Technology in the classroom needs to be examined

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Technology in classrooms is not necessarily a bad thing. But, we must consider the damage this may have on students and how they learn.

Over the past five years, the prevalence of technology as a part of the grade school classroom has skyrocketed. In a study done by Education Week, they found that 90 percent of the district heads they surveyed lead schools with a one-to-one student-laptop ratio for middle and high school students; around 84 percent of those districts also remarked that they provided one-to-one laptops for schoolwork at the elementary level. While this has academic advantages for teachers and students alike, I feel it is also important to consider the negative impacts this shift might create for students' relationships with learning and technology. 

Part of the educator’s role in the modern age is helping students create a healthy and conducive relationship with technology. It is important that schools adapt to the world and understand that the kids they teach can type effectively, use the internet responsibly, and become familiar with widely-used applications like the Google or Microsoft suites of tools (e.g., Google Docs, Google Slides, Microsoft Word, etc.)— but might the constant utilization of these tools in the classroom result in some counteractive effects as well?

Having access to these tools can be great for teachers as well, as they do not have to be so concerned with students losing handouts, filling out agendas, or keeping track of all their work that needs grading, as these processes can be streamlined on online class tools such as Google Classroom; but it also provides increased opportunity for students to learn from peers, or just mere increased exposure to the internet through its increased prevalence in school and home life, methods of using technology that avoid them having to engage with their class or its materials. 

As a college student, I am not unfamiliar with the process of idly poking at my laptop keys, completing another round of 2048 while my professor lectures, and finding myself half-listening to the content overall. While at the college level, this is still not ideal, at least I know that I am a full adult and any choices I make in the classroom are —yes— irresponsible choices, but not one that impacts my foundational learning for my life skills overall (at least for the most part). 

Students at the grade level often are distracted on their laptops, playing mindless games, watching football highlight reels, and yes—even full-blown movies, instead of doing their work. This slowly leads to an increased number of kids who either do not know what they should be doing in class and then get frustrated and disengage with the material entirely due to that or rush through the work they are assigned so they can go back to using their school-provided distractions to entertain them, instead of being a tool for educating them.

When I am distracted on my laptop, at least it is usually doing something mindless enough to allow me to still listen and half-pay attention to the lecture at hand— so even if I am not absorbing the full material, I still am learning something. These kids have not really been able to find that sweet spot yet where they can be what I might call “responsibly irresponsible.” 

Another issue that has arisen from the increase in technology access in schools is the stark increase in students using artificial intelligence (AI) tools like ChatGPT to complete written assignments. The Pew Research Center, in a study conducted on school students ages 13-17, found that just about 1 in 5 (19 percent) of students had used ChatGPT to complete or help them complete some kind of school work. This was even more likely to have occurred with students in a higher grade-level, where students are starting to learn more rigorous levels of their education to give them college and career readiness skills. If students are not putting in the work and struggling through these higher-order assignments, how can we expect students to be able to tackle challenges in larger and more pertinent contexts in an effective, meaningful way? 

While I personally find a lot of issues with the degree to which technology is being integrated into the grade-level education system—I do want to note that I do not think it is all bad. Alongside my earlier comments about how it readily streamlines the classroom for teachers and students alike, having district access to laptops for all students can also be a great resource for students with disabilities or from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. 

It gives students with disabilities access to all sorts of tools to make the classroom more approachable, like speech-to-text, text-to-speech, spelling and grammar checks, ease of ability to increase font sizes, and so much more. Kids from economically disadvantaged backgrounds can learn how to interact with everyday technology in a way they might not have access to in their home life—allowing them to properly become a part of the modern world in a way that does not “break the bank” for their guardians. 

Overall, I think the increase in technology can be a great movement for education if it is done more carefully and consciously. Having more mandatory classes at the grade-level to teach students how they are expected to use their laptops in school and how to become active, digital members of the classroom would be a great place to start.