Use of technology in classrooms Do you think teachers and schools use technology well in the classroom? What kind of technology is available in your...

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Use of
technology in classrooms

Do you think teachers and schools use technology well in the
classroom? What kind of technology is available in your classroom? Do teachers seem willing to
experiment with technology to make lessons more interactive for students?

 

This is a difficult question to apply a global
answer.  Within my own district I have several teachers in the elementary buildings who have a
lot of technology available (computers, smart boards, projectors, dvd, etc..) but have no clear
understanding of how to incorporate that technology into meaningful lessons.  In their instances
it is a waste and the money spent could have been better applied.  On the other hand, I know
several high school teachers who have developed very careful lesson plans that utilize
technology to help students think and problem solve.  I guess it is like many other things:
there needs to be the desire on the part of the teacher to develop a professional growth plan to
master the use of technology as it applies to their subject area.

I am
concerned on a more general level about the use of technology for two reasons.  First is what I
call the "calculator effect".  Calculators were introduced back in the late 70's when
I was just graduating from high school.  Granted, only the rich kids had them, but that is when
they started.  I have watched as various math groups have heralded the calculator as the cure
for all that ails us in mastering mathematics in America.  No more boring calculations, no more
mindless memorization of math facts and so on.  Forty years later, America is one of the worst
performing nations in math.  Go to any graduate school in Physics, Engineering, Chemistry, or
Math and you will see that we are woefully behind other nations in our ability to do math at all
levels.  The calculator didn't cure anything and there are a lot of people running around who
can't add.  The technology cured nothing and made things worse in many ways.  Don't get me
wrong: I am not anti-calculator and I have my students use them in my science classes, but it
breaks my heart every time I see someone reach for a calculator to multiply by 10.  I am afraid
that as we use more and more technology to do other disciplines we will see less and less
ability at original thinking and writing as students simply learn to find what someone else has
already done.  If the technology is misapplied as it has been with calculators we will see a
terrible decline in our intellectual abilities.

The second issue I have with
technology is the "student driven curriculum".  I went to a meeting where a
"teacher of the year" was telling how she uses computer and video technology in her
classroom to motivate students to learn.  Their goal is to make a documentary about a topic. 
She proceeded to tell us how the topic was suppose to be The Underground Railroad around the
Civil War.  However, as kids were using the Internet to research it they found out that Tootsie
Roll candies are made in an abandoned underground railroad factory outside of Chicago so the
kids decided that was much more interesting and did their video documentary on Tootsie Rolls. 
Kids had fun, made an interesting video, but learned nothing about the Underground Railroad.  In
the grand scheme of our culture, which is more important to understand?  The "teacher of
the year" argued that they will learn about the importance of the Underground Railroad when
they get older and are more interested in it.  Maybe.  Or more likely they will end up not
learning about an important part of our nations history and the impact it has had on race
relations.

That's enough.  I have climbed down from my soapbox.

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