Technology and Education

     Honestly, after watching the film in today's class concerning the effects technology has on children who grow up with it, I am more convinced than before that technology should have a very minimal role in education.  I believe that it is sad that we should even consider a future in education where teaching becomes more of an attempt to perform for and play with our students than an attempt to get them to learn.  While play can be a powerful learning tool, the use of technology, in my opinion, often takes the creativity out of the activity.  This lack of active creative involvement often leaves children as somewhat passive learners, as they expect easy learning and instant gratification for their acheivements. 
    
     Recently, in Anthropology class, we discussed a recent article in the newspaper about a study done by the University of Victoria.  The university faculty tested 60 mostly white middle-class four year-olds and divided them randomly into three groups.  One group watched Spongebob Squarepants, another watched the more calmly paced and realistic show "Caillou", and the final group drew pictures rather than watch TV.  The children who watched Spongebob exhibited a lack of concentration and self-control in comparison to ther other groups after watching only nine minutes of the show.  I think that this study serves as a brilliant illustration of the detriment technology is to our society.  Quite honestly, several studies have show that television causes a shortening of attention spans in children.  Also, as the film showed rather well, technology provides such a temptation to multitask, a practice which causes these individuals to accomplish all the tasks they set out to do simultaneously in a far more ineffective manner.  At present, our school system is a last bastion against the mesmerizing power technology seems to hold over our youth; it is a place where focus, persistance and learning are still emphasized.  To further integrate technology into the way children learn, in my opinion, is to urge this lack of attention span and belief in multitasking into education.   Essentially, for children who are already exposed to an excess of technology and various forms of media, this practice would remove an important source of focus and normalcy from their lives. 
  
     The film also emphasized that with every major advance in technology, intellectual skills and cultural values have been lost.  With the advent of writing, humanity ceased to place the same value in memory, with technology, we are losing focus, attention and perseverance.  I think that although each new technological advancement does carry benefits, perhaps they are not beneficial enough to outweigh the losses that eventually accompany them.  Perhaps we also lose a bit of our humanity with each virtue or trait that we relinquish to machinery. 
    
     For my EDFX 203 class, I have the opportunity to oberve two grade nine English Advanced classes each Wednesday and Friday.  I have been circulating and reading over their shoulders as they work for the past two times I've visited the school, and I am somewhat dismayed by some of what I see.  As an English major, I value my language and the art of writing substantially.  However, as I circulate, it is quite rare to find a student who displays accurate spelling.  Among one group, I saw "musically" spelled as "muscly," "musicly" and "musicaly" but I did not see the correct spelling at all, which, quite frankly, I find troubling.  I also find that as a general rule, their writing is quite choppy and I have even once witnessed the use of common chat abbreviations in a formal analytical assignment.  I know that they are young, however, they are an advanced class.  I expect more from students who claim to read avidly and be interested in the topic. 
    
     I see the use of technology as negatively influencing the lives of students.  While there are ways in which technology clearly can benefit education, I simply do not believe it is worth the effects it has upon our future generations.

-Rachel

This is an image that came up when I googled mulititasking.... I felt it was effective

This one was simply funny....