THE TECHNOLOGY SKEPTICS' ARGUMENT
I am more confused than ever after reading this chapter. After reading chapter 2, The Technology Enthusiasts' Argument, I was all about technology being in the schools at a large amount. Now after reading this I felt that I agreed with some of the skeptic's points. Don't get me wrong! I still want to incorporate technology to a large amount in my future classroom, but I don't think it should take over every aspect. It was crazy to see in the first section all the different scenarios over the years about why the new "pen" or why the new "computer" was seen as such a threat. I never thought of how over the time of all these new inventions that educators were skeptic that they would not last or that students would forget how to fall back on the more traditional ways, which never even happened obviously because every new invention kicked the old one to the curb where we really haven't ever seen it again or had to use it. That is one of the major arguments that skeptics make: children shouldn't be relying on computers, they will forget how to write or maybe even read. It's so funny when you think about it. Our future generations may not even use a pencil and paper. Will the world fall to pieces? No. Because that will just be life. Time changes, we as educators need to realize this and work with it. One reason why technology may not be moving along as we'd all like in schools is because they, we, are afraid. Technology can be scary at times because it is new and is a challenge. Many teachers today are afraid of messing up and don't want to take that risk. Because no one takes the risk, the one who might does not get the support they deserve. It takes much more effort to learn something new, especially when they already have a routine down and are set on their easy, comfortable, and traditional ways. If we all just took the leap we could probable make it to the other side.
This is where I get confused. After reading over the barriers I see why it is taking some time for technology to be a central part of schooling. I want it there, yes. But do I see why it is a hard thing to transition to? Yes. Some of the barriers include; cost and access, classroom management, challenges to instruction, what computers can't teach, and assessment. Because technology is becoming such a huge deal it is apparent that every student needs a computer in order to properly educate them. Now some students might not have a family who has access to a computer. That would mean schools would have to supply every student with a laptop (ratio 1:1). That gets costly. Because many schools do not have the money to do that they have to resort to labs. This is where time comes in. Taking the time to walk to the computer lab and get everyone up and ready is a lengthy process, which means the lesson is cut short. The other alternative is to have computers in class, but there is usually not enough room for 30 computers to be set up. But only having a few allows for the other students to get distracted. All these little things can be a problem, but that shouldn't mean technology gets thrown on the back burner. I think technology should be a huge part of schooling today. It is crucial that our future is properly educated because technology is the now. It's not going away. However, I still feel that computers should never dominate the classroom. I'm still confused, but I'll end this post in a quote from Chapter 3:
"School fosters just-in-case learning while technology fosters just-in-time learning."
I'm going to sleep on this one.
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