Nowadays when we think about technology in schools, machines like SmartBoards and projectors, video screens and interactive computer games jump into the brain. But we forget that along with the privileges of using technology in schools, many problems also arise.In the article entitled "Technology in Schools: Problems and Possibilities," John Merrow expresses his thoughts on current issues in our schools regarding technology.
First, he wants us to know about something important called the technology gap. This means that only students who are "rich," "fortunate," or "blessed" enough are easily exposed to a plethora of types of technology. Merrow concludes that poorer children suffer, because their only access to technology is in public school which is not enough. Therefore, they become increasingly behind in typing, technology knowledge, and research skills by the time they reach middle and high school.
Next, we need to consider how teachers and schools limit students' access to [sometimes important] information online. Certain search engines are banned and filtered, certain sites are not accessible, and certain actions online are not permitted. While Merrow does make a good argument that students will most likely access this banned information at home if they can't use it at school, that is still not a great enough argument for me to support such sites as violence or video games or pornography on school computers. But I will say that I agree with Merrow on the point that students need to be guided to USE technology in creative, meaningful ways; students should NOT just be receiving negative stimuli about the dangers of using technology.
Another issue I think we need to look at is the fact that there are not enough technology-licensed educators in the U.S. to really teach and instill the vast opportunities that technology can provide to students. Students oftentimes fall into the trap of being behind in a class, or having so much homework placed upon them, that they abuse technology and the Internet to produce ideas and creations that are not their own. Take, for instance, Merrow's notion, "I think technology is a huge threat to a decent education precisely because it allows shortcuts like that. We know that students everywhere are downloading term papers written by others and submitting them as their own, and now they don’t even have to read the material. We’re producing students with no deep understanding of our culture and a fundamental contempt for education" (par 11). Students need to be guided in how to find cites that spurn creativity and metacognition, NOT cites that word-vomit their homework and thoughts to them.
One solution for the inefficient ways technologies are being used in schools is to simply slow down. For instance, if you slow down a project into parts: you might study a Shakespeare play such as Hamlet, allow students to read the play's text, then read summaries in SparkNotes, read opinions of the play online, and watch parodies of the play, then have students make their own reenactment videos; they will have connected with Old English language, life themes, valuable conversations, time to form opinions, meaningful encounters and use of technology, and active/engaging assessment.
In the end, the choice is ours as educators. We can use technology in schools to support students to dig and research and create, or we can continue in our usual way of doing things and let the have-nots continue to lag behind while allowing the others to submit questionable watered-down information. Feel how you may, but my vote goes for challenging the system so much that we look back at today and say, "Wow. We really did change the world."
Carter, Carol J. 21 October 2010. "Blending Computers in the Classroom." Retrieved from http://caroljcarter.com/category/technology/
Merrow, John. 3 November 2009. "Technology in Schools: Problems and Possibilities." Retrieved from http://takingnote.learningmatters.tv/?p=3261
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