My name is Eun Hae (Jennifer) Lee. I was born in South Korea and raised in Southern California. I work in adult education at North Valley Occupational Center. I'm currently in my final semester at CSUN and in my final semester of student teaching. I hope to survive this semester intact (without becoming too much of an alcoholic) so I can become a high school English teacher. In my spare time, I love to read, watch TV, and play video games. One of my guilty pleasures is to read adolescent literature...probably because I'm still a kid at heart!
I have mixed feelings about technology. On the one hand, I love to utilize technology in my everyday teaching. I'm all about video/music clips and power points. However, I'm not sure about this new school movement to get every student an Ipad. I feel like the introduction of such expensive technology will only widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots. What if the student's parents cannot afford the 500 dollars needed to receive this technology? Will they just have to do without? The constant access to the internet and technology will also cause problems with classroom discipline. In order to make sure students stay on track, technical support with proper internet restrictions and programming restrictions need to be absolute. This means schools absolutely need to have a technician on site every day. Is this even possible in public schools? Where will the money come from?
The money will most likely come from firing more teachers and school staff. Classrooms will have upwards of 50 students and administrators will expect Ipads to replace teachers. What do you mean you can't handle 50 kids in a class? You have Ipads don't you? The one thing I have experienced during my years with adult ed and student teaching is that classroom size is a big factor in student learning. You can introduce any amount of technology into the classroom, but nothing will replace a quality teacher with a small, manageable number of students.
I really enjoyed your post. I argued that Media Technology is an important part of the future of education and media itself (computers/internet) will more than likely be integral to the experience as the internet has already become an almost necessity to our everyday lives.
ReplyDeleteHowever, your post made me consider both the cost and the have-nots; while I think media technology will have to be included, I do not think the parents should be forced to buy IPad's or anything other than what is available at home or in a library.
Ultimately, I do not believe that anything can replace a teacher; but I do believe that there is a place for technology, and that that place is rapidly demanding attention.
Christian I couldn't agree with you more! Nothing can replace a quality teacher. I have been working on my observation hours for student teaching and have walked into classrooms fully equipped with Apple computers and latest software. However when students were called upon to analyze short passages without consulting Google first, they crashed and burned (so to speak). Because students in this class had become accustomed to consulting the internet for everything, they had lost their own ability to critically make sense of the material. I think that technology like anything else can be beneficial in moderation. A total technological take over for now can harm those students who learn better from an instructor.
ReplyDeleteHi Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteSimilar to Christian, I am also a proponent of technology in the classroom, but I never thought about the effect on the classroom and teaching styles. To afford more technology, there will be fewer teachers/bigger class sizes. Is it really worth it?