The Hurdles Created by Technology.

With the introduction of technology to the classroom, many benefits of technology were brought to light. But along with the benefits, there are also some of the drawbacks. These drawbacks can include, but are not limited to, distraction caused by smartphones or other tools, cyberbullying that can occur in the classroom without the educator’s knowledge, cheating, etc. 

 In addition to the limiting of the internet, the very conversations that happen online are also harmful. Cyber bullying has become prevalent in our current society. This unprecedented issue has left administrators with a completely new form of bullying to deal with. Online, many students can become victims to the harsh words and threats from anonymous users. But a possible way to tackle this issue is through police intervention. The very words that are being sent to the victim, are being published in order for the victim to see them. These published and sent messages can now be used as evidence of bullying, and provide something for which administrators, parents, and police can use to punish bullies, and stop bullying after its happened. 

Another attempt at regulating technologies use in the classroom, is by putting it to use. By putting it to use towards something that relates to their school work, they are less likely to spend their time being distracted. Some tools that teachers can use to manipulate the technology in the classroom are games such as Kahoot work perfectly for this situation. With Kahoot, the teacher has a chance to see exactly who is “online” participating in the game. 

In addition to the issues listed above, cheating is now a prevalent issue with the introduction of smart phones. With smartphones students have the ability to research any topic within a matter of seconds. Every bit of information on nearly every topic is on the internet. This coupled with the fact that smartphones are relatively small and easy to hide, creates a perfect recipe for cheating. Here is a link showing how often this occurs.This was also shown through my high school years, as I have personally witnessed my peers very discreetly use their smartphones to google the questions on our unit exams. It worked flawlessly as they managed to get away with it and they passed with flying colors for the remaining exams.

In order to prevent this, teachers have begun asking for the student’s phones before each test begins. Although, this only works with the students that are honest about whether or not they have their phones. It is just as easy to lie and say you don't have your phone. So in order teachers to remain competitive against the cheating that is enabled through smartphones, many teachers only choice is to remain hyper-observant at the cues of smart phones being used to cheat. The many cues that can signify cheating can consist of very minute things such as constantly glancing down, consistently taking their hands off the desk top, etc. But in order to efficiently combat this problem, teachers can attempt to remove the internet by using the router to block the internet to the classroom during the tests. This only works on the students that rely on Wi-Fi, as 3G and LTE are also prevalent. So for those students that insist on using their cellphones to cheat, teacher can begin to provide punishments that will hopefully deter future use. But as of now, the most effective and tried method is by being hyper observant of the students during exams. This method is successful most of the time, but being that smartphones are a new tool for cheating, teachers will need to become more aware of the signs that were not very prevalent before smartphones.

Many of the attributes of smartphones, that can be used to allow students to become distracted, can be regulated through the school thus preventing unnecessary distractions. Although it may seem out of reach, there are possible ways to limit how much internet is being reached to the students. By limiting the internet usage through forms such as bypass routers and other methods, you remove the opportunity for the students to access distractions such as the internet and social media, but removing the internet connection.

With all of these negatives, there are still some positives. The positives are things such as being able to remind students about homework. There are apps such as "Remind 101" that allow you to stay in contact with your students. This is super beneficial to students and teachers. As a student, this worked awesome for me.

I was able to get a consistent reminder from the teacher about any upcoming assignments. This allowed me to keep up on my homework and progress forward. In addition to being beneficial for the student, it was also helpful for the teachers to keep track of their students. It gives the teachers an opportunity to do an attendance check on the students who chronically don't hand in the homework. Another tool that is beneficial for both students, teachers and parents would be "Class Tree". This app builds on "Remind 101" in the sense that it updates parents on upcoming events, but it goes a step further by allowing teachers to attach and send the consent forms to parents. Not only does it move towards a more paperless solution to consent forms, but it ensures that parents are getting the consent forms by allowing the teachers to send them directly to the parents via smartphone. 

