May 12, 2014
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An Oldie Thinks about Smart stuff
I confess to spending too much time at a keyboard myself and am amazed at the convenience of the Internet several times a day, but in an educational situation, how much does technology aid the learning process? Students certainly seem more interested in learning when they are provided with technology to give them some help, but does the help actually hinder them from being able to function without the gadgets? Technology may bridge gaps, but it may also rob students of being able to create their own bridges in their thinking processes. Brother Steve has noticed that when students at his school are faced with a problem requiring calculation, they all reach for a calculator rather than being able to perform a factoring process in their own heads. They are unable to do the math without a device to bridge the underdeveloped gap in their minds.
I have heard discussion about the necessity of equipping students with Ipads and use Smart Boards. I suppose that Ipads would give students instant access to information in the classroom, but what happens when they have to use a library? Libraries don't have any hyperlinks that provide instant definitions and contexts or connect to the next information level. Students will not be developing any kind of research skills because they have skipped over the important lessons of finding analog information. And is the digital information available online always accurate? Does having information at one's fingertips teach anything about interpreting the information and reorganizing it into an understandable form?
I don't know it all, here, but after reading a bit about how Smart Boards are used, what is the advantage or Smart Boards over blackboards? The Smart Board is like a big computer screen. The teacher can prepare a presentation in a saved document form without having to write it all down by hand on the board in class. This presentation can be printed out and distributed to the students. The teacher can highlight important points by using colors. Um, last I knew chalk also comes in a variety of colors. If the presentation is printed out and given to students, the note taking process is skipped. Learning to listen for points and subpoints, sorting them out and committing them to writing is an important skill that is skipped when Smart Boards fill in the gap for students that they should be learning to fill in for themselves. The actual writing process helps the student to learn to organize information and remember it. If the student has to write the contents of a lecture, then they cannot be daydreaming and must actually be engaged in listening, another important skill. If a Smart Board is doing all of the work, the students are intellectually crippled because they have not learned to listen, organize or record information.
And why does everything have to be on a screen anymore? We no longer need to use our imaginations for anything, because the images are all decided and provided. We don't need to learn to listen or comprehend anymore because it is all on the screen. We don't need to develop perseverance because the next image will be flashed at us in a fraction of a second. It is very difficult to find a screen free environment. We are addicted to TV, junk music and much of what is worthless entertainment. (NHK was taunting a fantastic new series, Downton Abbey. I looked up the plot - yes, the Internet does have its good side - and found out that this show is nothing but a convoluted soap opera.) Screens shout at us in shopping centers and from supermarket shelves. Even if I choose not to join the regiment of mind numbed Smart Phone zombies on the train, I am still bombarded with ads flashed above the doors.
Technology may speed the teaching process, but I question as to whether it speeds the learning process. Students may think they are learning a subject when in truth they may only be learning to manipulate tech toys. Ok, I am an oldie, but I remember when we went to the library to dig out information. The only tool we had for calculation was a slide rule (not many knew how to use it), and the only tool we had for language learning was a dictionary. It was rough. All that we had was what was between our ears, and that was enough. We were tossed into foreign books with nothing but a dictionary for a life preserver. No one spoon fed us with tech toys. We had to learn to dig it all out for ourselves. It was neither entertaining not fun. But then again, nothing really worthwhile comes dressed in play clothes, but rather overalls.
Should one use technology in the classroom just for technology's sake, and because it looks good? Yes, in many cases students learn by doing, but they may learn better by a good dose of thinking and study. If something should happen where we no longer have technology to depend on, what would we do? What happens when the power goes off?
http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED432278.pdf
