Does the Internet and technology offer promise and hope for education or learning or does it just create additional problems? What do you see as the promise and what do you see as the problems?
As a student who grew up in a relatively affluent suburb of Minneapolis, I was blessed to have been surrounded by computers and technology for my entire schooling. I had a computer in my home, and computers in my classroom's for as long as I've been in school.
In third grade typing was part of the curriculum, but this was the first time I remember using the computers for educational purposes. After that it was expected that students would be proficient typers, and become adept at using the Internet.
As a sixth grader I was given the opportunity to be a member of the "web-page club" and the "photojournalists" to document happenings at my elementary school, and publish them on the school web page.
As I moved into high school, I began to use computers on a more regular basis, both for research, and reports. Overall, my experience with the Internet and technology was great.
Unfortunately, during my Ed. 115 experience, I saw some of the downfalls of technology and the Internet. First of all, students do not seem to have the exposure to the Internet that I did, so that even as sophomores in high school, they are not as comfortable using the Internet and computers as I was.
Also, their access to computers seems to be primarily at school, which does not give them the opportunity to be comfortable with the Internet, which I find very unfortunate. I think that technology can be a great addition to the classroom, especially for use in research and exploration.
No comments:
Post a Comment