A Response to “Teacher vs. Computer: Where Educators Stand in the Technology Revolution”
The article, “Teacher vs. Computer,” by Jacqueline Keane from the T.H.E. Journal (August 2002) presented information in regards to why educators use technology in the classroom. Keane informed the reader about the positive aspects of using instructional technology and the World Wide Web to enhance lessons in today’s classrooms. She explains that by using this philosophy of teaching, students will learn valuable computer/research skills, teachers can save preparation time by adapting shared resources, rather than thinking of ideas from scratch, and the curriculum can be enriched and intertwined by using software such as Inspiration. Keane relates her own experiences to the audience that support her view on using technology in the classroom.
Keane shared wonderful ideas throughout the entire article. Among the plethora of ideas presented, the first idea that caught my attention was her teaching philosophy. She states, “The major objective of our teaching philosophy is for students to practice higher-order thinking skills in addition to their basic reading, writing, and arithmetic skills” (p. 38). Because today’s schools are driven by standards, graduation requirements, and passing the AIMS test, I fear that teachers are only teaching the basics. Even though it is important to teach the basics, learning and growing are achieved by challenging students and forcing them to think outside the box. Teachers need to have high standards and allow higher-order thinking skills to emerge.
Another interesting point Keane conveyed to me was that there is a wealth of online resources available to teachers that can save preparation time (p. 38). In my methods math class in college, my professor gave each of us the task of finding math internet lesson plans. At first I thought it was going to be a challenge to fulfill this assignment, but on the contrary I found out exactly how much information really is available. Simply by typing in four key words, in my case, kindergarten math lesson plans, literally thousands of websites were at my disposal. Keane was right on target when she says how using Internet lesson plans saves teacher’s preparation time.
My favorite point Keane made in this article was in reference to the students. She explained that using computer technology can help teachers enrich the curriculum, by allowing teachers to create more meaningful lessons. However; she then added that even though technology tools are great for teachers, “the greater value was achieved when we introduced these instructional tools to students” (p. 40). Because our world is continually advancing in technology, I think that students should be learning how to use computers at school. Most students are already using computers at their homes for entertainment purposes. For example, computer games, searching the Internet for consumer products, and downloading music on servers such as Yahoo are some everyday uses. Since computers are already a major part of most students’ lives, why not teach them how to use it for educational purposes? I feel that by not teaching students computer technology we are stunting their learning instead of enhancing it.
The final point I would like to touch upon is found at the end of Keane’s article. Keane states, “The primary objective in our classroom is to provide an environment where students construct new knowledge” (p. 40). I believe that students do learn constructively, which means that students try to fit new information in with information they already know. The Internet is a wonderful tool to allow this to happen. For instance, by taking key words that they already know, plugging them into the search engines, such as Google or Yahoo, they can learn new information by reading what experts have to say on the subject matter. I like the idea that students can construct their own knowledge, and if they know how to use the Internet and computer software, they can explore more independently and learn a lot more than just by what the teacher says.
Teachers need to educate themselves about technology so that they can teach these important skills to students. No longer can teachers ignore the fact that we live in a technology world. Instead, teachers need to make themselves comfortable with computers so that enhanced learning can take place. From my experience, technology is a large part of college; as a result if we educate the youth about computers before they enter college, they will have such an advantage in their learning. Instead of fearing computers educators need to embrace this valuable resource and use it in their classrooms.
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