{"id":5868,"date":"2012-10-07T10:49:19","date_gmt":"2012-10-07T14:49:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=5868"},"modified":"2012-10-07T11:01:17","modified_gmt":"2012-10-07T15:01:17","slug":"unplug-the-digital-classroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mhgoldberg.com\/blog\/?p=5868","title":{"rendered":"Unplug the digital classroom?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is digital technology in the classroom really helping students learn better?<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Ontario government\u2019s 2012 white paper on education, \u201cStrengthening Ontario\u2019s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>\n

Technology does more than just accelerate access to data. It can also enable new ways for students to\u00a0learn\u00a0from and interact with faculty and each other. Rather than faculty “transmitting” lecture data to students sitting in a hall, digital delivery of course content can free faculty in traditional institutions to engage in direct dialogue and mentorship with students. Technology is driving worldwide changes in education, and it is important that Ontario recognize and respond to these changes so that credentials from Ontario [post-secondary education] institutions hold their high value.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I might be slightly less\u00a0skeptical\u00a0of Ontario’s commitment to having technology “accelerate access to data” had its white paper not been released in a format that locked access to copy and paste sections. There is an interesting opinion piece in the Sunday Toronto Star<\/a>, by UWO professor Doug Mann, a professor in the sociology department and in the Faculty of Information and Media Studies at the University of Western Ontario\u00a0who wrote:\u00a0Let\u2019s unplug the digital classroom<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Professors muse that the classroom must \u201cevolve or die\u201d to become more \u201cfun and engaging\u201d for the modern student.<\/p>\n

Such views are misinformed at best, crude propaganda for Apple and Microsoft at worst. The use of digital technology in higher education has promoted ignorance, not knowledge, and severely degraded basic reading, writing and thinking skills. It\u2019s time to hit the off button.<\/p>\n

One problem with the most enthusiastic futurists is that too many of them haven\u2019t spent any time in the classroom in the last decade. If they had, they\u2019d realize that digital technology is already omnipresent there, used by both students and professors. Almost all undergraduate students in North America are addicted to texting on their smartphones and checking their Facebook pages on an hourly basis. Almost all professors use computers, projectors, Power Point presentations and the Internet as part of their lectures. Calling for more digital technology in education today is like calling for more white people in the Republican party.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He provides an important opposing viewpoint.<\/p>\n

Yes, one student in 10 actually uses them to look up relevant facts and issues, but the other nine are using classroom Wi-Fi to check their Facebook pages, email or celebrity websites. Portable computers combine all four of the general functions of digital technology: information delivery, peer communication, entertainment and procrastination. Cellphones concentrate on the last three functions and have no pedagogical purpose.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He says we should\u00a0turn off Wi-Fi in classrooms and treat mobile phones like cigarettes: do your texting and update your online status outside or in designated lounges. Mann says that distance-education courses are cheap knock-offs of the real thing.<\/p>\n

Digital technologies can be great delivery devices. But what they too often deliver has nothing to do with education.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Discuss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is digital technology in the classroom really helping students learn better? The\u00a0Ontario government\u2019s 2012 white paper on education, \u201cStrengthening Ontario\u2019s Centres of Creativity, Innovation and Knowledge\u201d: Technology does more than just accelerate access to data. It can also enable new ways for students to\u00a0learn\u00a0from and interact with faculty and each other. Rather than faculty “transmitting” …<\/p>\n

Unplug the digital classroom?<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","two_page_speed":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nUnplug the digital classroom? • Telecom Trends<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is digital technology in the classroom really helping students learn better? 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