Technology Overload?

In the 60 seconds blog post, I discussed the apparent extent to which we use technology. I want to now consider the use of technology within the classroom, how it can benefit as well as be an inconvenience. Take a look at the picture below:

At my university we use “moodle”, an open-source software which I can access anywhere and provides with everything I need. I can open course material whenever and where ever I want; this is great for managing my work, and course material. I can find lecture slides and work, at times when you miss a class or lecture for whatever reason; this is extremely useful as you are less likely to fall behind. Having spoken to some students, I found out that they will sometimes miss lessons knowing that they are provided with material online. When it comes to lectures it easy to recognise faces and remember people. Across my time at university I noticed how lecture halls were not filled to capacity, however during exam time you see faces you haven’t seen all year round.

Podcasting and videos also allows students to catch up on work outside of lessons. I find some lecturers provide masses of information and I can’t take notes on all of it down, some parts I mishear or don’t hear at all. So podcasting allows me to listen through the lecture and update notes; however this is also another mean of missing lessons.

I consider the use of projector to be incredibly affective. If anyone does remember when we used whiteboards and blackboards, the teacher constantly rubs off items as the class goes on. With projectors and computers, it is proven that we can always refer back to something because there is no need to remove it. The visualisation keeps students interacted and entertained. I have walked into a class where the lecturer decided to play a song by Rihanna for us.

I believe that the level of accessibility we have outside of the classroom grants students to miss classes and lectures. Due to this I think that many individuals lose out on that one-to-one time with lecturers and this can significantly affect the grades they leave university with.

In 60 Seconds...

Imagine if one day in the future all technology came to a standstill and stopped working. Even now if we lose our internet connection for a little while we tend to think our life is “over”. So if the future can hold the prospect of technology crashing, can the generation bought up on technology survive? In terms of education, I find that without some form of technology we are indeed helpless.

24 Hours: Unplugged, an article based on students going without engaging in any forms of medium a day whether it be an iPod, mobiles, television, computers thus abandoning texting and social media. The study in fact described how unwilling students were to function without their technological links to the rest of the world.  Many claimed they were addicted and dependant on their technology. The numerous amounts of gadgets out there today, make it hard to people to shed their media skin.

Another article in the New York Times, states that technology is getting in the way of students attention spans and the ability to meet challenging tasks. One of the teachers mentions the “Wikipedia problem”, she indicates that students now have grown accustomed to searching for answers via there mobile devices. Being a student myself, I have to admit to having done this a few times, even when the word sounds familiar I tend to Google it and then kick myself for not thinking for a little bit longer.

Let’s take a look at how dependant we are on technology, in 60 seconds how much in terms of gadgets and technology do we purchase. Google revenues increase by at least $75,000 every 60 seconds, 11 million conversations are started via instant messengers and 710 computers purchased.

The extent to which we purchase is matched by the amount we use. In 60 seconds the human population have created some amazing figures for how engaged we are with our technology. 98,000 plus tweets are posted every 60 seconds, as well as 695,000 and more Facebook status updates and 694,445 search queries. The figure that surprised me the most is the that in 60 seconds we send around 168 million emails, now this is due to the many different ways to message. I guess the concept of emailing still applies, regardless of how new technology, we still use one of the first ways to communicate via computers and internet. I only use emails for professional means, applying for jobs, emailing work and contacting teachers.

I must say technology has its perk in terms of messaging and keeping in contact, sending a letter seems to be out dated. However I received a hand written letter a few months back, and think it was thoughtful and had more of a personal touch.

The amount we use technology is immense, considering the thought of not using it makes me nervous. I have a ritual in the morning to wake up and check my social media networks, Twitter, Facebook and others. Throughout the day I update and constantly keep updated via these social networks, I think I have the ability to function without these to a certain extent. So my challenge is to find out who can go without technology and for how long. Other then the necessary usage, such as calling, how long can we avoid the temptation? I will attempt to go a few days, well I will try. How about you try not to use technology for the next 30 minutes and then comment how you found it, does this technological determined society have us surviving on gadgets.

Tablets Vs. Books

Now that tablets contain a library for all the books we need, is it necessary for students to carry numerous, heavy books to their classes. Having a compact device which easily fits into your bag over carrying 3 textbooks? I know I’d choose to carry a tablet. However can a tablet really replace textbooks, in the future generations are we about to see that nobody knows how to use a text book?

Baby – A magazine is an iPad that does not work. 

I have at times told my younger sister to look up a word in a dictionary and found she doesn't know how to use one properly, and would rather prefer to use a mobile device. During school owning a dictionary was part of the curriculum for myself. I find even now people who are in my age group studying for a degree, flick through a textbook for what they are looking for. When we have a contents page and an index page, which can help find information promptly.

Lets take a look at the history of tablets;

We've come a long way in developing the tablet; they're now faster and have so many applications that enable us. Technology now allows us to create a "Library" on our tablets. Saving all the books we need to read through, additionally we can highlight points and even create notes on these books. Comparing this to taking out real books from the library, carrying them around and not being able to use them to our utmost disposal, what is the point? When we can access the same information via a portable, easy to use device, is the hassle in textbooks necessary?

 The use of technology could bring forward a great deal of wisdom if used correctly, but not forgetting the traditional books. Researching into this area of the topic, I found that purchasing the books on a tablet is a lot cheaper and students may consider looking into this. However I myself can use both but at times prefer physical paper books. In the future I don’t know if we will still have books; there are a few problems with books such as wear and tear, they are not perfect. Nevertheless how sure are we that technology will not one day fail us. 

Survey

To help me analyse the questions I had mentioned in my first blog post, I have created a short survey to help me analyse a teachers perspective in regards to technology within the classroom. This survey will take less then 5 minutes to complete, please click on the link below.

Technology Takeover

Thank you for participating, I will be writing a report on my findings and hopefully post it on my blog.

Technology Takeover

One of the major topics on everyone’s mind in this day and time is technology. Technology has a hand in everything we do and the different ways we can implicate technology in our day to day life. From using them as a necessity for emergencies to using them as a luxury for gaming and social networking, we find a way to constantly use technology. With many compact devices such as smart phones and tablets, who wouldn't think that it would be the perfect idea to wholly combine it with educational needs. There are already many apps from learning a foreign language such as Japanese to learning how to play the guitar. Regardless of hobbies, how would higher educational establishment feel about introducing much more technology into their curriculum?

This blog is for linking higher education to mobile technology; its imperative to point out that the opinion of the students on a large scale is extremely warming towards technology in the classroom. Being a student myself at the University of Greenwich, studying Accounting and Financial Information Systems, I tend to agree with that opinion. However, the view of the teachers could be entirely different, in my own experience I have found lecturers react differently to the concept of mobile technology. For my project which is a part of this blog, I’ll be looking into the reactions from the teachers.  How do the teachers feel about this new nevertheless growing concept?

Keeping in mind what my focus for this blog is the classroom environment from a teacher’s perspective when technology is integrated into it. Mainly focussing on questions such as;

Could students benefit from more technology in the class?

Are there ways to control technology within the class?

How much technology should be given to a point where its too much?

Will technology one day replace teachers?

With revolutionary movements in technology, it will be intriguing to hear the views from not just teachers but students or professionals. If you do see this blog please leave a comment with your opinion and we could have some interesting conversations or debates.