Getting My Feet Wet in the Digital Stream

      I have mixed feelings about the use of technology in the classroom. On the one hand, I can see the value of using technology to relate to modern students. I can also recognize that presenting information through a variety of different means can broaden the teaching practice and help address the difference in learning styles amongst students. However, I do have some concerns about incorporating technology into the classroom. The majority of students are already spending a ton of time “plugged in,” and I worry about the consequences that this may have in terms of attention span and the need for intense stimulation. I also have environmental concerns regarding technology and wonder about the long term health impacts of prolonged exposure to certain technologies. I know some of this may come off as paranoid, but I also feel that there are many ways that students could be better served by their teachers without focusing on bringing more technology into the classroom.

     While it is impossible to deny that the technological leaps and bounds of the last decade or so have increased our ability to connect and share on many levels, I also feel that much of the quality of information and communication has tended to degrade over time. When you look at the language used in many blogs, tweets and texts, it isn't hard to see why each generation seems to have a progressively tenuous grasp on the fundamentals of English language such as grammar and spelling. If these are the forums in which we are conducting most of our written communication, it seems that this decline will only increase.

     There is also the issue that studies have shown that many people learn better if they are writing with a pen and paper. This is particularly true of foreign language learning (article supporting this theory: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022066303011255 ,) but also applies to general language learning. This phenomenon was studied and explained by Dr. Virginia Berniger who wrote that

A keyboard doesn’t allow a child to have the same opportunity to engage the hand while forming letters—on a keyboard a letter is selected by pressing a key and is not formed [...] Brain imaging studies with adults have shown an advantage for forming letters over selecting or viewing letters. We need more research to figure out how forming letters by a pen and selecting them by pressing a key may engage our thinking brains differently. (http://www.futurity.org/society-culture/for-kids-pens-mightier-than-keyboard/#more-4909 )

Additionally, pen and paper writing reduces reliance on spell check and grammar check features and encourages children to apply the conventions of writing themselves. Beyond concerns about written language, there is also the issue of the quality of information accessed online, the vast majority of which does not benefit from peer-review or fact-checking. Even popular sources such as Wikipedia are simply not reliable.

     This being said, I do not feel that technology has no place in the classroom. There are many instances in which it could be useful. In particular, I think that some of the options for exploring oracy through technology are very interesting. Allowing kids to record themselves might help them to feel more at ease with using language than speaking up in class, and that is definitely an advantage. I love the idea of recording story ideas to use as a stepping stone in the writing process of very young children. There is so much creativity to be tapped there and being able to record some of those ideas before students are at the point of being able to write them down themselves seems like a wonderful thing.

     The options for podcasts are nearly endless, but I particularly like the idea of allowing kids to interview others. I think that this could be a excellent opportunity for children to connect with the larger community and that there is tons of potential for a project such as the one described in Constructing Meaning in which the students in rural Nova Scotia documented the history of their community in a project which extended across multiple school years, creating their own historical archive. I also think that it has potential for mentorship programs throughout schools. For example, older students in a school could create a recording for the Kindergarten kids entering school in which they address issues they struggled with in their early education, offer advice or talk about things that they have learned over the years.

     All in all, I do see potential for technology to aid learning in the classroom, but I cannot escape the nagging concerns that have regarding our societal reliance on technology. As much I personally love tapping into these resources, I cannot help but wonder at the fact that though we may have access to resources beyond the wildest dreams of people a few generations ago, we are increasingly losing our grasp on the fundamentals of language and critical thinking. My hope is that, as a teacher, I will be able to strike a balance between accepting the realities of modern communication while not allowing the more traditional aspects of language learning to fall by the wayside.

p.s.

My long-time favourite podcast:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives