I had mixed emotions watching the 'Sam' video. Sam seemed like a very intelligent student who had a natural interest in technology. She was able to use this technology to enhance her education. However, I found some of the comments of the parents and teachers a bit disturbing. Sam talked about how kids her age only text and never call each other. Her father reflected that Sam's use of technology was teaching her social and work skills. Although I do think that the ability to use technology is crucial for her generations success in the work world, I disagree that the use of technology is improving social skills. I have noticed a decline in peoples (including my own) social skills since the advent of texting and e-mailing. Often times we use these mediums as a cop-out and to avoid confrontation. Haven't we all been the victim of a nasty e-mail? Have you ever heard someone say "She was yelling at me! She used all CAPS?" I think we do not see as much consequence when firing off such e-mails/texts, when oftentimes we wouldn't actually say these things to someones face.
I can see her mother's point about technology building team work skills and problem solving skills. I just feel that we should not be so reliant on technology to teach such important life skills. Nothing can take the place of human interaction.
I also had mixed feelings about the 'Schools using Gaming for Learning and Assessment' video. Again, I could see valid points about how students are more engaged and will take a more active role in learning. I'm just not sure that if we become so technology dependent we will be able to hold students to some type of uniform standard. I feel there needs to be a healthy mix between technology and classroom (human) instruction. Also, it is unrealistic to think that most schools would be able to support such a program financially. I do feel that students are able to relate to the technology based learning and it is a great way to allow them to apply concepts. I just feel it is important that we don't forget to teach those concepts to begin with.
Technology integration can be a useful tool in differentiated instruction. Because technology often times allows students to work independently, it is easier for students to work at their own pace and for teachers to have the opportunity to work with students one on one.
Overall, I think that technology integration has many of the benefits mentioned above. Students are able to work at their own pace and are typically more engaged than in a traditional classroom. Students learn valuable work skills and tend to use higher order thinking skills when working with new technology. Students apply skills rather than memorizing facts.
On the other hand, the pitfalls I see are largely social. Young students are often living in a 'digital' world and their social skills tend to suffer. I find that students are so desensitized to human interaction the deeper we have delved into technology. I feel that technology is a double-edged sword and it's integration needs to be handled delicately. Some of the downfalls sited in the book include; plagiarism, online predators and the amount of information available that is not necessarily relevant.
I feel that it is important for teachers to integrate technology in our classrooms to the extent that is available to us. However, I feel that we need to tread lightly and always consider what is the trade-off of the technology we are using. Are we deprived students of the human interaction and social skills that they need to learn in school. Obviously, there are many issues that arise with the inequality in schools, especially when it comes to technology. I think our job as an educator is to the the technology available to it's maximum potential to expose kids to as much as we possibly can. I is undeniable that this generation's careers are dependent on it!
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