Hello, my name is Alina and I have wanted to be a teacher since the age of six. Having one semester of student teaching under my belt really made me realize that teaching English in a secondary school classroom is my life’s passion. Being a teacher in today’s world is a lot different than our predecessors, and technology plays a huge role in the classroom.
Technology keeps expanding and our future students are exposed to it daily. Having a computer and being able to access the internet have become almost necessities in every classroom. Technology opens the door to unlimited amounts of information, which is beneficial to the student and classroom curriculum. I believe that technology should be incorporated into an English classroom, but it is still important that students do not lose their penmanship. Students still need to have the skills to do research in a library and the experience of reading a hard-cover book can never be replaced. Technology is a good addition to the classroom curriculum, but it should be used in moderation.
I have witnessed teachers use PowerPoint presentations very effectively in the classroom, but I have also seen the shortcomings of using this wonderful program. I had a teacher who only lectured from PowerPoint slides and the entire class was meant for us to speedily copy all the information provided in small print. The teacher did not add any other information, just read of the slides, and half the class was asleep most of the time. There was no teacher-student interaction and the room was dimmed the entire time in order for the projection of the slides to show. PowerPoint is a great technological advancement, but it needs to be used properly otherwise it can disasterous.
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Technology has become as important as a white board in the 2010 classroom., yet this concept to incorporate the use of technology into the classroom should not be abused. I have had the same situation as you Alina, teachers boring their students to death with their mind-numbing PowerPoints which they read solely off. Technology has become a way for the teacher to do as little in class teaching as possible. Instead of incorporating technology with a hands-on activity, students are expected to sit through hours of note taking. If you are going to use it, use it correctly! =]
ReplyDeleteI sympathize with your "Power Point Presentation Professor" experience. I've been in classes where that has occurred as well, and it is so frustrating! They might as well just e-mail out the Power Point document and let me stay home, it would save on gasoline and I would have gotten exactly the same experience!
ReplyDeleteI've been in other classes where Power Point was used far more effectively, however. I had one professor who taught a genetics class, it was a science class but not one intended for “science” majors. She would e-mail out a stripped-down version of the Power Point presentations a few days ahead of time. She would then go over each slide in class, but supplement it with more information and take our questions so we could get notes on specific things which we were confused on or needed more information about. Since we were able to print out the slides ahead of time, taking notes was much easier. But because she didn't just read from a script, the experience was interactive and interesting, and I found it highly effective. We also HAD to stay awake and listen to her, not just scribble down information and then doze off until it was time for the next slide.
Alina makes a good point when she states that PowerPoints can be over used. All too often I have sat through classes with professors who rely solely on PowerPoint. The lack of human interaction, as Alina states, takes away the energy and excitement that only comes from classroom discussion. It is a tragedy to see an interesting topic crushed by excessive use of technology which does not enhance a topic.
ReplyDeleteI share the same take actually. Ever since I was young, I wanted to be a teacher. I have experienced similar issues about technology and such. I use to have a teacher EXACTLY like that. It greatly limits the ability to interact with the teacher. When you interact, you build a connection with the individual. Not only that, but also, classroom discussion helps in critical thinking and a great openness to explore and listen to different worldviews. I greatly agree with you. Technology is great as an additional aid, but should be used moderately.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. Penmanship is very important and alot of teachers just require printed papers now. I recently met a ten year old boy who could type like the wind but couldn't hand write his own name. Technology only has become some teachers' way of teaching. I personally think power point is a half-as* way of presenting in a classroom. In a business meeting it is a very useful tool. In a classroom, why not write on the board or on an overhead projector! Get the class involved and don't just lecture.
ReplyDeleteAlina,
ReplyDeleteI very much appreciate where you are coming from, and agree there is a time and place for media technology in the classroom, and that such technology should only be used in moderation. I think it is especially crucial for elementary students to master reading and writing without the aid of computers in order to fully develop their full potential for education. I also think the teacher-student interaction is of great importance for early educational development because this encourages a student to be more comfortable in asking questions in the classroom if they have a hard time comprehending the material covered in class.
Furthermore, I think all too many professors solely rely on Power Point, which can oftentimes be distracting and even disrupt a lecture. All too often I have experienced in numerous classes the unfortunate circumstance where a professor experiences “technical difficulties” with their Power Point presentations and the result is a bunch of time wasted on trying to fix the problem which could have been spent on lecturing/learning. This particular scenario was demonstrated in one of my classes at CSUN, and the professor was so disorganized and unprepared, he canceled the class because he could not lecture without the help of his Power Point presentation.
I agree with you when you say students should not lose their penmanship. Especially now where we have technology every where we look. It is important for the student to write everyday. Texting has become second nature to us so some good old fashioned writing is much needed!!!
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