Getting to Know Me, and Getting to Know Technology in the Classroom!

Hi Everyone!

How is everyone? I hope you're all doing well from wherever and whenever you're reading this! 

My name is Jesse and I'm a third year English Literature student here at CSUN. My hobbies are reading, sleeping, and playing games. Once I receive my degree I intend on doing a paralegal program, and possibly go to law school if I end up at a law firm that is willing to pay for my continued education. 

Onto the topic of technology within the classroom and its usage within. I think that technology can be immensely useful within the classroom, assuming that it is being provided by the school and is being adequately monitored. I think that technology is often painted as the boogey-man within academic circles; as though touching a telephone during adolescence will instantaneously disintegrate your future prospects. Technology is a facet of the modern era and isn't something that can truly be removed from classrooms as students will inevitably find ways to bring it inside the class. 

I think it can be meaningfully integrated within the classroom by enhancing the lessons being given. An example I can think of within recent memory is the integration of Kahoot within the classroom as a substitute for pop quizzes. When I was younger and was subjected to pop quizzes, I often found them deeply annoying because whether or not I understood the content and remembered it, the sudden and abrupt nature of it shocked the information out of my mind. Whenever my teachers would substitute pop quizzes for Kahoot - with the same sudden and abrupt nature - it didn't feel as daunting as the environment surrounding it was not as daunting. I think the integration of technology in this case serves to make class more engaging and fun, allowing for students to more meaningfully engage with content since they are actively interested and willing to memorize and dissect the content. The reward of seeing your name at the top of the Kahoot list was enough to drag someone through content that most students would ordinarily not be willing to take on; a prize, virtual or not, evidently raises spirits in a way that traditional pop quizzes and chalkboards cannot. 

I think inefficient integration of technology should be mentioned, however. Technology is ultimately a tool that needs to be used by teachers, but in my experience it is often treated as more of a co-teacher as opposed to a tool. Often students see the usage of computers or any technology within the classroom as a free day to slack off since teachers put them in front of screens and make them watch videos for the majority of class, maybe a little bit of busywork, and then they're dismissed. Students often just play games on the computer and copy off their classmates to fool the teacher. I think this laziness in the implementation of technology is what results in students taking advantage of it. Intentional and meaningful activities can be fun, and I think the inclusion of fun within technological work is integral to making sure students don't take advantage of it. 

Overall, I don't think that technology need be this scary thing that is corrupting the youth, but rather something that can help encourage a true love of learning within children at any range. It has the benefit of being ever-evolving, so it won't always be a tool meant to make children google through schoolwork, but something that can also help refine a student's interests in college. Technology just needs to be given a proper facelift to make it more appealing to educators everywhere. 

See you all next time!