Reading Reflection Week 1

Technology is at the forefront of today’s society.  It is everywhere and has truly impacted our everyday lives.  One cannot help but notice the way technology has impacted children’s lives.  At the age of three, and perhaps earlier, children are already learning how to use computers, ipads, iphones, and any other form of technology they can get their hands on.  This was not the case just fifteen years ago.  It is with this advancement in technology that has changed the way we look at education and the way children learn.

While reading Reigeluth and Joseph’s article, I was surprised to see their reasoning for integrating technology in the classroom.  I have always understood the need for technology integration; however, I always associated it with our ever changing world and society.  (In order to keep our students’ interest, we must keep up with technology.) I have never thought about how technology can customize our students’ learning and to prepare learners for real world situations.  By using technology in the classroom, we can allow students to take on ownership of their learning.  This doesn’t mean I think that technology should replace teachers, but rather be a tool for teachers to allow their students to be more involved in the actual learning process.  For the most part, I agreed with Reigeluth and Joseph’s view on integrating technology in the classroom and was glad to have a new perspective on this topic.

I did not have the same feeling as I read Postman’s article.  I was shocked at the extreme view he had on technology in the classroom.  While I do agree that technology can be a distraction at times, I do not fully believe that it is such a distraction that one cannot learn effectively by using it.  If used correctly, technology can be an amazing tool for teaching and to facilitate learning.  I have to disagree with Postman when he claims that schools are more for socialization than for learning facts.  I feel that, as teachers, we spend some of our day working on social and emotional skills; however, we also spend a large part of our day teaching new academic skills.  For example, during a math lesson I may have to ask a student to pay attention or turn around which is essentially teaching the social skill of how to sit during a lesson, however, the majority of that lesson is spent discussing a certain math topic.  While I did understand what Postman was saying and where he was coming from, but I do not necessarily agree with him.

Many people have differing views on integrating technology in education.  These two articles were examples of both extremes (one saying that technology should be used so much in teaching that teachers become facilitators, the other saying technology is a distraction and, if used, would take away from learning).  I look forward to learning more about the ways that I myself can use technology in the classroom to help facilitate learning, but in still keeping great student-teacher relationships.