Are Your Students
Really Participating?
The
article, “Are Your Students Really Participating?” addresses the issue of
participation vs. engagement that technology in the classroom presents. Authors,
McCarthy and Dooley, explain that the increasing presence of new tech tools in
classrooms raise the question of whether or not they are being used
efficiently. It is evident that technology captures the attention of our
students, but that does not mean that the tools are helping the students to
actively learn. It is up to teachers to determine if these tools are
encouraging critical thinking, engagement and collaboration instead of making
students passive consumers. McCarthy and Dooley highlighted five things that
we, as teachers, should think about before implementing tech tools. I thought
the criteria was very applicable, and a great foundation for evaluation. The
five things are as follows: 1) Are there inequities that might exist with
accessibility to the tool, 2) Does the tool encourage critical thinking and
participation? 3) Does the tool give students a voice? Does it create an
inclusive environment? 4) Can you inform and involve parents with the use of
this tool? 5) Will the students be able to critically analyze the tool’s limitations?
I
found this article to be very helpful for me as an aspiring teacher. With the
increasing growth of technology in classrooms, I want to be sure to be careful
when I choose which tools I include in curriculum. It is so easy to see value
in so many of the great, new, exciting digital tools out there for education,
but I know that I will need to evaluate them all carefully. I want to be sure
that I am using these tools smartly, so that the time that students are
engaging with technology is as productive and wholesome as possible. Time in
the classroom cannot use technology 100 percent of the time, so as teachers we
need to be careful to choose tools that encourage participation and growth in
our students.
McCarthy, M & Dooley, C. (2013). Are Your Students
Really Participating? Learning & Leading with Technology, 40(7). 28-29.
Retrieved from http://www.learningandleading-digital.com/learning_leading/201305
I agree that teachers must evaluate these new technologies carefully. We have such precious little time with our students, we have to make sure we are spending the time wisely, and do what is best for our students. Choosing the right tool is becoming just as important as choosing a textbook to use. As technology increases with each generation, so does our responsibility to prepare our students as best we can, without compromising their education.
ReplyDeleteLindsey,
ReplyDeleteI agree completely with your position. Classroom time can only be utilized effectively when the right tech tools are chosen to communicate the material. For example, during a previous course in information systems my teacher consistently used class time to show us new forms of “rising technology” that weren’t necessarily relevant to course work. So much time was put into focusing on tech that the instructor lost site of the class objectives. As someone who is very enthusiastic about working with technology, I will need to be careful of this myself in the future.
Therefore I agree with McCarthy and Dooley’s “five things,” but would add a sixth: is the use of the tool relevant to class objectives?
Thank you for sharing this article,
April