Comments on: The Practical Impractically of Technology

By: jackie

jackie — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 19:59:43 +0000

Ed,
I totally hear you on struggle to integrate technology into the classroom! I was made aware of the “computer lab” situation on my second day of student teaching! It makes me question… “what to teacher really aim to accomplish by sending students to teh computer lab?” Will they actually do research? Or will they play games on the internet? And is the computer lab jsut a break for the teacher? I have shown two power point presentation in my class, and while the students do benefit from the images and sounds, it is also very time intensive. I agree with the other folks, that we need to “keep trying”, chugging along the technology train. But, I do think we must have at the forefront, will this really help the students?

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 02:43:48 +0000

Ed - I hope you keep trying. It is so important for students to learn to utilize technology. They love the social networking so why not use these tools as part of our teaching and teach the kids the appropriate use. It can be frustrating to have limited access, but our kids deserve everything we can give them. Good Luck!

By: Ms. Scarbary

Ms. Scarbary — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 16:25:14 +0000

Ed- You have to keep trying. I know it’s frustrating to love technology and be willing to use it in creative ways, and then honestly to not have the necessary resources. It’s a bummer. As you know, however, computer skills are necessary for success in higher levels of education. We do our students a disservice if we allow ourselves to be permanently discouraged against incorporating new technologies.

By: chris

chris — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 23:10:11 +0000

I think Ellen’s right here: it’s vital not to lie down and accept the status quo. You’ll find people telling you it’s impossible to give access to computers to all pupils, but it’s such a huge part of life now that if we don’t use the tech as a routine part of our teaching we fail the pupils. And too many of the people with the purse strings are dinosaurs anyway ;-)

By: ellenc

ellenc — Wed, 08 Nov 2006 03:45:09 +0000

I share your concerns. Technology is a wonderful tool for our students, but if we do not have the resources to share it with them, the situation can become highly frustrating. Though we may not be able to book time in the computer lab this month, or next month, I don’t think that gives us a license to stop trying. Technology is becoming an increasingly important part of our society. If we fail to expose students to computers and the internet on the most basic level, we are doing our students a disservice.
If grants can be used to buy books for libraries, why can’t they also help fund computer labs? I know that our school’s silent auction recently raise $14,000 in one night. Where is that money going? Call me an optimist, but I still believe that if we keep trying we can make it work. If nothing else, we owe it to our students to try.