Visions of Students: Technology: Yes or No?

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today
Enlighten yourself

This short video gives the most descriptive statistics on how students spend their time during the day and what they think about college fees, books, assignments, and time management. As it seems, students are aware of the costs of college attendance - in fees and in time - and yet they still don't seem to be prepared. How can they keep up when they're given so much homework and expected to pay so many expenses? How is all of this supposed to be squeezed in between television time and phone conversations?

I believe that being in college creates a different list of priorities; since there's nothing the students can do about how much it costs to attend, what they'll need to be successful, or how much work they'll be given to complete... perhaps the students should control what they can: how they spend their time inside of and outside of class. It is believed that "technology can save us," but then the students make the point of the video that it probably cannot when they go on to say what they use their laptops for in class: Facebook and other irrelevant things. Perhaps this is why schools and learning institutions haven't embraced the technology advancements in the classrooms... Maybe the old ways are the only ways to keep the students on task - whether they like it or not.


Kelly Hines: It's Not About the Technology
Read what she has to say.

I think I agree with Mrs. Hines the most on the technology in classrooms issue. After all, technology isn't supposed to substitute for teaching techniques, but enhance them. It is beneficial for teachers to utilize some technological advancements to prepare students for a life-long learning experience, but students shouldn't have to rely on the technologies to teach them anything. As Mrs. Hines points out, "Technology is useless without good teaching."

Mrs. Hines also makes a very good analogy considering the advancement of teachers' teaching techniques, saying they should be "working smarter, not harder" to turn their students into learners: "If an object does not move, no matter how much force has been applied, no work has been done. Therefore, if a student has not learned, no matter how much effort has been exerted, no teaching has been done." So it may help the teacher personally to use certain tools to teach, but if the students aren't learning anything, there is no purpose fulfilled. Again, it's not just about the technology.


Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to be a Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
Find out what Mr. Fisch thinks.

This is no doubt a very influential blog to read regarding technological literacy. Sure, the point has been made that technology is only relevant when it enhances the learning experience, but Mr. Fisch makes another very interesting analogy concerning technological literacy: "If a teacher today is not technologically literate - and is unwilling to make the effort to learn more - it's equivalent to a teacher 30 years ago who didn't know how to read and write." He makes the point in comparing computer knowledge of today's world to actual literacy in the last centuries. Times progress, and if the teachers aren't willing to progress with them, they're only hindering their students from reaching their full potential.

I believe that technological literacy is very important, too, but I'll still have to side with Mrs. Hines: these technological advancements should only be used to enhance the students' learning experience; so much emphasis shouldn't be placed on HOW MUCH these teachers know about the technology, but instead, HOW they use it to enhance their lessons. Students can learn how to use an instrument, but if it's not helping them learn what they need to learn, it's not helping them in the least. I'm curious to see what Mr. Fisch thinks of Mrs. Hines's stance on the situation. Remember, "it's not JUST about the technology..."


Gary Hayes: Social Media Count
See it for yourself!

This is Karl Fisch's exponential technology growth point in action! Watching all the numbers climb right before my eyes has probably been the biggest eye-opener as to just how much technology IS a part of our lives.

However... Some of the things on the list are irrelevant in education: all the Facebook and Twitter statistics aren't really important in preparing children for "the real world." Although, some of the other statistics (the Google searches, etc.) provide insight into what IS really necessary in education and what SHOULD be taught to students - also what teachers should know how to use and how to teach. What teacher doesn't know how to use Google? If the things on this media count are what is used the most - they must be the most important skills necessary to be "technologically literate." If this is the case, I'd like to think that MOST teachers will be doing just fine.