Being that I was born, raised, and still reside in an urban
environment, I often hear, “we do not have the money”. Majority of the schools
located in Newark, New Jersey has older buildings, few textbooks supplies, not
enough money to have libraries open etc… However, I have recently heard of
three of the “newer” school in Newark is now upgrading to having technology
such as Ipads, laptops for each student etc… This is great, and I am not trying
to keep children away from having these forms of education into their lives;
however, what happened to the idea that “we don’t have the money”?
In my opinion, if we have enough money to give every child a
laptop for classes and other technical advances, then, we also have enough
money to open more libraries, for longer parts of a day, and to update on the
book inventories. Honestly, I feel that it costs more to buy laptops than it
does to buy textbooks.
However, many people are saying that it will pay off in the
long run. I can see that happening because then we will not have to
continuously buy or update our textbooks for the classroom, but everything will
be on our school ipads and laptops. But, being that technology is multiplying
and upgrading each and every day, next year we may have to throw the Ipads
away, and get a “newer” and “better” form of technology. So, will it pay in the
long run?
But, these technical advances can also help our curriculums
as well. Instead of merely reading textbooks and knowing what the textbook
wants you to know, we will be able to have more access to newer articles, newer
beliefs, newer novels etc… and this can expand our students ability to analyze
texts, drawing their own conclusions, instead of merely believing what is force
fed to them.
But then, I look at the students in urban areas. Majority of
them are reading below grade level, and/or not passing state mandated tests.
How are they supposed to drastically shift to an entirely different schooling
experience if they have not yet grasped the material? Before incorporating
technology in the classroom, I feel that a great foundation of knowledge and
the material must be acquired first. Especially with my content are of English,
I feel that it is imperative for a child to learn the basics hands on before
integrating technology into the classroom. However, others feel that technology
would help students grasp these foundations, making what they’re learning more
appealing to students. At first, I did not agree with this.
A few days ago, I got the privilege to briefly see my aunt’s
kindergarten class. Their school has already begun to integrate technology into
the classrooms. The kindergartners did not each have a lap top, but they had
something very similar. It was like an Ipad, however the ipad was seen through
their glass tables, and they were able to navigate through everything using
their fingers. This was totally different for me. I did not expect for children
at such a young age to be ready and/or able to grasp not only technology but also
the foundations of education all in one. The great part was that the student
was enjoying what they were doing. They did not have to be constantly reminded,
“complete your assignment”. They wanted to participate. They were having so
much fun that I doubt that they were even aware that they were learning many
things. They viewed it has simply having fun. And, isn’t that what education
supposed to be? Enjoyable?
When I first began to take this class, I enjoyed technology,
however, I do not think I realized the huge impact it has on the lives of so
many people, if not everyone. I guess when one has a tremendous amount of
access to technology; one does not even realize it. I started this course
believing that even though technology can be useful for students inside of the classroom
that it can also make students dependable, and make it harder for them to grasp
information and/or to learn. I spoke with three kindergartners from my aunt’s
class as mentioned earlier and asked them a few questions about what they were
supposed to be taught that day (adding and subtracting). All three students got
my questions correct. So, through technology, they were able to grasp the
information and apply it to their everyday scenarios. This truly excited me!
I still feel that technology can make children too dependant
on it; however, I now see more of the strengths of technology, and how it can
not only help students, but also teachers, giving them multiple pedagogies to
utilize inside of the classroom. I feel that regardless of how I feel
technology will overpower my beliefs. So, in the meantime the only thing that I
can really do is to make sure I stay updated with the multiple forms of
technology and how I can incorporate them inside of my classrooms.
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