Secondary Research Document: College
Students and Technology’s Impact in the Classroom
The
new generation of college students is quite dissimilar than those who went to
school twenty years ago in the United States. Chalkboards, hardcover textbooks, and
notebooks
have been replaced by eBooks, iPads, and laptops. In 2002, eighty six percent of college students had used the
computer and Internet for assignments (Goffe 279). That number increased even more when in 2010 ninety eight
percent of college undergraduates owned their own computer or some type of
technological device providing Internet access (Skiba 318). Scholars, including top professors from
various universities scattered across the United States, are analyzing the
affects technology has had on students.
The question of whether or not students are actually benefiting from the
new technological implementations in the classroom still looms. Factors, such as literary sponsors and
attitudes toward technology, are still being examined, as their influence on
students are key to enhancing literacy development. Thus, this paper explores the question: How has technology
in the educational setting changed students’ learning throughout universities
in the United States?
Technology
is an over-powering element in the present generation of students. In fact, technology has become apart of
society in the United States that is built upon cultural and social norms. These norms create a strong presence in
individuals’ way of life and have forced technology to trickle down into the
educational settings. Arthur M.
Langer and Lee Knefelkamp, both professors at Colombia University, in their
study on college student’s technology arc inform readers that, “as norms
change, so do cultural views of literacy” (1870). Thus, in order to keep up with the way society views
technological literacy, institutions must install technology into their
teachings. Noreen O’Connor enhances
this idea in her interview with Steven Sachs, the vice president of
instructional and information technology at North Virginia Community
College. Sachs explains how
individuals in society today learn from technology outside the academic realm
through innovations such as, radios television programs (1). Therefore, in order to further
stimulate education, schools must mimic the style in which society is learning.
Cultural
and societal norms do not evolve without beliefs. According to William Lewis in his article in MIS Quarterly
beliefs about technology stem from three different factors: institutional
factors, social factors, and individual factors (659). As we know, social norms helped make
technology popular and become apart of the educational culture. Individual views and beliefs such as
personal “innovativeness with technology” and “computer self-efficacy” can also
shape the way a student interacts with technology (660). McCoy adds to this by saying that
self-efficacy is directly related to a students’ technological proficiency, as
if one has high self-efficacy then one is more likely to utilize technology and
enjoy doing so (1617). The attitude
in which a student has toward a computer or an online class determines his or
her willingness to embrace new technologies in the classroom. However, O’Connor and Sach agree that
“technology itself does not think independent thoughts, select, create, and
organize content” (3). The
student’s motivation and eagerness to learn is what stimulates literary
development in the classroom, not technology.
Joanna
Goode builds upon these ideas by taking the influence of technology on students
one step further. She relates back
to a student’s upbringing and how much experience a student has with technology
before entering college. Students
need to begin using technology before even entering high school but this
becomes tough when chances to do so are unavailable. In fact, “without proper opportunities to develop the sense
of being a ‘computer person’ students are less likely to develop proficiency”
(Goode 610). These lack of
opportunities include students coming from low-income families (615). McCoy develops this more in her
“Computer and Education” study in which she found that students with access to PowerPoint,
e-mail, and word processing at home all make for a better tech-savvy student
(1617).
Perhaps
one of the biggest influences on student literacy in the classroom is a teacher. Teachers are literary sponsors of a
student that guide their learning, and thus, should keep up to date with the
latest student learning styles, which involve technology. Christopher Buzzard
and his co-authors found that there is a gap between students and teachers’
technology skills and types (137).
Kimberly A. Lawless and James W. Pellegrino build upon this gap when
they conducted a study on how professional development programs are needed to
train teachers on the latest updates for the classroom. Technology is “often poorly integrated
with other classroom instructional activities” and teachers need to be taught
to apply their curriculum goals to the same technology that students use
(580-581).
Each
study gives a different view on the positive and negative affects of
technology. The main reason given
in most studies for why technology is so important to use is that it provides
for the needs of all “diverse learning styles” and “complimenting all learning
formats” (Kaifi et al. 1). Arthur
M. Langer and Lee Knefelkamp share a similar view in their Student Technology
Arc, where they describe the maturity level of a student and their correspondence
to use a certain type of technology (191). This ensures that technology accounts for every student’s
preference. Technology has also
helped college students with their mathematics scores. Scott D. Johnson and Jenny Daugherty in
the Journal of Technology Education found that students who worked with
technology in their courses had more efficient problem solving skills and had
significantly higher math tests scores (25). Therefore, university classroom’s education experiences have
been transformed by technology.
However,
Kaifi also stresses a strong concern with online classes and their lack of in
person interactions in his study.
