Summary: In the article "The I-Generation - From Toddlers to Teenagers: A Conversation with Jane M. Healy" Carol Tell holds an interview with Jane M. Healy about her views on technology and computers and how they have affected students today. Healy asserts that technology and computer use in the classroom can be a good thing - when used educationally only and when the right questions are asked by the teacher. Mostly, Healy is not an advocate for computers in the classroom. She believes the computers may actually be worse for young children than TV. She states that "when they are on the computer, they are glued to very seductive software. This is especially dangerous for youngsters who have a propensity toward social and emotional disorders". Healy believes that you can have all the high-tech newest expensive technology but none of it is worth anything unless you have the skilled teachers and good materials.
Reflection: I wasn't too sure what to think when reading this article. At first I got the impression it was going to be a technology bash (which I'm not entirely opposed to because I greatly dislike electrical things that decide to randomly shut down), but Healy seemed to get at the root of the technology issue. You can have all of the high-tech gadgets in the world, but unless you have a good teacher in the front of the class asking the higher thinking level questions to the students to go with the technology, you have nothing. The other thing I must say that got to me in this article is when Healy touched on the issue of needing to have students distinguish between what a human can/can't do and what a computer can/can't do. The thought that our children and our grandchildren will most likely see the age of artificial intelligence is kind of bizarre to me in a real-life sort of way. We don't have these issues now, but for us to be teachers in the future, its an issue and a distinction we need to think about now.
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Mia:: I too wasn't sure what to think, but I agree with your reflection statement when you said, "You canhave all of the high-tech gadgets in the world, but unless you have a good teacher in front ofthe class asking the higher thinking level questions to the students to go with the technology, you have nothing." A teacher can make or break a class and how/if a student learns. If the teacher use technology in a lesson, but doesn't know the purpose of it then why use it?? Teachers should familiarize themselves with technology, so when and if they decide to use it they will know how. Great reflection.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I thought what she said about deciding if they want to interact with artificial intelligence and how our brains would be a chip or whatever. That was kind of weird, but besides that I thought that the article brought up a lot of good points. I don't think that Healy was necessarily mostly against technology in the classroom, just in the way that we have been using it. In high school or with older children, I think that Healy thought it would be super beneficial. I thought they brought up so many good points about introducing computers so young though. Health concerns and development concerns, they were all very good points! I completely agree with you and Healy, when you say that nothing can beat a good teacher.
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