My opinion on the the pros and cons of technology in the classroom.

Technology in general has become such an important part of our lives. So much so that the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t even state a specific limit of screen time for kids ages 6 and older. They just state that it is important to have consistent time limits for them. I believe they do this because they understand how “normal” it has become for kids to encounter some type of screen in their everyday lives. My husband and I have decided that my daughter is only allowed an hour and a half of screen time on school days, but we realize that this doesn’t include the screen time she has at school. Chrome books have become the norm for kids in elementary schools. 


I think technology is fantastic. I can’t imagine having to grow up in a time where I couldn’t contact my husband immediately with a text or a call. What does this mean for our young children though, who are much more vulnerable and impressionable? I think it has to be very closely monitored. My daughter used to play a game called Roblox, which I thought was a cute harmless game (as long as the parental controls were at their highest) until I heard of some awful things hackers were doing to other kid’s avatars in the game. Now I know teachers aren’t using Roblox in the classroom, but that doesn’t mean kids are wandering off to other sites during class time. I’d like to think that if a classroom has chrome books, then the website restrictions need to be high.


I remember my younger sister once was on YouTube, and she told me to watch a video of SpongeBob speaking another language. Well he wasn’t speaking another language, a voice had dubbed over and was just constantly swearing and using other vulgar language that she had never heard so to her, it was foreign. They have a kids YouTube that I let my daughter use, because the evaluation of these videos is rigorous to make sure they are child appropriate. In general I would have to say my only con is the fact that inappropriate content can always slip through the cracks unless we as teachers are vigilant in watching what our students do.


The pros are just the vast amount of knowledge that is opened to our kids. I remember when I was in elementary school and I had a project to do, I’d consult my parents encyclopedias. They had the whole alphabet. So between those and the books I’d check out at the library, that’s where my research would come from. Now when I sit at home working on a research project, I can find any and all information at the tips of my fingers. Even published scholarly journals from my library I can read at home on my computer. 


I once once subbed for a 4th grade classroom for two days in a row. Every morning after the announcements, their teacher would play CNN 10 which is a 10 minute video that has current events on it and is different everyday. They students would watch this, write down some notes of what they were seeing, and then we would have a class discussion. I loved this. I thought this was such a good way to get the students involved in what is going on in the world around them and then start a conversation about. These kids have opinions, voices, and questions that want to be heard, we just need to give them the opportunity to express that. 


Technology is only going to continue to expand from this point on. It does not appear that it will become stagnant at any point in time. If we are not keeping our kids abreast of these changes they’ll be behind in the working world. In my skills sections on my résumé, I always put down what computer programs I’m efficient in because they are our norm. A lot of the older generations such as the baby boomers and generation x-ers were not growing with technology like the xennials, millennials, and our current generation of children are. So with our economy down like it is a lot of older generations are being forced back into the work force. This is problematic for them because they don’t have the knowledge of technology necessary to obtain a well paying job and a lot are forced to get jobs that might only be at minimum wage.


We need to keep our kids current on the changes in technology. Not only to help them throughout their educational career, but to help them become successful and accomplished adults. 


“The number one benefit of information technology is that it empowers people to do what they want to do. It lets people be creative. It lets people be productive. It lets people learn things they didn't think they could learn before, and so in a sense it is all about potential.” -Steve Ballmer