I think that we don't tend to think of those types of technologies when we are asked to incorporate technologies because of all the social networking that occurs with those type of technologies. I feel that teachers are afraid that the students will not gain the knowledge intended from the lesson by using those specific technologies. If a teacher assigns something like a communication group assignment that requires the students to converse back and forth using blogs, or cell phones there is the fear the students will use the technologies not for the intended purpose but for personal purposes. Although, I do think that it could be possible to incorporate those types of technologies in the classroom for learning, it may also be useful to use these technologies in the classroom to promote future jobs strategies for the students. The students may need to know these types of technologies for their future job placements, and the use of them in schools can help prepare the students.
I also can see some disconnect between personal use technologies and technologies that are going to be utilized in the classroom. For example, if the teacher uses certain technologies like blogs to keep in touch with friends or families, it would probably be wise to set up a separate blog for the classroom to not confuse the two, or to involve students in the personal life of the teacher. I can also see the teacher's opinion in not wanting to use personal use technologies in the classroom because it can get student's off topic because it may be something that they already know and use, and may want to do their own thing, without paying attention to the actual classroom reason for use of the technology.
In my personal opinion I think that personal use technologies can and should be used in the classroom because they can get the students prepared for future careers and jobs. I also think these types of technologies can be motivators for the students because they are getting to use technology that they may already have experience with and like using. I just think that the teacher needs to be the facilitator when it comes to using the personal technologies for personal uses while doing the classroom work and put a stop to that kind of activity from the start.
-Kami Bowman
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I agree with Kami's post and had similar ideas myself. However, even when teachers set restrictions and expectations from the beginning, students often still use technologies in inappropriate ways during class. I wonder how teachers could set expectations in a way that motivates students to complete the tasks at hand and not fall into a habit of using the technologies for social or entertainment purposes during academic instruction? Maybe the teachers could find a way to block students from visiting certain parts of a website or from using certain functions on the calculator or computer (games, for example). However, this is probably not the most effective method because it shows distrust between the teacher and the students and may lower their motivation to use the program. I think that teachers should explain that using technologies such as blogs, chat rooms, video games, cell phones, etc. is a privelage and that the students should enjoy it, but that abusing it will result in losing that privelage. If teachers cannot control the students and it is interfering with the educational quality of their instruction, then perhaps these technologies should be left out of the classroom.
ReplyDelete-Chrissy Cohn