Responding+to+Critics

__**Response to Criticisms:**__

The digital age is ever changing and will only continue to grow and improve. After years of computer usage for companies, homes, small businesses, and schools, the computer or benefits of a computer will never ‘go out of business.” As more research is done time goes on, flaws like kinks in computer programs, and financial burdens will eventually begin to die down.

Over time, the new generation of teachers, computer use will become second nature and be trained, coming straight out of college, how to incorporate computers into the classroom. With a “problem” like distance learning or e-learning, it is a convenient way that tech-savy teachers can create a class and use the same materials from year to year with slight updates as necessary (a teacher’s dream). As more students and teachers become familiar with and aware of online learning, the trend will eventually pick up and set at the level it is meant to be. In regards to students not being reliable with the responsibility of an online class making computerized classrooms unbeneficial, I say this: students are unreliable with everything they do. They are children and that’s why they have parents to raise and take care of them and remind them of things on a daily basis, school and non-school related. Even in a regular non-technology based classroom, students forget to do homework, they forget project due dates, and they make mistakes; they are normal children. On another note, children use the free and accessible internet for learning purposes all the time. It is called inquiry learning because an inquiry or thirst to know something drives their learning and research. While the computer is entertaining, making e-learning seem more entertaining as well, students who want to know something turn to the internet just as they would a dictionary, atlas, encyclopedia, teacher or other adult. In addition, “fewer 8- to 18-year-olds live in homes where an attempt is made to regulate media behavior than live in homes where no such attempt is made” (Roberts, 18).

Computers themselves are becoming so essential and mainstreamed in all aspects of everyday life, that it will become less and less expensive to have and use computers (even in low income schools) because slightly older computers could be donated when people decide to purchase more updated computers. Even if they are not as current, they still will be able to use basic functions which are all a student needs. Also, once the money spent on purchasing computers levels off, that money can then go back towards the arts and social programs. Once we have a grasp on technology, the ones who have been continuously fighting for the arts will remind people of authority of its importance and it will be brought back.

I have found first hand that using technology in the classroom like brainpop and tumble books has actually helped students stay focused more and get more out of learning. Using technology on a smartboard, for example, has helped in my teaching because I can reuse documents, pull up information or pictures on the spot, and go from one subject to another and back again, all in a greener way. With solely a blackboard, I would have to erase and loose information that I’ve written on the board. If I were to use chart paper, it could get ripped, lost, or would not be as easy to edit like I can do on the computer. Basically, it saves time, paper, and energy. “K-12 educators have also made great strides in their readiness and ability to use technology to redefine the boundaries of the school building and the school day, to improve the quality and accessibility of the administrative data that informs their work, and most importantly, to foster the learning of core content and the development of students’ skills as communicators, researchers, and critical consumers of an ever-expanding world of information” ( Culp, i ).

Books will never lose value. Point blank. Even if books are put onto computers, nooks, ipads, etc., a tangible book or an electronic book will still share the same message and create the same joy for years to come. New media provides powerful new ways of representing and manipulating information (Jenkins, 25). The same information that would come from books can come from other forms of media. Jenkins speaks about all different types of games and how they can shape a student’s learning based on its content and application.