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.