Technology belongs in the classroom. And then, again, technology does not belong in the classroom.
Just like anything else, there can be too much of a good thing. We need to be able to pull out all the bells and whistles and have the biggest, shiniest, snazziest technologically reliant lessons that could be imagined in the mind of George Lucas. And then we must be able to balance our teaching with pure reflection and inquiry using the simplest of props. It is the range of our pedagogy that is important – we need to not only prepare our students to comprehend the machines, technologies and languages of their futures, but also to appreciate the philosophies, cultures and traditions they will be bringing along with them.
I have enjoyed using technology to enhance my teaching. I also have found that most often a vigorous discussion within the classroom has most often been the most rewarding form of learning I have seen. Using technological and non-technological tools to provide enough fodder to enhance a discussion is necessary for this method of teaching to be successful. Students and teachers must be able to retrieve necessary information that they do not have readily within their own memory in order to be able to feel able to contribute actively to a discussion. It is important that personal ideas and thoughts, though, do not take a back seat to what can become a fast-food type of knowledge base. Factoids served up like french fries cannot take the place of pure inquiry and reflection – they need to be used more like a condiment to enhance the ideas of the students and teachers not replace them.
I have been in classrooms that have been fully technologically wired and in ones that all but still use chalk and a blackboard and really the most noticeable difference has been in the teaching and the teacher. A committed and imaginative teacher can use what ever he or she has at hand to make the content interesting and attainable to the students; technology can only highlight what is already there – good or bad.
i agree tech belongs in the classroom, and I agree too much of a good thing can be bad. so how do we measure what is good or bad, who dictates what is beneficial to the learner?
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