Question Continued:
This idea became of interest to me at the start of this class when we began talking about the integration of technology in education. Coming to college has made me realize the increased use of technology in the classroom. Students are constantly using their phones, tablets, laptops, etc. The use of technology in education is a controversial topic nowadays. It is obvious that there are both positive and negative effects in regards to its use inside and outside the classroom. I am interested in discovering the effects that stem from these problems. Therefore, I began to do research on this topic and the effects technology has on students.
Data: *ICT= information and communications technology
Table 1: Summary of teachers and students responses on the availability of ICT gadgets to secondary school students.
Table 2: Mean responses of teachers and students on the negative uses to which secondary schools put these ICT gadgets at their disposal.
Table 3: Mean responses of teachers and students on the negative impacts of ICT on secondary school students.
Table 4: Summary of teachers and students responses on how the negative influences of ICT will be minimized.
Conclusion from data: ICT....
- Can take away valuable learning time
- Can be overused
- Can turn educational experience into games for students; enhancing low academic performance
- Exposes students to porn sites
- Can distract them during class hours
Potential Negative Effects:
- Limiting pedagogy in teaching for cultural competence- current technology is limited in its ability to accomodate a variety of cultural expressions and marginalizes the diversity that we seek
- Reinforcing the digital divide- students with less resources (high speed technology, wireless networks, and access to the internet) are still at a disadvantage
- Constraining the potential for a holistic, humanistic education- dehumanizes our classrooms and loses the idea of teaching and learning as a "process", one that demands a slowing of thought and action
- Privileging one style of communication while limiting broader approaches- standardized IT products can unintentionally limit choices
- Transforming teaching into a form of sensory deprivation- virtual classrooms restrict or render unusable our senses of sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing
- Diminishing standards of academic excellence- threatens today's classrooms with mediocrity and superficiality; classes are being condensed dramatically
Summary of Research:
Technology is a catalyst for distraction and makes students get off task. The use of technological devices distracts students from listening to the teacher or doing classwork which promotes a lack of focus. Easy access to information may lead to a lack of critical thinking about sources and the quality of information. This creates concentration problems and a larger focus on skimming rather than in-depth reading and analysis. Consequently, both factors will hurt grades as well as intellectual development.
My Classroom Implications:
After researching this topic, I will definitely consider the use of technology in my classroom if I ever decide to teach. Before incorporating technology into my lesson plans, I will reflect on how or whether doing so will improve teaching and learning, ensuring that I do not use it just to use it but rather to provide the best possible learning experience for my students. I will make sure not to replace face to face communication opportunities and interactions with computer facilitated communication and interaction. I will not assign any homework or out of school assignments that require the use of the Internet/ computer until I am sure that all my students have equal access to the internet.