On Using Technology Without Understanding It at Beyond School

Before starting this course, I thought that using technology in the classroom would be limited due to the age the students I would teach (primary) and the fact that I would be working in small rural schools. Once I started the course and started looking around at the local school (it has more than a dozen interactive blackboards, thanks Kevin Rudd!), I was starting to worry if: a) I would be able to use the technology to its full potential with my very limited knowledge of it's capabilities, and b) if students would really be able to be engaged to learning in the real world through the use of this imaginary world. Now I know the value of the www for research and collecting data, and I understand that kids love playing with technology, but I do worry that these little people that are only just developing their interpersonal skills and their own codes of morals and ethics, are then encouraged to spend so much time in this other reality where it is very hard to be held accountable for your actions. I also worry that they will be so taken with the process of using the technology, such as moving things around on the board, playing with the colours etc, that they won't actually be focusing on the knowledge that is to be taken in and internalized. Hopefully these fears are just reflective of my ignorance of how technology is used in the classroom and I will be able to see the advantages of using it once I see it in action.

While looking through the beyond schooling website as suggested in our week 4 work for EDED20491, I found this article printed in a school newspaper that was written by a student who was basically saying that enough is enough with technology, that students need great teachers to inspire and guide them, not just activities to do online 'because that is what kids like to do'. She also highlights the fact that some students feel a sense of accomplishment when they have their assessment in their hands on paper, that hitting the send button on their computer just doesn't give them. I know exactly what she means. With my university studies, I also felt great when slipping that great wad of paper in the form of a report into the assessment box. When I was required to submit one of my assessments online, I felt sort of lost, and worried that maybe my lecturer didn't get it. I didn't have that feeling of "There it is, I've done it! It's finished and off to get marked!". The comments from other individuals posted in regards to this article are varied and very thought provoking. There are arguments from both sides and it gives us a lot to think about in terms of how and why we use technology in the classroom.

On Using Technology Without Understanding It at Beyond School