Technology: Good or Bad? I don’t think you can say that technology is completely one way or the other; I think it is a mix in the classroom. We have come so far in our classrooms using smart boards, Google, Internet Encyclopedias etc. It has become so easy for us to look something up if we don’t know the answer, to pull up a visual for students or to play an educational video right from the computer. But, can we live without a computer and technology in the classroom? Yes, but it would be hard. Truth is, computers have not always been in the classroom and people actually learned from text books (gasp). It’s not that text books are bad or not useful anymore, it’s just that they are out of date for subjects that can be taught in such a better way. Instead of having students read about Africa in a text book and expect them to connect to the issues happening there, we can use technology to play a video of starving children in Africa. The video provides a visual for students and allows them to connect with the faces in the video. There are also more updated statistics on the Internet than there would be in a text book.
Most schools have computers in the classrooms or have a computer lab for students to use. However, there are schools that do not have computers and they are doing fine. Students need to learn how to write before they learn how to type! Many adults rely on computers to write and spell check for them and cannot write themselves. Students need to know how to make letters correctly and spell words correctly, all things the computer can do for you. Typing classes should be in high school, not Elementary or Middle School where students writing is not completely developed. I think technology is important for students to learn, especially because of the jobs that will be offered when they go for a job, but for now, learning to read and write, technology is not crucial for them to have in the everyday classroom.
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