His result showed that forty six percent of the two hundred and three
participants felt that they did not learn as much with strictly online classes
and fifty nine percent felt that they were worried about no face-to-face
interaction (7). As technology
delivers individual preferences, it is also a strong source of
communication. The implementation
of instant messaging, e-mail, and online discussion boards create convenient
forms of communication inside and outside the classroom (Chen 22). Similar situations apply to William
L. Goffe and Kim Sosin’s study, where online blogs were found to boost feedback
for students from readers outside of their immediate peers and teachers
(284). In contrast to these
positives of technology implementation on student learning, Goffe and Sosin
found that eighty two percent of students admitted to cheating in 2001
(285). The Internet provides a
quick source of information. Moreover,
Joseph A. Watson and Loretta L. Pecchioni examined how the lack of skill of a
certain type of technology can hinder development. In their study, students were asked to make a documentary
but had no prior experience with these types of technology (311). Therefore, many negatives have struck
students in the classroom.
Even
though many scholars have conducted extensive research on this topic, many gaps
still remain in the research. For
example, according to Johnson and Daugherty, research must continue on the
“complexities and influencing factors that ultimately impact student learning”
(26). Often times teachers, lack
of opportunities, and actual technology itself is examined, while student perspectives
need to be investigated even more.
Moreover, Yong Zhao and Kenneth A. Frank found that computer usage is
“an evolutionary rather than revolutionary” change (833). However, there is not enough
research conducted to see if evolutionary changes only impact the classroom,
and not the student, and vice-versa.
Buzzard,
Christopher, et al. "The use of Digital Technologies in the Classroom: A
Teaching and Learning Perspective." Journal of Marketing Education
33.2 (2011): 131-9. ERIC. Web. 27 Sep. 2012.
This peer-reviewed article from the
Journal of Marketing Education discusses research that was conducted on how
teachers and students, particularly college students, interact with
technology. Our society today is a
“digital generation” as we “use an impressive assortments of technological
tools in a wide variety of ways” (Buzzard et al.131). The authors when about their research by conducting surveys
to distinguish which technological innovations worked best and to view teacher
and student attitudes on the use of technology in the classroom. Overall, they discovered that there is
a gap between how teachers use technology and how college students perceive it. For example, instructors may feel that
course-learning technologies straight from the publisher are more effective
while students would learn through traditional technologies. This article was published in 2011
revealing that the data found in quite recent. Therefore, it is extremely helpful to my research
issue. From the article I can add,
the fact that students and teachers must learn to agree upon a source of
technology that suites both of them, to my issue. Christopher Buzzard works for Cengage Learning in Stamford,
CT while Victoria L. Crittenden is a professor at Boston College. The last two authors, William F.
Crittenden and Paulette McCarty are professors at Northeastern University. The
authors primarily came together to write this article to see if college
students truly prefer traditional ways of teaching over technology. However, there is some bias in the
article as all four of the authors are from the Massachusetts and Connecticut
area. Thus, students may learn or
have different viewpoints than those students in Florida or California. The reader must assume that these
authors are giving a broad perspective and not just focused on the Northeast
area students.
Chen
Hsin-Liang, and James Patrick Williams. "Use Of Multi-Modal Media And
Tools In An Online Information Literacy Course: College Students' Attitudes And
Perceptions." Journal Of Academic Librarianship 35.1 (2009): 14-24. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Sept.
2012.
This source is peer-reviewed and is from
the Journal of Academic Librarianship.
This article discusses the usage of online media and information and how
college students use it for literacy purposes. The study took a poll of one hundred-sixty two undergraduate
students. The survey asked about
student attitudes toward technology, learning objectives that come with media
online, and the general positives and negatives. Overall, the authors found
that using innovated media and information created a positive learning
environment as the convenience of computers makes students actually want to
learn. However, when a computer
had technical difficulties than students tended not to want to engage in any
online work. These difficulties
established negative attitudes by students. This study was highly important because it actually took on
student perspectives. Many sources
I have viewed explain that there is a gap in the research when it comes to
actually analyzing how the student feels.
Thus, this study is a start to examining student attitudes of technology
use in the classroom. One of the
authors, Hsin-Liang Chen, is an assistant professor at the School of
Information Science a Learning Technologies at the University of Missouri. The other author, James Patrick
Williams works at the College of Staten Island Library at The City University
of New York. Both authors came
together to perform this study because they wanted to see how students engage
in communicational tools that are online.
Furthermore, both working at universities, the authors took on the task
of discovering student attitudes toward technology.
Goffe, William
L., and Kim Sosin. “Teaching with Technology: May You Live in Interesting Times.” The Journal of
Economic Education 36.3 (2005): 278-291. JSTOR. Web. 16 Sept. 2012.
