Day in, day out. The laptop carts in the school are constantly booked, finding themselves in a different classroom each day. It’s a race against time for teachers to see who can reserve lab time first.
Technology has integrated itself into our daily lives. For today’s generation, the thought of not having access to the infinite realm of information that is the Internet seems almost horrifying. With the continual rise of tech and mobile devices, the arrival of new tech in the classroom was inevitable.
This begs the question of how technology has been and will be incorporated into students’ learning experience. At Highland, using a computer in class is a regularly occurring event. Whether it be heading down to the library or having school-issued laptops, today’s curriculum isn’t complete without some sort of online aspect to it.
The main concern comes from whether or not the way we use technology at Highland is actually beneficial to our learning environment.
All around, technology has opened up new doors for the world of education. It has enabled access to countless resources, found new ways to increase class engagement, and provides innovative ways to hear more directly from students. The instant feedback and data collection from online quizzing allows both the student and the teacher to improve on specific areas where it’s needed most.
At Highland, teachers have already started to tie in more technology into their teachings. For example, Physics teacher Jason Passey definitely intertwines his curriculum with technology. Students of Passey regularly work with computers, having both online and handout options for their required 50-points a day.
“I videotape the lesson and my voice. Then the students are taking their notes and getting the information from that rather than listening to me for half the class period, taking away practice time so I can use class time for practice,” Passey said. “Out of the hour and a half we have in class, I easily spend an hour of it wandering around [answering questions].”
This is a step in the right direction, but I think we could be doing more.
While one perk of a rise in technology is the constant innovation and moving forward, it also poses the risk of falling behind. Because of this, elementary schools have began to supply their students with school-issued iPads. The traditional lecture-style teaching method still dominates the world of education, and at Highland. It’s not a style that fits Passey as a teacher, but could be preferable to others.
But this makes me wonder. Do teachers stick to more traditional teaching styles because they want to or because they have to?
There is a limited amount of access to technology at Highland. The English department has 11 teachers yet only one cart to share among them. The Science department usually only sees computers around SAGE Testing. However, there could be reasons for this.
While there are many benefits to using technology in the classroom, there are some problems that arise. Integrating tech means that there could be an increase in cheating and exposure of economic gap between students.With online-based curriculum, some assignments may require students to finish them outside of school. For some, this is an unobtainable task.
Not to mention, computers can be quite expensive.
A single computer charging can cost upwards of $500, and buying several of them multiplies the cost. The laptops themselves begin at around $300, and increase in price the newer they are. Supplying this for an entire school would be pricey.
The question still stands: would teachers experiment more with technology in their classes given the resources? With all of the positive feedback from increasing use of websites such as Kahoot, Nearpod, and Quizlet in classrooms, I think the answer is yes.
When teachers are able to create meaningful lessons using the internet, students gain a new dimension to their learning experience.
While we’ve come a long way from chalkboards being the most advanced form of technology in the classroom, there is still a ways for us to go. The battle ultimately comes down to the access to resources for our teachers. However, the overall use of technology has a positive impact on students and their learning environments.
So, ask your teacher to play Kahoot more often. It’ll benefit the both of you.