Wired Bodies in the Wired Classroom

Schools across the nation are starting to incorporate technology into the everyday classroom. What started with document cameras and smartboards has now evolved to ipads and individual laptops for every student. I used this image in today's post, because I think it demonstrates all of the great things technology has to offer. Not only is it engaging to kids, but it allows them to collaborate and extend their learning far beyond what any traditional method has to offer. However, these benefits can only happen if technology is used in the right way. 

In Ch. 2 of A New Literacies Sampler, the authors explore the opportunities as well as issues that technology is presenting in schools. These two opposing concepts are examined at Ridgeview Academy, an all girls school where technology is widely accessible, yet being withheld. Even when the technology is used, it is often utilized to accomplish more traditional tasks, like typing a paper or taking notes. Although the administrators and teachers at Ridgeview want to use this technology to provide their students with a well-rounded education and the proper skills for the technological world, they are afraid of the dangers that technology presents. Not only does the internet provide access to inappropriate content and complete strangers in cyberspace, but it can become a distraction in the classroom. The teachers at Ridgeview were struggling to find ways to use the technology for more than just an assistive tool to implement the curriculum, while not providing them with access to the entire internet. 

The experiences of teachers at Ridgeview seem to echo the same criticisms I have heard from teachers at one-to-one schools. Teachers want to embrace technology, but have faced difficulties in making it an effective learning tool instead of a distraction. I feel like part of what makes the incorporation of technology so difficult is the fact that students have access to technology at home and are accustomed to using it as a social or gaming tool, rather than a learning tool. Part of our task will be to teach students that using iPads and computers at school are for a different purpose than outside of school. Also, I believe that we have to make an effort to use technology in new, interactive ways, rather than just a way to make traditional tasks more efficient.