By: Alissa Damiano
Technology Usage Within the Classroom
In the article “Rethinking my cell phone/ computer policy,” the author John Warner makes a great point when discussing computer and cell phone usage within the classroom. His viewpoint on this issue is that students should not be allowed to use cell phones and computers unless instructed to do so by their teachers on specific sites that a teacher or school agrees to. By limiting the “freedom” of students in the classroom in regard to technology, students aren’t as tempted to go onto different gaming and/ or social media sites, which will distract them from what is going on in the classroom. There are so many distractions as it is for students in the classroom and he believes that allowing them to browse the internet during class will pull their attention from the lesson being taught by the teacher and could even lead students to view websites that they should not be viewing.
I would have to agree with Warner on his viewpoint on this issue. I remember being allowed to use our computers, unrestricted, during class and I was often browsing other websites that took my attention away from the lesson being taught by the teacher. I would often play games or message my friends during class when I was supposed to be paying attention to the lesson. Though some teachers had a program loaded where they could see if we were on task or not and see our tabs on our computer, students would still be gaming and distracted during class. The only method that actually worked with restricting students from playing games during class was having the school block certain websites and/ or having children completely put away their computers after they were done with their work. When I become a teacher in the future, I plan on having certain websites blocked for my students so that the usage of technology in the classroom won’t negatively affect their education.
Is Multitasking Beneficial or Hurtful to Students?
In the article titled, “The Effects of Chronic Multitasking on Analytical Writing,” by Lottridge et al., the topic of multitasking was challenged and discussed based on different factors to determine whether or not students should multitask or not. One of the results of the observations was that students who were heavy multitaskers typically wrote bad essays in irrelevant conditions and good essays in relevant conditions. Multitasking can have good and bad benefits for students but the study showed that it all depends on the student and the conditions under which they were placed. This ties back into the conversation about using technology within the classroom. Some students can multitask and be able to be on their computers and learn at the same time while other students can’t deal with learning and using technology at the same time, which would negatively affect their learning process. It is important for teachers to get to know their students and be aware of their strengths and weaknesses in order to determine if the use of technology would hurt or benefit their class as a whole.
Leave a Reply