Classroom Distracting

Samantha Light, grade 1 teacher at St. Juans catholic elementary in Toronto, Ontario noticed that her students learn better when they use technology, such as iPads. Light wants to make learning more enjoyable not only for her students, but kids everywhere, as she thinks it will make students want to participate in their teachers lessons more.

The internet can help students think faster. From the article “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” “.....access to the internet’s information lets us think better and faster” (Nicholas Carr). If we go a week without screens then the students will not come up with their answer as quickly. “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” the article states “...the search engine delivers useful information about pretty much any subject imaginable”, (Carr). Since

You walk into most public-school classrooms and you see laptops, I pads, Desktops and sometimes smart boards. These are used as learning tools. When using these tools, the kids really are learning with a hands-on approach. For some kids, it’s a helpful tool for other kids it’s a distraction. The students can use technology for school work at home and it also helps with the Turing in process with teachers. I think that technology can be useful in a classroom setting but should not replace the classroom

If we remove technology from schools, we would see students paying more attention to the teachers and better grades due to a lack of distraction. It is bad, yet it is also very good. In one part of the class, kids will be playing games on their Surfaces or doing stuff on their phones. Therefore, smartphones, texting, video games, iPads, Facebook, Web surfing and television do get me distracted and interrupt my learning. The rest of the class will usually be doing the work they’re supposed to do. But in reality, technology, whether it be a text, assignment, or game can be very distracting and attention-span

Before the Internet, students did work in books and teachers taught through books. Almost everyone in the same grade was taught the same, with a limited curriculum until technology took over the world. Now that society has endless resources from the advancements of technology, students, teachers, and others use it to expand their knowledge on certain subjects and also to complete their work faster. The effects of technology is explained in the text, “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” by Amy Goldwasser, she argues that the Internet actually aids kids in developing skills in writing and problem solving. Steven Pinker also defends the use of technology in his essay, “Mind Over Mass Media” by claiming that people just need to control their use of technology.

The internet needs to be embraced as an integral part of education and in turn schools should promote the responsible and effective use of the web. Teachers need to understand the importance of the internet and technology in the modern world and should take it upon themselves improve their “techno-literacy” when it is lacking. Without adapting to the modern world, they hamper their ability to teach their students. Students should be taught the critical thinking skills needed to effectively browse the internet; they need to be taught how to effectively judge whether or not an article or website is credible and worth their time. Access to the internet can be a significant part of any classroom and will allow students to further their understanding of the material. Being able to find extra examples for a concept that they do not understand in calculus or trying to find some constant they forgot in physics, all in seconds, can be invaluable to any student. It can be just as invaluable to teachers for whom the internet could be something of an additional tutor in the room for students to ask questions, which would ease the burden on a teacher’s shoulders. However, it will also fall upon teachers and students to ensure the responsible use of the internet and prevent any misuse and exploitation of such a powerful tool. Though it is possible to concentrate while working on the internet, it is also possible to fall prey to the myriad of distractions that present themselves on the internet. Things like YouTube and social networking websites are all parts of the reason that the internet is so wonderful, yet at the wrong time they can serve as pitfalls to a studious student. Thus it is up to individual students to make the ever difficult decision to postpone pleasure for work and it is up to teachers to ensure that this is done in the classroom. If used

Students even admit that outside of the classroom their iPads are not used for educational use they are used for games or social media, they spent over 76% of their time on their iPad. Of over 6000 students only two students said they do not think they are a distraction and 302 teachers surveyed only one did not think the IPads were a distraction. iPads are also really expensive at Columbia public schools they spent $350,000 on 1,100 iPads so schools are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars for their students to be distracted throughout the day so it is not really worth it.

“87% of K-12 teachers believe that ‘today’s digital technologies are creating an easily distracted generation with short attention spans’” (“Should Tablets Replace Textbooks in K-12 Schools?” 1). As observed at my high school, the attention deficit grows, due to the increase of multitasking between classwork completion and cell phone usage. Teachers often fear a drastic reduction in the control due to these technologies magnifying the attention “epidemic” which affects the younger

Gadgets are proposing distractions in the school setting. Phones and other cellular devices are prohibited in the classroom because they are a distraction to the class’s learning environment. In an article by ProCon.org, a debating topic site, says, ¨… they [tablets, or electronics in general] are expensive, too distracting for students, easy to break, and costly/time-consuming to fix.... Tablets contribute to eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision, increase the excuses available for students not doing their homework, require costly Wi-Fi networks, and become quickly outdated as new technologies emerge.” These statements are purely based on opinion, but raises a great point. Students are easily distracted by other other students, but more so than anything by electronics. Many schools prohibit phones to be used in class, but other electronics are allowed. The same site says, “Students

For generations textbooks have given our people an adequate education. The more we become dependent on technology, the less reason one has to come to school. If one is given all the information on the internet, why should you come to school and learn? Why can’t you just research an answer as needed rather than go to school and learn information you will never need for the future? This is a scary concept to think about especially since one day the children who had not gone to school will be running our nation. Technology in the long run may hurt our countries education rather than help

However, some would say that within education, the use of technology can influence students to cheat or take the easy way out on their assignments. “Students today can easily access essays, reports, class notes, tests, etc. online, making it that much more difficult for teachers to know if the work their students hand in is original” (Ronan). This dilemma interferes with teenagers processing new information. The Internet is a great tool; however, teens may rely too heavily on it, and worse, believe everything they see. I believe that the internet can be a great source to gain more knowledge, however, one needs to acknowledge how to effectively use this tool to benefit them.

If you could choose whether computers are distracting or non-distracting for school then what would you choose? I think that computers are both distracting and non-distracting because it could distract you but there are things you can do for it not to be distracting. Computers could be good like they can give you lots of knowledge from it.but some people say that when using a computer in an exam it could make the student perform worse exams. They also think kids are only using computers to play on them and use them for what they are not supposed to. For example they go on youtube and watch whatever they want whenever they want they also go on gaming sites and a lot more other things.

I think that the use of technology in schools is one of the best decisions the school system could have made. Living in a time period of accelerating change, I think that it is important to lean away from the more traditional educational tactics of teaching and learning that may have worked in the past. And start to transition into the more modern-day style of teaching and learning, which involves technology. Students are always using technology. Whether it is them on their laptops, tablets, or using their phones to surf the internet or an app, it is a vital part of their daily lives. I think that because technology plays such a primary role in students' lives, the best way to connect with students in the classroom, is to incorporate technology into some part of the lesson. I believe that

Students may become easily distracted while handling in tablets in class because tablets have much more creative components. Students have the ability to connect to internet and gives a good source to die away from actually learning. Technology gives students an outlet to multitask during learning hinders academic performance. For instance, iPads are a convenient way to communicate and collaborate with friends as well as for self-management by having a calendar, applications, notes, emails, reminders, use social media, and others. Several studies has shown that “the iPad could potentially be a distraction as it is associated more with entertainment then education” (Greenfield par. 3). Tablets are mostly used to download games and apps. The ability to go on the internet or download apps allows students to restrain from their learning.

“Seventy-four of educators support the use of technology in schools” (“Teaching with Technology”). Without technology being available all the time, students and teachers would not be able to communicate as well and thoroughly, research, get as much help, turn in class assignments on a timely manner, diverse learning styles, and prepare for either college or their career. Students should be able to use the devices or whatever they have in their classrooms if it benefits them and their school work.