Student Response: Technology - Where do we Stand? - N. Lo Coco

Technology: Where do we Stand?

By: N. Lo Coco

Student response to “Is Technology ruining a generation of learners?”

With the rising influences that technology poses to our ever-growing population, differing opinions have arisen about the positive effects that technology provides to our children as well as what opportunities have been taken away from them as a result of these new developments. While I think we all can concur that the technological advances made within the medical industry have enhanced the quality of living for many people internationally, and further developments have allowed us to find cures and effective treatment programs for many illnesses that were previously undiscovered, many are not convinced that these technological advances have positively impacted the quality of life for our children.

In an effort to redefine our world through a more productive and simplistic light, the addition of technology to classrooms and homes alike have challenged the way educators and families raise their children. In classrooms, with many schools adopting a one to one education model, each student is provided with a laptop or technological device which allows them to connect with each other in groups, as well as with the teacher, to create a more simplistic approach to education. This eliminates the need for heavy textbooks and also provides students with the ability to do research all in one location. While I believe that the goal for the one on one has its benefits, there are multiple reasons why the new system is flawed. Take for example, a situation that happened in my own home a few days ago. Upon coming home to complete my homework, all of which was on my laptop with various textbooks and online documents that I needed to complete the workload, the wifi within our house was disconnected and did not come back on until the next day. Had my work all been on paper, I would have had no trouble completing it and having it ready for the next day, but instead, without the wifi I needed to complete the work, I found myself working on it during various times throughout school the next day, distracting from the work we were supposed to be learning because of a technological error that affected me the day previous.

While I’m sure missing wifi isn’t a frequent occurrence that should cause much need for concern, I did wonder if the same instances had affected any other children; mainly those without access to wifi in their own homes. Considering that we have access to wifi at school, there are usually very little problematic experiences where the learning process is interrupted due to technological errors however, for low income students without access to wifi within their own homes, it must be problematic to their homework environment as well as their ability to keep up with what is going on in the class. I’d imagine that finding somewhere that has wifi to complete their homework is a challenge for some students, depending on their situation. With free access to wifi in places within the community like the local Starbucks or the library, it may provide solace for students in need of access to technology however, this still poses a problem. With library hours usually ending at about 9pm, students may have limited abilities to participate in extracurricular activities within the school setting, because of the amount of homework they might have on a daily basis.

Technological advances within the school system also provide opportunities for this technology to be taken advantage of. With the rise on social media in our culture and the need to be aware of everything the minute it happens, the addition of laptops into our classrooms provide an additional technological distraction that teachers are fighting against while they present new teachings to the class. With the endless abilities of the internet today, and a laptop being open in front of every student in the room, is there really a way to be sure that all students are engaged in learning, and not playing flappy bird? While we can make a positive effort to ensure that our students are engaged in the learning process at all times with the one to one system, the margin for distraction each time a student opens the laptop in front of them increases with new app and social media development available at the touch of a button.