A student's educational experience was so different 20, 10, even five years ago. Teachers still honour the traditional classroom where students sit at a desk ready for their lesson, but their learning environment is ever changing.
Those who now have children of their own in school may feel like they’ve wandered into a different world when they see how students are taught today. Even young adults who graduated only a handful of years ago may find themselves feeling out of place.
Students have their own laptops, lesson examples are available on YouTube, and chalkboards have mostly been replaced with interactive white boards called SMART boards.
It wasn’t too long ago mobile devices were banned from classrooms and the Internet was a tool used second to a book. However, these past few years in particular teachers and students have seen technology in the classroom grow and blossom. R.F. Staples’ new 21st century learning pilot project is a good example of how education is beginning to embrace technology.
Instead of quizzing students with the traditional pen and paper, classes take many of their quizzes online. This method allows teachers to easily monitor how each student is doing not only after they complete the quiz, but while they’re doing it.
The grade 10 science program even has its own YouTube channel with videos of lectures and demonstrations. The channel lets teachers see how often the videos are viewed, how they are being accessed, and at what points viewers are actually paying attention.
Long gone are the days of dashing fearfully down the hall to deliver an assignment on time. There's email for that. Sick in bed for a week and worried about falling behind on classes? No problem. Just check out the lessons and examples your teacher posted online.
These are certainly positive points for technology in the classroom. Students have an alternative method for handing in their work if they aren't able to make it to school on time, and illness is no longer an excuse to fall behind. Though it may seem like a dream come true for students, the line between learning through technology and becoming too reliant on it can be a fuzzy one.
There's no doubt many, if not all, students know they have a world of information at their fingertips. With the click of a mouse and a quick trip to Google, students are able to find anything they could possibly need in seconds without the hassle of looking through books.
But when does living without the hassle become a problem? Knowing the Internet can provide what they need, and more, may cause students to fall into a lazy pattern. Instead of reading up on a specific topic and soaking up new knowledge, who's to stop them from spending hours browsing irrelevant websites and spending only a few minutes on their homework?
Realistically we live in a world where the use of technology is almost necessary to survive. If students are graduating into a lifestyle where they will type instead of write, refer to the World Wide Web instead of the local library, and email instead of call, perhaps technology in the classroom is the best way to prepare them for real life.
That being said, teachers and parents need to make sure students are using their technology powers for good, not evil. The key to successfully incorporating technology into the classroom is finding that balance between new and traditional teaching methods. The possibilities that come with these new educational ventures are endless and, as long as a watchful eye is kept on that fuzzy line, there are no limits to how successful they can be.
