Juliana Spagnolo

DLL 4196

18 Nov 2017

Essay Exam

When I think of the advancement in technology in classrooms I can name a million new

things that are used in classrooms today than when I was in grade school just three short years

ago! I think that the advancement of technology in the classroom is great for both the students

and teachers. It allows students to give their brains the proper stimulation to learn and grow

while also learning how to use technology. It allows teachers to keep up to date and

knowledgeable on the latest and greatest while being considered a cool teacher by their

students because they have a smartboard and know how to use an iPad. In many of my

placements I have found that students are more engaged in classroom participation when some

sort of technology is being used. My current placement is in a sixth grade math classroom and

the students stay stimulated by working in front of the class on a smartboard and on the

classroom computers.

In Mike Britlands How has technology transformed the role of a teacher?, he says,

During 10 years in the profession, I've seen technology alter the role the teacher almost beyond

all recognition and that wooden, flip-lid desks have been replaced by iPads. In this article

Britland agrees that this has been a positive change in the learning world. An article written by

Perdue University titled How Has Technology Changed Education?, states that it has also left a

positive impact on the education world for many reasons. One is that Today, massive amounts

of information (books, audio, images, videos) are available at ones fingertips through the

Internet, and opportunities for formal learning are available online worldwide through the Khan
Academy, MOOCs, podcasts, traditional online degree programs, and more. Access to learning

opportunities today is unprecedented in scope thanks to technology. The article also states that

communication and collaboration has also been improved in the world of education as well,

Today, technology enables forms of communication and collaboration undreamt of in the past.

In the article Benefits of Technology in the Classroom by TeachHub.coms Janelle Cox, says that

75% of educators think that technology has a positive impact in the education process and that

educators also recognize the importance of developing these technological skills in students so

they will be prepared to enter the workforce once they complete their schooling. Throughout

these three different sources and my observations during different placements I believe that

overall technology has had a positive effect on teaching and learning in the education world.

Although I believe it to be overall a positive effect, there are still some negative aspects.

As I saw positive effects of technology in the classroom I also witnessed the negative.

Students who were given their own laptops or iPads would sometimes get distracted with playing

games or searching the internet. In Timothy Smithees article Negative Effects of Using

Technology in Todays Classroom, he brought up many valid points of how technology in the

classroom can have negative effects. Smithee mentioned that cost for technology in the

classroom can be a huge impact on whether or not a school can afford it. Smithee also mentioned

that maintaining and updating the technology only adds to the cost. In the article How

Technology in the Classroom Really Affects Learning by Supporting Educations Sarah Green,

she mentions, recent studies are showing that students and schools that use more technology by

and large actually have lower scores on math and reading tests. Before writing this article I

never really put into consideration how much money having technology in the classroom would

cost a school or school district and that can lead to major problems or loss of the opportunity. In
the article from Edudemic written by Pamela DeLoatch, The Four Negative Sides of Technology,

she says that more than a third of children under the age of two use mobile media and that

number only increases as children age. This use of technology at such a young age can effect a

young childs brain. There are many ways to monitor children using technology and I believe

that if technology is used in a classroom it has special settings on it so that students cannot access

inappropriate sites or get distracted from what they are meant to be doing.
 Resources

Britland, M. (2013, June 18). How has technology transformed the role of a
teacher? Retrieved November 18, 2017, from
https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-
blog/2013/jun/18/technology-transform-teaching-students-schools

Cox, J. (n.d.). Benefits of Technology in the Classroom. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from

http://www.teachhub.com/benefits-technology-classroom

DeLoatch, P. (2015, May 2). The Four Negative Sides of Technology. Retrieved November 18,

2017, from http://www.edudemic.com/the-4-negative-side-effects-of-technology/

Green, S. (2013, November 18). How Technology in the Classroom Really Affects Learning.

Retrieved November 18, 2017, from

http://www.supportingeducation.org/2013/11/11/technology-classroom-really-affects-learning/

P. (2017, April 25). How Has Technology Changed Education? Retrieved November 18, 2017, from

http://online.purdue.edu/ldt/learning-design-technology/resources/how-has-technology-changed-

education

Smithee, T. (n.d.). Negative Effects of Using Technology in Today's Classroom. Retrieved

November 18, 2017, from https://itstillworks.com/negative-effects-using-technology-todays-

classroom-1549.html
 Essay Exam Part 2

My essay exam 2 question is: Is using the internet beneficial in the classroom? Through

assignments in this class and the way that I have seen my placement teachers utilize the internet

for in class assignments I believe using the internet in the classroom beneficial. I found that there

are many different ways to keep children involved in classwork and lessons while using

technology and that it is also important to give them their own freedom in using technology in

the classroom to help them learn. In a placement classroom my cooperating teacher every Friday

had genius hour where each student had a laptop and created their own presentations to present

in front of the class! I thought this was a fun way of keeping the children involved and to also

have them discovering technology in their own way! Also through this class I will also be using

Web Quests which will allow my students to go online themselves and discover new

information.

The University of Florida wrote an article Internet Has Many Benefits that gives many

important factors of why using the internet as a student is important. Using the internet in the

classroom is important for not only students and the teacher but also parents, having online

grading systems allows the parents to log on when they would like to see their students

progress. Also apps like Classroom Dojo allow parents and students and even the teacher to

communicate with one another. The article The Advantages of Internet in Education by Kori

Morgan says that as classroom technology and online courses become more prevalent and

advanced, teachers and students alike have new ways to study, plan class activities and present

information. I have recently heard of a high school canceling school but students still being able

to learn and do homework from laptops the school provides and that the students take home
daily. I believe having the internet as a search engine is a privilege and we, as educators, should

incorporate that into our teaching but there are as many negative aspects as there are positive.

In the article Negative Effects of Internet in Education by William Lynch, he states that

the internet has proven to be a double-edged sword for education. This article talks a lot about

how students and teachers become reliant on the internet. It also talks about how work ethic,

attention span, cheating, and physical development effects the internet has on students! In the

article Negative Effects of Using Technology in Todays Classroom by Julia Klaus she talks a lot

about how the internet is being used more frequently than ever before. Klaus mentions that the

internet is being overused in classrooms and can give students a game mindset which is an idea

that not a lot of educators agree with. I believe that used in the right way the internet can be a

very useful tool in the classroom. Teachers should not depend on the internet and allow students

to rely on the internet but should give some assignments, lessons and free time to let students

explore.
 Resources

Klaus, J. (n.d.). Negative Effects of Using Technology in Today's Classroom. Retrieved November

18, 2017, from https://classroom.synonym.com/negative-effects-using-technology-todays-

classroom-4130.html

Lynch, W. (n.d.). Negative Effects of Internet in Education. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from

https://itstillworks.com/negative-effects-internet-education-2002.html

Morgan, K. (n.d.). The Advantages of Internet in Education. Retrieved November 18, 2017, from

http://classroom.synonym.com/advantages-internet-education-5549217.html

U. (1997). Internet has Many Benefits . Retrieved November 18, 2017, from

http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/STUDENTS/Lui/index3.htm