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saved by16 people, first byEmily Vickery on 2008-06-13, last byGraham Wegner on 2008-08-04

  • before adopting the technology on a wide scale, it is essential for schools to first consider the potential promises and perils of using technology in the classroom.
  • believe that social justice educators must ask ourselves and our schools: What are the ethics and power structures involved in using a technology, and how do we create a learning environment to discuss and track the impact of technology on the cognitive, social and emotional development of both students and educators.
  • believe that social justice educators must ask ourselves and our schools: What are the ethics and power structures involved in using a technology, and how do we create a learning environment to discuss and track the impact of technology on the cognitive, social and emotional development of both students and educators.
  • At first, I thought it was the fatigue and "creep" factor. I know how exhausting it can be to learn another language as an adult, and in many ways, the technology integration process felt similar to language immersion. I also began to resent how much more information was "creeping" into my teaching world. Most forms of communication from the district were now in electronic form, with a huge number of attachments entering my computer daily. The expectation was that I read and respond to the information, and that if I didn't, I didn't care.
  • I also began to resent how much more information was "creeping" into my teaching world.
  • Staff development, already a precious and rare commodity, was now almost exclusively about technology.
  • I was also frustrated over how staff spent time together.
  • The district mandated several in-service days for technology training. We discussed technology hardware and software extensively, including how to catch kids playing Nintendo or "chatting" with each other, and how to use iCal and the Option keys. But there was a trade-off. This meant we were not discussing: whether our curriculum was relevant to students' lives; who was getting suspended and why; how rapidly our community is changing; how we could make our school more inviting and useful for families; the implications of heavily increased screen time on students' bodies; how computer-based learning might change how students process information and how they interact with others. And we weren't talking much about ways technology could help or hinder us in our analysis of these questions, even after repeated requests to have this discussion.
  • I was upset by the invasion of my teaching time; a great deal of my time and energy was now spent sitting in front of my computer.
  • My very first reservations about my new role as a teacher came prior to the start of the school year, in our summer staff training days.
  • My classroom, supposedly a zone for deep analysis and honest commentary, had become a mini police state, with me as the chief of police. Trust eroded.
  • Now, whenever the computer lids opened, I had to re-establish boundaries, reiterating warnings on proper usage. I constantly monitored student behavior related to laptop use, becoming distracted from the content—but most importantly, becoming distracted from my relationship with students.
  • One of my fears about our preoccupation with technology in education goes beyond my frustration over time, trust, and hardship. I wonder if, by creating a culture that emphasizes one person alone with one machine, we are negatively altering the way that we think and learn.
  • I realized something strange was happening. The room was silent, and students sat in their seats with chips, fruit, and soda—all laptop lids were up, and earphones in. I asked students to look up and examine what they saw. I told them that when I had offered this opportunity the previous year, the room was noisy and filled with student banter, jokes, and eye-to-eye engagement. Did they see a problem with the fact that we were having a "party," but they weren't talking to each other?
  • I am also starting to wonder whether, by absorbing vast amounts of new information through new technologies, there are long-term social costs if we emphasize simply collecting data over problem-solving and analytical thinking.
  • in the 2007 technology survey in my district, 73 percent of teachers indicated that "students often confuse finding information with understanding that information."
  • money for teacher planning to integrate curriculum or to create a school-based family resource center.
  • I am also uncomfortable with the mass commercialism our relationship with technology promotes.
  • I realized that for some students, there is a social stigma attached to a lack of facility with technology; it sets them apart from many other youth and can feel like an area of incompetence in school.
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