As a visitor, walking down the hallways of a school site will look astonishingly different than it did a decade ago. Technology has become such an essential part of today’s classroom, that it is quite uncanny to see learning cease should a school site lose connection. Like all things, there are quite a few significant advantages and disadvantages to the use of technology. Several educator’s have expressed their frustration regarding the invasiveness of technology in their classrooms. While some may see it as a useful tool, others see it as something that can be debilitating to both student and teacher. In my opinion, the detriments of technology in the classroom are and few in between. Students will be distracted in some shape, form, or fashion whether or not technology is in the classroom which is the main argument for wanting technology and education segregated. However, there are a plethora of benefits that are associated with the full integration of technology in the classroom.
During the pandemic, the advantages and disadvantages of technology in the classroom were displayed across the globe. Students and teachers, in a sense, were forced to explore these advantages and disadvantages due to environmental circumstances. In the United States, teachers had the ability to personalize lessons based on individual student learning abilities. This task became much less complex due to the instant feedback received from assignments online. Teachers were also able to monitor, and increase, student participation simultaneously because of this instant feedback as well. Lessons became more interactive online which inadvertently switched the learning environment in the classroom from teacher based to student based. Teachers became more of a facilities than instructors in a virtual learning environment. Because of the increased interactive lessons and increased student participation, students became more accountable and responsible for their own success and/or failures. According to the article, Classroom Transformations, it is stated that “the flexibility and capability to create personalized learning environments for students of varying abilities and learning styles greatly expands opportunities for meaningful engagement, productive collaboration and higher achievement,”((CDW-G, 2018) which indicates that technology is an effective learning tool in today’s modern education.
Unfortunately, for some students, virtual learning have not been very beneficial. Depending on the environment a student is in, virtual learning may be more of a detriment than a benefit. Some students do not have access to reliable devices or the internet connection necessary to be apart of an online classroom. In other cases, some students are not disciplined enough to maintain their own focus in a virtual learning environment and because of this, students grow restless, easily lose focus, becoming uninterested and disengaged in the lesson/assignment. In these circumstances, it would be more beneficial for students to be in a face-to-face learning environment as opposed to virtual learning. Also, some students utilize an in-person learning environment as an escape due to the inconducive living environment they are subjected to.
All stakeholders in education or a school site must be aware of the advantages and disadvantages for the use of technology in the classroom. As administrators, it is imperative you communicate best practices on how to utilize technology to teachers, parents, and students. Teachers need support, along with development, when navigating new methods and practices to teach, even more so in uncharted teaching environments. Students are aware of a stressful or ineffective learning environment which in turn affects their performance. A poor performing teacher results in poor performing students. In order to avoid this, administrators must ensure teachers have all the necessary required resources to lead a productive, efficient, and effective learning environment.
References
CDW-G. (2018). Learning Gets Personal: Classroom Transformation. Retrieved July 2021, from Solution Spotlight website: https://cdw-prod.adobecqms.net/content/dam/cdw/on-domain-cdwg/industries/k-12-education/learning-gets-personal-classroom-transformations.pdf?cm_ven=acquirgy&cm_cat=google&cm_pla=SGMT+K12+Education&cm_ite=Classroom+Technology+B&ef_id=EAIaIQobChMI4-7J2L3b8QIVgbyGCh2F4gZIEAAYASAAEgIdZ_D_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!4223!3!269245850829!b!!g!!%2Btechnology%20%2Bclassroom&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4-7J2L3b8QIVgbyGCh2F4gZIEAAYASAAEgIdZ_D_BwE