Technology in the American Classroom

There’s no denying that technology has grown to play a major role in education and learning. Students are using laptops, tablets, and smartphones to research, complete, and even collaborate on assignments, both in and outside of the classroom. Timothy D. Snyder and Thomas L. Friedman both have written articles expressing their opposing opinions on technology in the classroom. Timothy Snyder is a Professor of History at Yale University who has written five different award-winning books. In his article, “Why Laptops Are Distracting America’s Future Workforce”, Snyder explains to students and teachers why he is against technology in the classroom. Thomas Friedman is a reporter and columnist for The New York Times, author of six award-winning

“Technology use in classrooms in today’s world is believed to have a positive impact on

Technology in the school has become an increasingly challenging and somewhat disruptive aspect in today’s educational system. In order to maintain what is considered the status quo, schools have focused their energy and resources on banning cell phones, wireless Internet and blocking social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter in schools. However, as technology continues to grow in our society outside of the school, many believe that effectively involving these technologies into the classroom can ultimately improve student engagement in their learning environments. This research paper will focus on both sides of the argument and ultimately seek to determine if there is a best practice regarding technological being put into schools.

The biggest problem with today’s education is how rapid technology is advancing. So rapid, in fact, that schools are attempting to keep up, but are sadly falling short. Teachers are being required to incorporate new technology into their everyday methods of teaching. The use of IPads or laptops in classrooms can be helpful to both teachers and students(edreform online classes)”. If a teacher is not overly familiar with the new devices, then the students will lose what little time they have to learn. As a teacher is attempting to fix technical problems in one class, the class that has a tech savvy teacher will be advancing far ahead. On the other hand, if a classroom is full of students who are very unfamiliar with the technology will have to be taught how to operate it, which wastes valuable time. In today’s society technology usage is so much more widespread than it was just five years ago. The new toys can allow schools to broaden their curriculum. Since most work can be done on a single device, kids can work at their own pace and potentially reach heights they could never reach with book, pen, and paper. The benefits of this new tech greatly outweigh the downsides. The biggest problem with technology in classrooms is their lack of use. So few schools have jumped on board with these programs, and therefore are holding their kids back. These products are readily available, but “the use of new technology

“New Class(room) War” effectively illustrates the point that suppressing technology in the classroom to limit disruption as opposed to supporting it is a battle the teachers know they are going to lose. (Freedman par. 17) This is inevitable because new technologies for entertainment, learning, and communication are constantly being developed; this provides an infinite number of ways to deviate from classwork electronically that nobody had access to as little as twenty years ago. This detriment to society that is disguised as a miracle has teachers referring to the array of modern media devices as today’s equivalent of “pigtail-pulling, spitball-lobbing, and notebook-doodling.” that took place in the classrooms of the pre-computer era. (Freedman par.6)

Technology is a portion of everyday life. It affects how business is conducted, teaching, learning, and receiving information. If you were to examine the effects of technology on teaching and learning and acquire an understanding of why technology should be a part of every classroom curriculum, the conclusion would be that technology is a great benefit to the classroom. Due to the immerse impact and changes technology had on society, education was bound to change. According to the report submitted to the New York state Education Department,it states “in an era when the world has become increasingly dependent upon technical solutions to problems, educators are challenged to provide individuals with technological literacy as part of the fundamental education” (Dettelis). As a result of technological impact on the society the education system was forced to incorporate and enforce the use of technology in schools. Even though technology was initially incorporated in school s to aid students in academic success, its negative effects on learning are surpassing its benefits. Learning is being compromised as a result of numerous flaws the role of technology has on education, not only are there disparities of technology within schools but the level of technology literacy is insufficient. It is essential for the department of Education to create equality within education, as well as to aid in improving technological literacy among educators.

The Evolution of Technology What if all through schooling, grades first through twelfth, the use of any technology was not allowed? Not even as a learning resource or tool?

Technology has taken us to unimaginable highs and it all starts in the classroom. Millennials are considers the dumbest generation because of our “dependency” on technology, but previous generations misunderstand our use of technology when we are just being productive with getting information. Also generations prior to ours never experienced this amount of technology in their time at school so to them they feel as if we are just being lazy to open up a book like they had too. With being able to make technology easier for us in the classroom it helps to become an overall better student. In the classroom, technology is very useful helping students with their school work. Also helps students connect with each other on assignments or for projects and

“By 2009, 97% of classrooms had one or more computers, and 93% of classroom computers had Internet access. For every 5 students, there was one computer. Instructors stated that 40% of students used computers, often in their educational methods, in addition to interactive whiteboards and digital cameras”(Educational technology). The country is on the threshold of the most radical change in American education in over a century. It is clear that technology is increasing and is now woven through education as well.

The topic I am going to focus on throughout this paper is how education has changed over time. Over the many years of education changing, technology has had a great impact on how we learn and how teachers go about teaching. The three main topics I am going to focus on throughout this paper is how technology has taken over, what new teaching and learning styles we have, and whether or not technology has really helped with education.

Technology has dramatically influenced our modern day culture in several ways; we now operate completely different compared to the past. In fact, it can be shown in many tasks that we very rarely complete a simple operation without the use of technology. For example, washing dishes, heating food, doing our homework, and even communication are all examples of how technology has evolved simple tasks. Even furthermore, technology has changed the way education has been taught and received in American classrooms. However, technology was not always so highly advanced in American schools. In fact, a classroom in the 1950’s had little to no technology; one would find blackboards, chalk, handouts, and quite possibly a film-strip projector. However, even the “advancement” of a film-strip projector required much work, due to the fact that many teachers were obligated to travel great distances to retrieve a film-strip for the projector (Cuban, Larry). On the contrary, things have significantly changed in the 21st century American classroom. In truth, it is extremely common to see laptops, televisions, and other cutting-edge technology in a significant amount of today’s public schools. Although the evolution of technology within the classroom has created several conflicting ideas and opinions, technology is actually continuing to increase in classrooms every day and does not seem to decrease any time soon. Unsurprisingly, technology has drastically changed the way American classrooms

Students throughout the 21st century can, without doubt, say that technology has been a part of their learning environment for a very long time. Which of course is true being that technology started to be placed throughout schools across the nation for the past 20-30 years. As students in the modern era, we have been taught through the use of technology, making educational goals attainable through various technology models. This includes computers, iPads, smart boards, projectors and even simple paper and pencils.

Technology has revolutionized the human experience by changing the way one learns. Technology can best be defined as a tool that supports and promotes human learning. This can be seen through the usage of calculators, tablets (example: iPad), Smart Boards, video cameras, and, of course, the computer. These are all innovations that can have a profound impact on classroom learning. Although there are some schools that have a strict policy that technology should be removed from the modern day classroom, other schools believe that integrating technology into the classroom helps prepare our students for the elaborate world they will face going forward. Throughout this essay, I will be focusing on the technology policy and how it has a positive

Technology has made great strides in the past 20 years. It plays a very important role in our lives today and even plays a critical role in the way students learn all over the world. Unfortunately, students now rely on technology instead of learning key fundamentals. Technology has replaced the need to learn and most answers are just a google search away. Technology has also become expensive and lower socioeconomic school districts have found affording the newest technology difficult because of their lack of funding. Technology is a great learning tool when used appropriately. The lower socioeconomic school falls behind in the expanding frontier of technology in the classroom because they cannot afford it compared to their counterparts and results in a gap in education. The development of technology in the classroom has caused students to fail the learning of fundamentals and has exploited lower socioeconomic school districts.

John Dewey, a leader for the progressive movement in education in the United States once said, “If we teach today as we taught yesterday, we rob our children of tomorrow.”