Week 1: Intro to Google Alerts-Article Summaries and Reflection
After setting up my
Google alerts for the terms ESL, ELL's, and Technology in the classroom, I did
receive some alerts which were relevant and interesting to share. The
articles, I found the most intriguing to read were "Is There Too Much
Technology Being Used in the Classroom?" by Andrea Au, "Technology in
schools: Too much of a good thing?" by Justin Parmenter, and
"Reader's view: Don't let school technology slide" by Emily
Milliman. Each of these articles caught my attention due to the nature of our
course, as well as the idea that educators must continue to implement
technology into their instruction as a way to enhance student learning.
As I read the first
article "Is There Too Much Technology Being Used in the
Classroom?" by Andrea Au, I was surprised to find that the author was
opposed to implementing too much technology into today's classrooms. She
believed that there should be a balance between the use of textbooks and
technology. Noting statistics supporting the notion that technology is being
overused in the learning environment, thus taking away from other effective
teaching tools. While Au, did not deny the fact that technology can enhance
students learning, she argues that it should be a secondary approach to
instructing students in the classroom. It should only be used as a way to
supplement the lessons being taught.
The second
article "Technology in schools: Too much of a good thing?" by
Justin Parmenter, was very similar to the first, in which the author argues the
thought that more technology should be incorporated into the classrooms.
However, his reasons for scaling back on the use of technology differ, due to
his concerns about the lack of student interaction, rising health and physical
issues, invalid test outcomes due to glitching devices, and contradictory
teachings that students should use their technological devices outside of the
classroom. Parmenter explains that schools promote students to spend less time
on their devices, yet while in the classrooms, students are required to
complete the majority of their work on a computer. One of the most interesting
arguments he brought up is the idea that students are engaging in less
interaction and collaborative work when required to use computers/technological
devices for so much of their classroom learning experiences. Thus, not allowing
them to engage in conversations and practice positive interaction
with their peers. In addition, there are concerns that students are
complaining about headaches and becoming lethargic after long periods of time
using technological devices in the
classroom. As Permenter expresses his thoughts on how technology
can be "too much" when used in the classroom setting, he also
explains that educators should simply maintain a healthy balance (Permenter,
2017).
The last
article "Reader's view: Don't let school technology slide" by
Emily Milliman, discusses that while there has been a rise in the use of
Internet in schools, many classrooms are not taking full advantage of the use
of technology in the classroom. This is due to the lack of devices provided to
teachers in some schools and/or the lack of implementation. Milliman expresses
her thoughts on the importance of technology in the classroom and how she plans
to implement its use in her future as an educator.
As I reflected on
the readings and my personal views on providing quality educational experiences
to English language learners, I feel that each author had a valid point to take
into account. While I am an advocate for the use of technology, I do believe
that it should be implemented into classroom instruction with balance. There
are a number of reasons which I believe support both the pros and cons of the
use of technological devices in the classroom. I do believe that students
should be exposed to and taught how to use technology for a variety of
purposes, yet it should not be the only means of instruction. This would
instead limit the amount of face to face interaction between students which is a
vital part of their language development. Thus, decreasing their listening and
speaking skills, as well as their social skills. Technology should supplement
our instruction in order to enhance students learning, rather than impede it in
any way. I feel these articles are great resources for both mainstream and
language teachers to become aware of the negative and positive aspects of
implementing technology into their instruction. Increasing teacher’s awareness
will allow our students the best learning opportunities as they also work
towards acquiring a second language.
References:
Au, A. (2017, May
29). Is There Too Much Technology Being Used in the Classroom?
Retrieved June 03, 2017, from https://studentedge.org/article/is-there-too-much-technology-being-used-in-the-classroom
Milliman, E. (2017,
June 1). Reader's view: Don't let school technology slide. Retrieved June
03, 2017,
from http://www.ourmidland.com/opinion/letters/article/Reader-s-view-Don-t-let-school-technology-slide-11187863.php
Parmenter,
J. (2017, May 27). Technology in schools: Too much of a good thing? Retrieved
June 03, 2017,
from http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article152841119.html
Your blog reminded me of a conversation I had with my Dad recently. As you can probably think he is not computer savy at all and gets very frustrated when he goes to the library to find a book he needs for a project. He gets frustrated that he has to use a computer to find the book he wants. He complains how books are becoming irrelevant and useless to kids these days and its a shame and honestly I agree with him! There is something to be said about having to read a book and learn from all of it rather than just typing into Google for a simple answer.
ReplyDeleteAmy, I agree with your father. Technology may provide us with endless opportunities to teach our students, but to what degree do we allow it to take over our classrooms. Technology is a great way to capture the interest of our students and can be effective in using it to supplement our instruction. It can be especially useful to offer our ELL's visual and audio accommodations to our lessons. We can also implement the use of technology in order to expose our students, teach them computer skills, proper ways in which to research and to encourage collaborative work in the classroom. However, as educators we must be aware of the manner in which we implement its use and be purposeful in doing so.
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