Technology in the Classroom - Blog Post 4

                Technology in the classroom is a tough subject. Our students are required to have a laptop every day for school, and with it come huge advantages and disadvantages. For one, if the students are losing interest, a great way of getting them engaged with a lesson is for me to ask them to find a video or example of the topic they are learning. This often gets students sharing and back on track in a quick five-minute activity. We also have a fairly comprehensive LMS. However, the students have learned to use the LMS too much as a crutch. Often, they will not study or complete assignments if they are not listed on their calendar. This has made for some particularly infuriating situations regarding assignments and assessments. Last year, when it was first implemented at our school the excuse “but it wasn’t on FinalSite” set me off pretty quickly. We have now developed an Upper School planner for the students to try to keep them more reliant on their own planning rather than checking online. Overall, the LMS is great. It allows us to edit papers, give and grade quizzes online, post documents and resources and has an integrated gradebook. From a teacher’s standpoint, it is great as a resource.

                The big disadvantage of the laptop is the obvious distraction that it provides the students. I find it incredibly frustrating when I am teaching at the front of the classroom and students’ eyes are glued to their screens. At the beginning of my third year of teaching, I was fed up with students playing games and managing their fantasy football teams during class. I made a new policy that notes would be hand-written unless the student had specific accommodations for computer use for writing. The students weren’t happy with my new policy, but the true pushback came from the parents. Despite my citing of journals about retention of written information over typed, the parents were very upset on Back to School night. They argued about “Why buy the laptop in the first place?” among other issues. The arguments soon moved to my department chair and principal and the policy was shut down. Once again I am back to the challenge of trying to get my students to pay attention to me at the front of the classroom rather than their screens.

                I can see the appeal of the technology in the classroom. It has distinct advantages in many ways. However, I would like to challenge myself and my students that they can learn just as well through interacting and experiencing things over learning it from a screen. Everyone today, including me, has too much screen time in their life, and I would like to figure out a way to get the students engaged without media.