https://www.edutopia.org/discussion/what-were-getting-wrong-about-technology-schools-debate-0
“…The value of technology and how it should be deployed in schools, and what role it should play in children’s education.”
The idea of technology in the classroom is something that i am not very found of. Of course the use of whiteboards for older grades is useful and easier then chalk, but for preschool i don’t see the need for technology. In my classroom i see that the children really aren’t very concerned with it. when they begin centers maybe one student will ask if the iPads are open but if they answer is no I do not see them being upset. it should only be used for education reasons rather then free-time.
“He [principal Vallance] argued that they [laptops] were distracting students from learning, and there was no place for them in the normal life of the school.”
I agree with this idea completely and laptops are useless for my age group. In college or high-school levels they are needed and very beneficial for each student to keep all their work in one place; but a computer lab should be introduced until minimum 1st grade. In normal life of school there is a place for technology but there is no reason for young children have have a computer time.
“…Vested interests in the form of technology companies were the ones driving educational technology policies and not educational academics and policy-makers.”
I disagree with this statement. There maybe a monopoly in one of the computer brands due to prices but i don’t see that as a student. I think that having computers is more so relating to funding rather then the companies driving policies.
“In what way do we use technology?”
There are endless forms and ways to use technology and the can be very helpful. We continue to advance in this field and this provides more ways to use it. In the classroom it is used to transfer and find information daily. We use it to produce music for our classroom movement activities, and even to provide visuals of a topic. In a way it has turned into a new way of communication.
“If technology has become an ever-present constant in our lives, then surely one of the most important things that schools must do is teach students how to use it effectively and meaningfully? So why shouldn’t we teach them about using technology safely and effectively?”
We defiantly should teach the proper use of technology and the internet. But also tailing that education should be ways around it. The ways to use books rather then juts googling something. We have so much knowledge at our disposal we have began to lack personally.
O'Brien 