Note: This post is in response to Week 4 Module 4 Blog 3
We live in an age where technology is ubiquitous. Two thirds of the
world’s population now own a mobile phone. In Australia the majority of
secondary schools have some form of "BYOD" policy and it is becoming
increasingly difficult to function in society without the regular use of
technology in some form. Although it may seem then, that the ship has sailed in
terms of whether we have BYOD programs for students, it is
important to consider how the devices are used and the
impacts, both positive and negative, that BYOD programs may have on learning.
Should a laptop or tablet be
"just another tool" in the classroom? Would we restrict the use of
pens? Paper? Books? In the context of a classroom, we do in fact restrict these
tools at various times, in order to control distraction. A student would not
generally be allowed to read a novel or write a letter rather than
participating in a lesson and neither should they necessarily be given
unrestricted access to digital devices. It could be argued in fact that given
that technology can be addictive and the prevalence of “Internet Addiction” has
led to it being a clinical diagnosis (Kuss,
Griffiths, & Binder, 2013), that we should in fact be protecting our
students from the trappings of being constantly connected, in the same way we
might educate them about avoiding addictive drugs. In a university context,
laptop use has been shown to be inversely related to academic performance, even
when factors such as student motivation, intelligence and interest were taken
into account (Ravizza,
Uitvlugt, & Fenn, 2016).
What do we do though, when a potential source of problems is critical
to modern life? Like many things, it comes back to how we use it. We need to
ensure that lessons are well planned and not “technocentric” (Mishra
& Koehler, 2006) as well as teaching students skills in
critical literacy, safety and effective use of technology (Swan &
Park, 2012) – including knowing when to “Log out”.
References
Kuss, D. J., Griffiths, M. D., & Binder, J. F. (2013). Internet
addiction in students: Prevalence and risk factors. Computers in Human Behavior, 29(3), 959-966. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2012.12.024
Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological pedagogical
content knowledge: A framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers college record, 108(6), 1017.
Ravizza, S. M., Uitvlugt, M. G., & Fenn, K. M. (2016). Logged in
and zoned out. Psychological Science, 28(2),
171-180. doi:10.1177/0956797616677314
Swan, G., & Park, M. (2012, 2012/12//). Students need a digital
driver's license before they start their engines. Learning & Leading with Technology, 40, 26+.
I just created a long reply and I don't think it has come through! Ah, technology! I will try again.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are currently looking at primary schools for our youngest. It has been interesting that ALL our local schools have BYOD programs of some sort, mostly iPad based. However, one school currently has a program beginning in yr3, but by next year it will be put back to start in yr5 due to negative feedback from parents. I certainly believe balance needs to be struck between technology and more traditional teaching practices, espeically in younger years. And, as you have stated, it is imperative students are also able to switch off from technology.
I agree distraction is a huge downfall of technology. My secondary school had a laptop program, and we were constantly on facebook, sending emails, playing games etc. Yes there were firewalls blocking these sites, but no quicker did the tech staff block a site as a tech savy teenager found a way around it and we were all back online. This was a few years ago and technology use was pretty basic - researching, using online textbooks, etc. Perhaps with interactive and interesting software students would be less distracted?
Kate M
Interesting Kate that you have had your own experience of laptops in high schools. I have a teacher friend (English) who tells me she frequently makes all of her students close their laptops during her classes. I agree that the students will usually be one step ahead - even in a work environment I can remember using proxies to get around blocking of websites etc.
DeleteI've been trying to find some research around the addictive nature of social media. There is some out there but not always applicable and it is a fairly recent phenomenon. I sometimes feel as though we're handing our kids a drug and saying "go for it"!