Friday, September 11, 2015
Pew Survey Results: Teachers' Technology Use
Reading the Pew survey results about teachers' technology use, I wasn't surprised at all to see the disparity in technology resources available to poorer students, the prevalence of technology in the classroom, or the knowledge gap between students and teachers.
The Pew survey results are reflective of my own experience with my tutoring students. My students range in age from eight to fourteen and all of them use computing technology for their school work. All of my middle and high school students have class assignments, syllabi and textbooks available online, and some them can only access their school work online. These students are more typical in affluents areas, where technology is readily available at home. It's no wonder that 70% of teachers in the most affluent areas say that their school districts to a "good job" of providing adequate technologies to their students.
As a tutor, I have stuck to a more traditional approach with my students. I believe that technology has its place in the classroom, but what I see is an over-reliance on computing technology to fix fundamentally poor English and writing skills. The Pew survey states that 71% of teachers agree that "today's digital technologies discourage students from finding and using a wide range of sources for their research." I think it also discourages the study of grammar and writing.
My younger students typically have poor handwriting and a tenuous grasp on spelling. Their abilities to format sentences without the aid of a word processing program are, I think, negatively affected by too much dependence on technology.
I don't want to completely discount technology as a learning tool. I know that I have a great deal to learn about educational technologies as a teacher. The survey stated that 64% of teachers under the age of 35 state that they were "very confident" with new digital technologies. I'm 37, so I have a lot of experience with new technologies but I wouldn't call myself "very confident" with it.
I'm like many of the teachers in the survey who say that their students know more about technology than they do. I was surprised to see how many of my students don't even use textbooks and how much of their homework is done entirely within the confines of programs such as Google Docs. I need to learn more about collaborative, online work. Hopefully, this course will allow me to improve in those areas.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Many people praise technology, only viewing it as a positive and you are correct here in saying that by everything being so technology oriented students are loosing the basic skills of reading and writing. We live in a world today where technology is increasing faster then we can imagine and everyone is expected to be up to speed, however it does not always work like that. Yes, I think technology is good but to an extent. For example, I disagree with the idea of having student testing and assessments done online. Many formal testing is being moved to computer based from the traditional paper based. What do you think about this? There are many research studies that view the benefits and downfalls of both these strategies of testing and this remains an ongoing controversy. What would you say are some major benefits and downfalls of both paper and computer assessment/testing?
ReplyDeleteI'm not really sure that the assessment method is as important as the effect that these assessments can have on teachers, who feel pressured to teach only what will be assessed. I wish teachers had more freedom to explore topics or to "off curriculum" if they felt that it would serve their students well. I will say that having to write long-hand essays is a good way to teach students how to put together written communications.
DeleteI completely agree with you when you say that digital technology discourages grammar and writing. I've watched some students become so dependent on Microsoft Word to fix their grammatical errors rather than understanding basic grammar rules. It kind of worries me when I see that because, for example, some students can't differentiate between "they're, their, or there" and when Word doesn't pick it up they blame that. I think e-books are great in terms of being environmentally friendly however what are the health risks with students continuously starring at a computer to read books and do all the busy many teachers assign now anyway?
ReplyDeleteYes, the basic things, such as the differentiation between "they're and there" are apparent to me every day. I tutor elementary school children and see it all the time. But what really gets me is that despite many of my students growing up with technology, none of them can type! They've all grown up texting. Hopefully, schools can revert to some of the basics soon.
DeleteSejal, I definitely agree with you on the environmentally friendly route for e-books. I'm more old fashion and like having a book in my hands. I wrote about it in my post that I don't believe it is healthy for students to be staring at a screen for more than they already are. They are already playing video games, watching tv, and searching the internet, why add more screen time. The blue light that comes from computers is really becoming a problem with peoples vision.
DeleteYou bring up some really good points in your post about the differences that exist among urban and suburban districts--especially with regard to technology access for both students and their teachers. This “digital divide” has been discussed in educational literature for over a decade. Most glaring from the report was that it revealed disparities in technology use between teachers who work in schools in more or less affluent communities. While these teachers may be considered technologically literate--the lack of technology access at school, as well as their students’ lack of access at home presents an unfortunate dilemma to which there are no easy answers. Can these issues only be addressed through policy and systemic changes? What is the solution? These are really big, yet important questions.
ReplyDeleteI think the issue of "lack of access" goes much deeper than a computer or a tablet. I think it goes to the root of poor vs. rich and the fact that wealthier families will always be able to give their children advantages that poorer families cannot. I think to break the cycle of advantage/disadvantage, we have to address what happens in the home as much as in the classroom.
DeleteYou bring up some really good points in your post about the differences that exist among urban and suburban districts--especially with regard to technology access for both students and their teachers. This “digital divide” has been discussed in educational literature for over a decade. Most glaring from the report was that it revealed disparities in technology use between teachers who work in schools in more or less affluent communities. While these teachers may be considered technologically literate--the lack of technology access at school, as well as their students’ lack of access at home presents an unfortunate dilemma to which there are no easy answers. Can these issues only be addressed through policy and systemic changes? What is the solution? These are really big, yet important questions.
ReplyDeleteI am so happy you pointed out the issue of poor grammar and writing because I could not agree with you more. People rely heavily on word processors that often "auto-correct" common typos. How is a student supposed to learn that he or she continuously spells a certain word incorrectly if the computer automatically corrects it? Do you have your students write out their assignments to you? Do you find that they understand they are lacking in these skills or are they reluctant to do work away from the computer?
ReplyDeleteI find them to be completely unaware until they are forced to write something by hand and I point out how many words they are misusing/misspelling. It's unfortunate.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you find technology to be useful but also discourages students to learn basic grammar skills. I completely agree with this! Especially with your example of "their" and "there" or even "your" and "you're." It is so easy for students to just use spellcheck to correct these errors; however, there is no way of knowing if the student actually understands why it is being corrected and what the differences of the two words are.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that you find technology to be useful but also discourages students to learn basic grammar skills. I completely agree with this! Especially with your example of "their" and "there" or even "your" and "you're." It is so easy for students to just use spellcheck to correct these errors; however, there is no way of knowing if the student actually understands why it is being corrected and what the differences of the two words are.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I wish that there was more of an emphasis on basic grammar and punctuation prior to the introduction of classroom technologies.
Delete