chapter 3 reflection

I thought that this chapter was supposed to be about the technology skeptics’ point of view, but from the first page it attempted to discredit this theory and persuade the reader to agree with the technology enthusiasts’ point of view. This is a little frustrating because I wanted to have a clear, undistorted view of this side as well; it seems to me the author let his opinion seep through too much, even when trying to explain the other side’s view. Instead, he seems to be attempting to pick it apart; unfortunately, some of his arguments are faulty.

I disagree with the description of the “traditional” school. Teachers are not supposed to simply lecture and drill and have recitations and give practice. They are components of teaching, and all important in their own right, but are not as cut and dry as the author describes them. Teachers teach on subjects students find interesting; students also become their own teachers (and teachers become their guides or helpers) as students explore and learn on their own. Classrooms today are a mixture of teacher-led and student-led activities. Curriculum and standards have been created in accordance with students’ developmental levels; these topics are to be taught in interesting ways, such as thematic units, not simply lessons straight from the teacher’s guide.

I disagree that technology has not been at least somewhat integrated into the classroom. There is at least one computer in every classroom and many school documents are now completed electronically. Multiple interactive white boards are also available for classes to use; some classes have their own. I also disagree that schools and teachers think that students only need a couple of courses (introduction to computers and typing) to fully understand the computer. The teachers probably don’t understand them completely either, nor would they after only taking two courses about them.

I was glad to see that the chapter at least mentioned that schools were attempting to integrate technology (through educational computer games). I was also happy to see that it mentioned major problems to adding technology to schools, such as the cost and behavior problems caused by not having enough computer access for all students simultaneously. The author brought up the point that computers cannot teach people everything, such as listening, expressing yourself and obeying authority figures.

Having authority while teaching is important, but I do not see why it is so threatening to have students look up information on computers. No one knows everything about every subject. Computers can customize learning for each student, but what assessments could be used to measure student learning. I agree that students should have resources to learn information from and study with, but I think they should take tests alone to show what they learned.

I do believe that technology should have a place in the classroom and am more than willing to try new technologies in my classroom and attend professional development workshops to learn more about technology and how to implement it in my classroom. However, I do not think that everything about the current school system is wrong and needs to be changed.