Technology in the Next Decade

I found Larry Cuban’s article Public School Teachers Using Machines in the Next Decade to be very similar to the last article we read. It was basically questioning how much computer technology will be used in the years to come in elementary and secondary schools. Cuban points out that the reason that integrating computer technology into the schools has been slow is because school is an entirely different organization than worldly businesses that have boomed with technology. He reasons that in no country, or in no time in history have schools ever made quick leaps with technology. He blames this not on inadequate funds or unprepared teachers but on “dominant social beliefs about what teaching, learning, and proper knowledge are and how schools are organized for instruction.” My reaction to this is a good one. Technology is a wonderful thing but I think that if you let it overtake your teaching and rely on it for everything and add nothing of your own style into your day’s work than the kids will really be missing something. Kids need to learn skills that are outside of the computer world. Obviously I know that in today’s society that students must learn computer skills to even be able to get a job when they get out of school but I think that teaching all lessons with the help of computer technology is a mistake. There are so many great, fun, exciting lessons that can be taught away from the help of technology. I can think of several that my teachers did when I went to school.
Cuban predicts that the future of schools and technology will see “slow but dynamic changes in both teaching and school structures that will occur as more hybrids of old and new forms of instruction are merged with the next generation of computers.” I agree with him on this one. I think that the merge will come slowly enough so that teachers will have plenty of time to learn what they have to teach concerning computer technology. Amen!

Teachers Views of Computers as Catalysts for Changes in their Teaching Practice

Technology is at an all time high right now in our society so I would imagine that classrooms would be full of computers and that they would be integreated into all lessons but by reading this article you can see that this is simply not true and as an upcoming teacher, this comforts me quite a bit.

I am not the most technologically savy person and I feel that I wouldn't be able to do as effective a job if I had to use computer technology for everything. Mixing technology with my own creativity would be my choice on how to teach my students. It seemed to me like the teachers in the articles that were interviewed didn't really use computers very much for lessons but used computers mainly for entering grades and mainly for the teachers own use. In my own experience when I helped out in the 4th grade classroom, there was a single computer in the back where the students could get on and play fun games if they displayed good behavior or sometimes they just rotated stations so everyone got a turn on it. There were various learning games that the kids could use but probably the most popular was "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." The kids would always want me to help them and would laugh at me when I would get the question wrong. The kids would sometimes even opt out of recess to play the game. They really loved it and this showed that the kids nowadays would really love to be taught more computer technology because in this day and age the kids are basically growing up on computers so as teachers we have to be aware of this and not completely dismiss it, but instead try to learn more about computers ourselves so we can teach the students something that they can grasp on to.

Education and Urban Society Blog

Wow! Not only do we as educators have such a responsibility towards our students to teach them everything we can in 9 months time, but now we cannot rely on what we remember from being students ourselves because the styles are so outdated. Teaching computer technology is absolutely pertinent in schools today which is something that was almost nonexistent when I was in elementary. The article by Timothy Morse made it clear that education methods are changing and technology is the reason.
Morse made the point that “the reason every student must develop basic technology literacy skills is that the use of computer technology is becoming increasingly commonplace in every facet of society.” I took a second to reflect on this statement and I saw how completely true it really was. Let me tell you a tidbit from my life: I’ve never owned a computer (gasp!) I’ve lived at my parent’s house while getting my undergraduate degree so I always used theirs. But less than a month ago I got married and now I am computer-less and I am having a difficult time trying to juggle my schedule as to when I will be able to get on a computer whether it be go back to my parents house or use my lunch break at school to use the computer lab. My point is that even though computers are available to me, I feel that not owning one is such a disadvantage. And I think that is the point Morse was making about education equality. Disadvantaged kids are not getting equal education if there is no computer available to them and this must change.
Disadvantaged kids will become disadvantaged adults if they are not provided the education and computer skills that they need to become highly functioning adults.