Reflection on Technology in the Classroom

I saw this article on The Huffington Post recently, and it starts by saying one of the most common credos that tons of people seem to say: “Education is failing.” However, this article’s premise seems to be that we can help to improve the educational system by integrating technology into the classroom. I agree with this notion because I know that I can apply this article’s findings to my English classroom to help improve the learning environment. However, this article also does have some problems with the nature of technology integration that it should have discussed.

One of the major claims of the article is that we can personalize education to the student. I think that this could definitely be true. I tutor somebody with a reading comprehension disability; as a result of his problems, his school classified him as needing special education services. The National Council of Teachers of English argues that reading and writing have a direct link with each other. As a result, if you are bad at reading, you will usually have poor writing skills as well. This is because struggling readers spend more cognitive energy trying to decode rather than trying to internalize good textual structures and fine writing styles. Unfortunately, if we keep assessing these students on writing, we can wind up punishing them for something they cannot control. With technology, I can definitely say that this article is right since we can give students multiple ways to demonstrate content mastery. For instance, I remember going on another classmate’s blog post and seeing how we can turn persuasive essays into video commercials. If the student had an interest in film making, then this would be a great way to test their abilities. Even though the article does not say it, the author definitely implies that technology is extremely dynamic and that is why teachers can personalize it to meet the diverse learning needs of students. If I have a student with a reading problem in my class, I can scaffold the proper analysis they need to do by making them do podcasts. Eventually, they may become more confident enough to do essays after their cognitive abilities improve. If the student sees their cognitive abilities improve, they will also see gains in their self-esteem. Improvements in their self-esteem motivate them more, and I think that technology can be a great scaffold in that regard.

In addition, if a student has trouble processing long strings of auditory information, which is often the case with many Autistic students, then providing recording devices such as LiveScribe can be very helpful in ensuring access to the curriculum. When technology provides access to the curriculum, those who used to be reluctant learners become more motivated to participate in the education process. This article says that recent studies have found that. However, this article does miss a few important points. One of the most important points is that technology can be useless if the teacher does not have a sound pedagogical framework. In a previous blog post, I discussed the fact that many teachers show film adaptations of novels and they can wind up not being educational experiences. The teacher must make sure to be very thoughtful in making sure that the technology aligns very well with strategies, which will thus achieve the Common Core Standards. Technology alone does not ensure that students learn, but a sharp teacher does. In addition, the article neglects to mention class issues. As our textbook for this class said, we need to take a technological inventory. The article seems to miss that point completely. Many poorer urban districts do not have the funding to obtain great technology and many of the students come from families who would not be able to afford some of the technologies I talk about in this blog post. This article I feel needs to advocate for the kind of political changes necessary to make sure that this technological revolution in the classroom happens across the nation. I also think that this article could have been stronger if the writer included some concrete examples as I did.