The advent of technology has progressed to the point where teachers should put in a significant amount more effort in order to be able to regulate the technology in the classroom. I've met many teachers who have very little understanding of the technology that they are being made to use in the classroom. Here is a link describing how teachers can benefit by using technology, but also how they can limit the negative uses by their students. Educating teachers on the many ways technology can be used in the classroom, as well as how to use it efficiently well give them a better chance at knowing what to look for when they need to regulate technology in the class. 

This is a short video on how technology impacts the classroom in multiple ways, and how can be seen as a positive and negative tool.

Event Report

My event report will detail when I volunteered at Holy Family School in Red Deer, Alberta. I helped assist in classroom activities for kindergarten students. I was able to participate in this for about 4 months, where I saw the students and teacher grow as a classroom, and witnessed how successful communication leads to progress. 

My experience as a student-assistant-teacher began by assisting kindergarten classes.

This experience was memorable due to the fact that it gave me first-hand experience into what it was like to be in the classroom. This experience was important to me because it solidified my decision in becoming a teacher. I had been slightly confused into what I had planned as a career, and had multiply routes to take. But in doing this volunteer project, I was able to see what the career of a teacher entailed, and what kind of responsibilities the job required. It opened my eyes to the work that must go in, and out of the classroom.

Each teacher I spoke to had a similar experience before they chose their career, in that they all were interested in child care. The deciding factor for me, came from working with the kindergarten class at Holy Family Elementary school. I witnessed how students learn and communicate with their peers and teacher in the class. This is where I began seeing how important these interactions are on the learning style for each particular student. I was able to see the students who learned best visually, as they would normally observe and then attempt to mimic. I witnessed the students who preferred learning hands-on, because they were the ones who were most often attempting to learn step by step. This is also where I learned the Importance of an honest, teacher to student relationship. I was able to see how this not only motivated the students, but also motivated the teacher to continue providing them with some kind of progress. It allowed for an atmosphere in the classroom that was conducive to learning and moving forward. The teacher would tailor a certain “station” depending on what was being taught that day. Each station would not only go through the different types of ways that her students learned best with, but also a different subject. She would rotate the subjects so as to prevent the student from learning one subject better than another subject. This method worked for her students, and although it was more work on her part, it saw very good results with her students.  In addition to witnessing how the teachers managed the classroom, I was also able to communicate with the students, and hear what they had to say. Being that it was kindergarten, nearly all the students were always excited to be a part of class, and looked forward to any new content. I asked in particular what they enjoyed and one reply that stuck with me was “I like how everything is new.” This stuck with me because, it reflected how the teacher always brought something interesting for the classroom. It gave the young students something to pique their curiosity and keep them questioning. To further the teacher’s relationship with the students, she would go around and have one on one conversations with each student. As she made her way around the classroom she would ask if they were struggling, and if they found the information for that day interesting. Although these seem like very general questions, they nearly always prompted a detailed response from the students. This feedback was then put into play the following day by the teacher. In addition to watching how the communication impacts the student, I also had the opportunity to watch and see how the teacher was able to address the students with academic issues. I was able to see how addressing the deficiencies of students allowed them to grow and succeed on their tests. Not only were they able to benefit the student individually, but the student would then contribute more to the class, and thus help the classroom progress as well. 

 I benefitted by being able to spectate and watch to see how successful student-teacher communication was conducted. By being more behind the scenes of the classroom, it gave me a first person perspective into what worked successfully in the classroom. I witnessed why these teachers had such excitement when they taught, and also understood why the students were always so interested in the content being taught. Seeing how well the students responded to praise and individual conversations motivated me to do the same when I had my own classroom. It motivated me even more to be able to give the students something to look forward to. I wanted to become the teacher that would be able to bring that excitement to the classroom. 

The ability to create an environment that is tailored to your career was also very appealing to me. I liked how the classrooms were decorated to suit each teacher, and how each student decorated their area with items that signified their uniqueness. This atmosphere is also what really drew me into education as a career. I liked how you were able to clearly see the identity of each student and teacher seep into their surrounds. The community that was created between teachers and students also really clicked with me, as it was something of a family. 

Due to my event taking place in a classroom I was unable to take photos of the students due to privacy reasons. Therefore the only photos I am able to add to this post will be artwork made by the students.