Kim+Sanford

I have mixed feelings about technology in education. I believe that we have to meet students where they are, and that means using technology. I watch my own child looking up information, taking quizzes, and communicating with her teachers, all with her phone. If we are going to reach students, we must employ technology. Technology also opens up the world to students who might not otherwise be able to experience new things. As educators, we must try to keep up, if not get ahead, and teach students to use technology productively. On the other hand, I have real misgivings about the place technology has in education. Every day I see spelling, grammar, and informational mistakes in emails, texts, websites, online teaching resources, etc. As an old-school English school marm, this distresses me. I also run into problems many times when I incorporate technology into a lesson. Sometimes this is because of my own incompetence, but other times problems with clunky programs, computers, projectors, etc. waste precious instructional time. I agree with Ms. O'Malley that nothing can take the place of a book. I have even found that sometimes my students respond more positively and learn more and perform better when we do good old-fashioned school activities. I need to push myself to overcome my fear and aversion to technology. I envy those who gracefully incorporate technology into their lessons, and I hope to learn to do the same, for my students as well as myself.