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Technology in the Classroom

Breonna Liguori

EDU 384
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Classrooms are evolving from what they used to be. It is very rare that you will see a

chalkboard, a whiteboard, let alone an overhead projector that teachers used to write on. From

SMART boards to virtual learning games and beyond, there are so many new ways to teach the

same things that have been taught for years. Change isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The world is

making technological advances, so it is only fitting that the education realm keeps up. Just like

most things there are pros and cons of integrating technology into a classroom.

There are several positive aspects that technology brings. Technology is great because it

allows quick access to a copious amount of information. Kathleen Gulley said something very

inspiring and that was that “education serves as a window through which our imagination and

curiosity can take flight into the unknown and enhance our creativity, and the use of computer

technology in education plays an enormous role in helping students to achieve their full

development potential” (Gulley). Anyone can look up questions that they may have and within

seconds be able to find the answer. Children connect well with technology. Most of them spend

their free time on some type of device related to technology, whether it be on their computers,

phones, or video games. Technology will get them excited about learning and therefore increase

the student’s engagement. Also, technology allows students to work at their own pace. This

increased engagement will lead to an improvement in the student’s retention of information. In

addition, incorporating something different in the way you teach will be a good change in pace

for those students who get bored by routine. Being able to use technology efficiently is a life skill

in today’s evolving world. As these students grow up and enter the real-world, they are going to

need to know how to operate technological devices. By providing students with access to these

things early, we are better preparing them for their future. From a teacher’s perspective, being

able to use technology opens to door to a whole lot of new resources to use in the classroom. It
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also makes life easier because they can input data and have numbers crunched without actually

doing the work themselves.

According to an article published on The Qualitative Report, “teaching has been ripped

from the realm of human endeavors and morphed into a technological leviathan that is slowly

usurping the soul of the profession” (Kemp). While I do not agree that technology is that big of a

monster, with all great things come some downfalls. First of all, devices can be expensive.

Schools would have to set aside a good amount of money to purchase new technologies for

students and teachers to use, and some may not have the resources to do so. Going along with

that, not all students are going to have access to technology at home. You have to be careful with

assigning outside work involving technology because some students may not be able to complete

it. The possibility of encountering technological issues is always a concern with these devices, so

back-up plans need to be created. Going along with that, it may take teacher’s more time to plan

a lesson when technology is to be incorporated. Students are already exposed to hours of screen

time at home, so it may not be ideal to keep adding on to this exposure. This decreases the

amount of face to face interaction that the students have. We must compromise by making sure

that we are allowing for equal amounts of technological use as peer interaction. Because students

have such quick access to loads of information, there is a possibility that they could get

distracted and play around with things other than the assignment they are supposed to be

working on. Something else that could be an issue is cheating. Students may be tempted to look

online for answers for things they are meant to answer on their own. Jamil says that “the most

alarming effect of technology on students involves poor formal writing i.e., text messages on

cellular phone, emailing, and internet searches” (Jamil). Teachers can

create professional learning networks which is an “anywhere, anytime source for ideas and
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information that supports teaching work” (Maloy). I created my own PLN via Weebly and it is a

resource that I will reference throughout my career.

I have my own thoughts about the use of technology in my future classroom. Personally,

I am not the biggest fan of using technology over traditional teaching methods. I would much

rather prefer to teach with just a whiteboard. I do think that some of the new technologies out

there are very cool and interesting to work with; however, I am just not completely sold on their

usefulness. I think that most anything can be taught with paper and pencil, but it is hard to keep

kids these days engaged that way. If students are not engaged, then they will not learn. So,

personally I feel as if technology needs to be incorporated into teaching with the world that we

live in today. I like the idea of having a webpage that my students can access at home. I am also

a fan of GeoGebra, a math software that has several features that are more advanced than a

typical calculator. My webpage would include helpful resources, copies of assignments, answer

keys to homework, as well as any other information that would be useful for my students. I do

not want my students to be so dependent on technology though, that they panic when they take a

test on pencil and paper. I am very interested to see how the teaching world will change with all

of these advances in technology.

There is no escaping the impending presence of technology in today’s world. As

a teacher, it is beneficial to keep up with the times so that your students will be more prepared to

enter the workforce. The key is to keep a balance between technological instruction and

traditional learning. With so many options available to choose from, every teacher can

find something that will work for you.

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Works Cited

Gulley, K. P. (2003). Pros and Cons of Computer Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved on

August 12, 2010

from https://nau.edu/uploadedFiles/Academic/COE/About/Projects/Pros%20and%20Con

s%20of%20Computer%20Technology%20in%20the%20Classroom.pdf

Jamil, M., & Shah, J. (2011). Technology: Its potential effects on teaching in higher

education. New Horizons in Education, 59(1), 38-51. Retrieved

from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ955474.pdf

Kemp, A. T., Preston, J., Page, C. S., Harper, R., Dillard, B., Flynn, J., & Yamaguchi, M. (2014).

Technology and Teaching: A Conversation among Faculty Regarding the Pros and Cons

of Technology. The Qualitative Report, 19(3), 1-23. Retrieved

from https://nsuworks.nova.edu/tqr/vol19/iss3/2

Maloy, R. W., Verock-OLoughlin, R., Edwards, S. A., & Woolf, B. P. (2017). Transforming

learning with new technologies (Third ed.). Boston: Pearson.