Articles Reflection

These were some pretty interesting reads. I especially enjoyed reading about the new inventions of 2015. I think we will be amazed by the coming inventions over the next 10-20 years. Looking at the statistics from the PBS article, I am amazed at how far we've come since I was in school. Back then, we didn't have computers in school and neither did I have one at home. One out of my 6 subjects in school was typing and this was done on an old fashioned typewriter. Most children today do not even know what that is. I didn't even have my first cellular phone until after I graduated from high school and it was one of those brick phones without a camera, internet access, or color screen. Imagine that! I started learning to work on computers when I got my first job out of high school and that was only the basics on Word and Excel.

Considering my elementary and secondary education, I can relate to much of Michael Apple's point of views and concerns in his article over teaching and technology since it was clearly written around the same time I was in school. At one point he says that "a number of countries, educational officials and policymakers, legislators, curriculum workers, and others have been subject to immense pressure to make the 'needs' of business and industry the primary goals of the school system." Like it's a bad thing. In hindsight, isn't that what education is primarily about? To create successful citizens that make the economy flow in order to create sustainable lives for themselves? One if his other concerns was that teachers will not receive adequate training in the use of computers to effectively use it in the classroom. I think we all know that is not true today. Most schools are doing a fairly great job towards professional development for their teachers which includes technology use in the classroom. When it comes to social literacy, Apple says that possible negative consequences of technology in the classroom includes deskilling and de-powering of teachers. Absolutely not in my opinion. With the emphasis on diversity in today's society, as a teacher, you have the world at your fingertips. With the technology we have available to us now, there is no end to the possibilities, creativity, and enriched education you can bring to your students. In my opinion, there is no deskilling or de-powering of teachers. Quite the opposite. We now have so much more opportunities and resources to become more skilled and empowered and not only does this benefit the teacher, but it leaves our students more skilled and empowered too.

One more thing that I would like to bring up before I quit my rambling is the study about the equivalency of paper versus tablet computer survey data. Although the study found that there is no significant difference between the two methods, I think it is still a very interesting concept. Perhaps a more effective study would have been over testing using the two methods. I think such a study would prove that computer testing is much less time consuming than pencil and paper. I type much faster than I write which leaves me with more time to think and make corrections. That's a plus in my book.

I don't see much drawback, if any, with technology in the classroom. If used correctly, it's an invaluable tool. One major drawback to technology in general includes social inadequacy, but that's a whole different conversation. Michael Apple ended his article with "It is more than a little important that [teachers] question whether the [technology] wagon we have been asked to ride on is going in the right direction [because] it's a long walk back." To this I say, if technology is to be completely eliminated today, teachers will still be teachers, but where would the rest of the world be?