The Ambiguity of Technology Use in the Classroom

Technology has become an advanced tool within our society, allowing people to learn and develop with the help from different digital programs. As teachers, we must acknowledge that there are advantages and disadvantages to using technology in the classroom. Technology has become a useful tool to help students with IEP’s and learning disabilities. Assistive Technology helps students that have learning disabilities to work towards the goals outlined within their IEP’s (Watson, Ito, Smith, & Anderson, 2010). Technology also has the advantage of, “…facilitat[ing] communication between instructors and learners, making it easier for teachers to provide feedback in a timely and less labor-intensive manner” (Paek, S., & Fulton, L., p. 141, 2016). Yet, by going through multiple angles of research on technology, I have come to the conclusion that technology has more cons than pros in terms of enhancing education for students.

“Here we encounter the ambiguity of technology: its propensity to promote certain qualities while sidelining others. McLuhan called this process amplification and amputation. He used the microphone as an example. The microphone can literally amplify one's voice, but in doing so it reduces the speaker's need to exercise his own lung power. Thus one's inner capacities may atrophy” (Monke, pg. 337, 2004). By analyzing Monke’s analogy, one can say that having technology as a tool for teachers is effective, yet it can often take away from the students’ ability to do things on their own without the help from a technological resource. As teachers our responsibility is to teach students how to become independent and well developed citizens within our society. If the students are learning only through the help of technology, they may become citizens who for example, can not write proper professional letters, develop original thoughts, or acknowledge basic human interaction. However, in a world that is constantly gaining more access to technology that is always advancing, it becomes necessary to include some aspects of technology in the classroom.

When using technology in the classroom, it is important for many teachers to make sure that the students have equal access to it both inside and outside of the school (Gundy, 2012). Although depending on the area in which the school is located, some students may not have access to technology at home, and therefore they may not know how to use it while in the classroom. If the students have little access to the technology, it then brings up the problem of spending a majority of the time teaching the students how to use the technology, which would interfere with the amount of time the technology is being used to teach the subject. With this point the issue of bullying also arises. If some students have more advanced technology at home, while others do not, this could open an opportunity for negative comments between students. If these comments are being made at school, it then creates a harmful and unsafe classroom environment.

Along with the previous notions surrounding the disadvantages of using technology, the concept of where the money is coming from to provide these advanced technological resources must be addressed. It is important to know that technology is not cheap, and therefore using it in the school can often come at the expense of other subjects (Monke, 2004). Monke then asks the question of whether this increase of technology enhances learning more than the programs that are being cut for its use (Monke, 2004)? Programs such as art, drama, music, or dance, could feel the harsh ripple effects of cutbacks for the purpose of technology based classrooms. Is this something that we feel is necessary to do, or are we more focused on the benefits of technology that we often forget what and who may be affected by this increase of its use in the school environment? This is a question that needs to be recognized as we continue to introduce more digital resources into the classroom, both for the purpose of student learning as well as teacher pedagogy.

Resources:

Gundy, M. S. (2012). Teacher perceptions of the integration of laptop computers in their high school biology classrooms (Doctoral dissertation). Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved from https://ruor-uottawa-ca.proxy.bib.uottawa.ca/handle/10393/30146

Monke, L. (2004). The Human Touch. Education Next, 4(4), 10-14.

Paek, S., & Fulton, L. (2016). Elementary Students Using a Tablet-Based Note-Taking Application in the Science Classroom. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 32(4), 140-149.

Watson, A. H., Ito, M., Smith, R. O., & Andersen, L. T. (2010). Effect of assistive technology in a public school setting. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 64, 18-29. doi:10.5014/ajot.64.1.18

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