Technology Pros/Cons

I think that integrating new technology into the classroom is overall a wonderful thing. But what about the aspect of distractions? Sometimes I wonder if classrooms of the future will furnish a computer or tablet for each student to use. But, being a college student, I know that it is a struggle for me to stay on-task and not wander off onto social networking sites or other distractions. Is there a way that technologies like these can be integrated without these distractions?

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Permalink Reply by Britney Shull on September 18, 2012 at 6:20pm

If the technology is supplied by the school, they can block many things such as games, certain websites (facebook, twitter, etc.) My younger sister goes to a high school where all of the students are given Macbook Airs. Games are blocked as well as most websites except for those used for research or those requested by teachers for use in the classroom. A really neat thing about this is that if the students graduate, they get to keep the laptop for college. I agree that technology is an awesome thing to have in the classroom to aid in learning, but it can be very distracting if it is not used in the proper way.

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Permalink Reply by Ashley Rawls on September 18, 2012 at 6:32pm

At my high school, when we went to the computer lab, there were certain websites (mainly social networking sites) that were blocked off, which was definitely a good idea and an option. But there are ways to be distracted even if you are on a website that is "allowed." If each child had their own individual iPad or tablet, then maybe the teacher should have some way of controlling all of them at once. So when she is talking, she presses a button which locks the iPads, and when they are supposed to be using them, she can unlock them.