Jane Healy strongly encourages educators to really look at the reasons for having high technology in their classrooms. Healy feels that where teachers use technology such as a computer, teachers will see faster and higher results with the traditional way of "good teachers, small classes, and a challenging curriculum." From Healy's view she feels that teachers rely highly on technology in their classrooms but that the students aren’t learning and truly benefiting from these programs. She argues for example, that in some cases, who is really doing the thinking, the programmers or the child? She also argues that young children should not be introduced to the computer until they are much older, because they can ultimately be damaging to the child. During the conversation between Carol Tell and Jane Healy, Healy continues to rant on about why technology and computer use in the classroom should be limited.
I feel that although Healy made a few good points, she is being unreasonable about the use of technology in the classroom. I think that Healy is just having a hard time to accept that today’s generations are tech savvy and that today’s learning process has evolved. I think yes textbooks and good curriculum shouldn't be thrown out or overlooked, but I also don’t think we should disregard the computer and other high tech product use in our classrooms. I think in order to avoid a lot of Healy's concern we as teachers need to take one simple step, and that is just too critically analyze and examine the software and programs we use in our classrooms. As teachers we are educated enough to tell which software programs are garbage and which can be beneficial to our students learning. With this sorting process we can then guarantee that our money and our students time using these programs is not going to waste.
Asha,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was first reading youre opinion on the article, I was thinking about how I didn't really agree with what you were saying. However, as I finished your blog, I saw exactly where you were coming from. We can definitely try to avoid these problems, we can analyze and examine the software and programs we use like you said. However, the studies that are done aren't necessarily what we think they are, or aren't done to extent to which they should be done or think they are. We are starting students at such a young age and like Healy pointed out, it can cause some serious damage in the future generation that we need to take into consideration.
Great blog though!
-Marissa
I agree with you Asha for some things. I think that she does have a difficult time with all of the new "tehchy" stuff! However, I think she had some great points about how teachers cannot be replaced by technology. It is so helpful for classrooms but sometimes teachers use it to take away some of their tasks and rely on technology to do the teaching for them. This can be helpful sometimes but it needs to be done in moderation! I remember how we started using computers in 1st grade and we were barely doing anything! Now days, kids are using computers in kindergarten and are doing pretty advance things for their age! Guess we're just old!
ReplyDeleteI completely see where you are coming from. To say that technology in the classroom has gone way too far and that we should put an end to this is absurd. However, I feel that the complete integration of technology in the classroom is also a bad idea. I think that with most things in life, moderation and balance are key. We most definitely need to be critical of the types of technology we bring into our classroom and we should never let the computer or anything else replace the teacher.
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