Media Will Never Influence Learning:
When I first looked at the title, I did not agree already. Once I read it, I still didn't agree fully. The study that was completed here was WAY outdated. Technology has changed so much over the years and now it is used as an important instructional tool in the class instead of just a "medium." And guess what? Technology is far from being set in stone! It will just keep on changing and we will have to choose to keep learning and keep up with it! Using technology in almost all of my lessons and it being the base in most of my classes offered, I feel that media influences almost all aspects of learning in the classroom.
When Each One Has One:
I looked at this from my situation where I will more than likely have a computer lab than laptops for each student. I don't feel that it is absolutley necessary that each student has his or her own computer, but it is more efficient for individual assignments. I like to give more individual work because groups sometimes tend to be left for one person to do all the work. However, group work is difficult on computers if you only have so many in your room. My students during internship would collaborate in the lab and each person would use their own computers and research a different aspect. Then, they would e-mail, save, etc. and combine all their findings to one computer.
The teacher interveiws were probably most interesting. I was not shocked when the teachers with the laptops had trouble with Internet use and technical difficulties. The Internet is a hard aspect to monitor and control. As soon as you turn your back in a lab, they are on the Internet....Also, technical difficulties are hard to deal with too. I, myself can't even fix every problem or answer every question, but students are persistent and believe you should be able to answer EVERYTHING!!! :)
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The title of the first article did throw me off a bit. I agree with some of the previous post, the article is out dated. Technology does promote learning in the classroom when implemented correctly. With that being said, there is no substitute for classroom management and instructional strategies. When technology is combined with the two I think the best atmosphere for learning is created.
ReplyDeleteThe second article was more interesting to me, because everyone of my students has there on laptops. The students have there own laptops is a great for both the teachers and the students. Our options in the classroom seem endless. The majority of the students use the laptops appropriately, and benefit from the technology. There are some students who have to be monitored all the time. It's important for the teachers to stay on top of their games, because the students are always finding new ways to do things that they aren't allowed to.
Trey