing is raised?

If students were allowed to use a reading program, such as Wordq or ReadPleaseFREE, I would be interested to see how this would affect grades.  I would assume this is not allowed, as students would then be getting tested on listening comprehension, rather than reading comprehension.  Perhaps it depends on the type or section of the test.

Please feel free to comment and share any other times or specific situations where technology may be more harmful than helpful.  Or stated in a more positive way, please post specific instances when traditional/creative methods in the classroom are more interactive and effective than technology methods.

Again, let me state that I am a huge proponent of technology in the classroom and I find it very difficult to find specifics examples of when technology is more harmful than helpful.  However, I believe it is important to identify weaknesses in anything, to make them better.  For example, I did not think about adding the Wordq program, to read to students, until after I began reflecting and writing this blog entry.

Students with Disabilities and Technology

Since completing my technology course in graduate school over a year ago, I have begun to reflect on some of the things I wrote in previous posts.  At that point in time I was “free writing”.  Writing what first came to mind on a topic and reflecting on what I knew about each topic I chose.  Now, I would like to take my blogs in a different direction, considering the impact that technology has on students with disabilities in the classroom, as well as contemplate if there are certain types of technology that benefit students with disabilities, while there may also be certain types of technologies that harm students with disabilities in the classroom.

My very first thought of helpful technology in the classroom for any student, but especially students with disabilities is the computer.  Naturally, most students enjoy technology and if a teacher places a computer in front of a student with or without disabilities and tells them it’s their lucky day and they’ll be able to use the computer throughout the rest of the year, students are likely to be very excited and remain more engaged in learning.

My second thought was the dynavox machine, that helps certain students with disabilities communicate.  This is specific technology, designed for students with disabilities to help them.

The third type of technology I thought of was wordq software, designed to read back to children what they’ve written, as well as assist with spelling as they type.  It can also be used to read different websites and information directly to students, with the aid of headphones.

While these three technologies that I have written about seem to be helpful to all students, including students with disabilities, I wonder if there is technology out there, that may be helpful to students without disabilities, but too complicated or not assistive to students with disabilities?

I am free and open to anyone’s comments if they have any ideas or suggestions of possible technology that may help a portion of students, but not students with disabilities.  And I am not thinking of stuff, such as “hearing aids”, which are obviously only designed to help students with hearing impairments, but would not improve school quality for students who are not deaf or hard of hearing.