This peer-reviewed journal article from
the Journal of Economic Education, discusses the changes implemented in the
classroom due to the increase in technological use. It was found that ninety percent of all public universities
have some type of wireless network on their campuses (278). Thus, computers and Internet access
have become basic tools to enhanced learning in this generation. In fact, computer technology is
“expect[ed] to be a part of [students’] college experience” (279). The article begins with discussing
different viewpoints and angles on how technology has affected teaching and
trickled down into student learning capacities, such as the replacement of
chalkboards with power point presentations. The authors go about describing new innovations using seven
categories: e-mail, web assignments, computer games and simulations, course
management software, blogs, online courses, and communication. Furthermore, the article also gives a
negative view of technology by explaining findings on how the increased usage
of the Internet has led to more “cyber-plagiarism” (285). Kim Sosin and William L. Goffee are
both economics professors, with Sosin teaching at the University of Nebraska
and Goffee at SUNY, Oswego. The
two believe that technology has shown both positive and negative effects on
students over the past ten years. Their research was designed to evaluate student
interaction with different kinds of technology and see if the positive benefits
outweigh the negatives. Some bias
seems to be apparent with their discussion of plagiarism and their finding that
the easy access to the Internet is the root cause of it. Since both are professors the two see
plagiarism in student works quite frequently, as compared to other authors who
may not encounter it quite as often.
Overall, this study contributes immensely to my question as it examines
the types of technology being used to learn and what teachers are doing to use
this in the classroom.
However, since the study was conducted in 2005, almost eight years ago,
some viewpoints on technology may be a little different now.
Goode,
Joanna. "Mind The Gap: The Digital Dimension Of College Access."
Journal Of Higher Education 81.5 (2010): 583-618. Academic Search Premier. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.
This
peer-reviewed source is from the Journal of Higher Education and looks into the
reasons why students have the technological skills that they do. The author begins by building off of
the statistic, that seventy-nine percent of college students inform that
Internet use has had a positive impact on their studies (584). The study surveys students at the
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and tested the relationship
between school computer access and home access. Students’ attitudes toward technology and future career
plans were also explored in the study.
In the end, the author discovered that “the age when students first used
computers is significantly related to a student’s technological proficiency”
(602). However, if students had
early access to computers in their home, than their socioeconomic background
was a factor. The author, Joanna
Goode is an assistant professor at the University of Oregon and specializes in
Education Studies. Her main
motivation for conducting the study was to discover if there was a correlation
between low-income households and technological proficiencies. Her hypothesis was that if students had
opportunities to access computers before college then they would have an easier
time with them at school. This
article pertains to my research issue because it deals with the opportunities
that students either obtain or lack when dealing with computers. This trickles down into students’
grades eventually and how hard of a time they will have adapting to classroom
technologies. However, when
reading this study, one must assume that the students surveyed have a wide
range of socioeconomic backgrounds so that they are equally representing the
total population of the United States college students. If the students surveyed all came from
a middle class or above status than the results can be skewed.
Johnson,
Scott D., and Jenny Daugherty. "Quality and Characteristics of Recent
Research in Technology Education." Journal of Technology Education
20.1 (2008): 16-31. ERIC. Web. 16 Sep. 2012.
This article is peer reviewed and is from
the scholarly Journal of Technology Education. The research done in this study
deals with how the search for knowledge on technology education has grown
significantly in the past few years.
Understanding how technology is used in academics is key to “preparing
the next generation of technological thinkers” (16). The study compares students, teachers, college faculty
members, and more with their views on technology and how important it has
become to learning. Moreover, the
article also compares the research done in the past on technology with new
findings that are coming out today such as how technology courses have
increased math scores for college students (25). Scott D. Johnson, one of the authors, is a professor at the
University of Illinois. The second author, Jenny Daugherty is Interim Managing
Director at Illinois State University.
The two came together to study technology education after reading a
research report done by Shaveloson and Towne in 2002, in which the “guiding
principles” of technology and scientific inquiry were studied. Daugherty and Johnson wished to find a
“gold standard” for technology research (19). Moreover, the others bring their own experiences of working
at two different colleges and seeing how students interact with technology.
Since both work directly with students, Johnson and Daugherty believed that
students should be the primary area of study when it comes to studying how
technology has changed the face of education. Later on in the article, the two
prove this hypothesis. The authors
published their findings in 2008 but the article deals with the transformations
in technology research over a ten year span: 1997-2007. Overall, this source adds to my
research issue because it depicts a broad picture of the characteristics in
studying technology in the classroom.
The article states who should be studied and why and provides examples
of specific cases where technology has increased grades and literacy.
Kaifi,
Belal A., Bahaudin G. Mujtaba, and Albert A. Williams. "Online College
Education for Computer-Savvy Students: A Study of Perceptions and Needs." Journal
of College Teaching and Learning 6.6 (2009): 1-15. ABI/INFORM Complete. Web.
27 Sep. 2012.
This
research study is a peer-reviewed article from the Journal of College Teaching
and Learning. The study
incorporates a survey of 203 undergraduate students and their view on taking
online courses. Questions in the
survey centered on the subjects of computer ownership and access, Internet
training, views of online classes, and learning capacities of online
education. The authors are trying
to argue that new technology can provide for all learning styles of cyberspace
literate students. Moreover, since
students these days are often working and going to school simultaneously
education online will allow independence and schoolwork to be completed on
their own time. The first author,
Belal A. Kaifi has his doctorate degree at the University of San Francisco and
teaches Business Administration and Global Studies at Franklin University. Bahaudin G. Mujtaba is an associate
professor of Management, Human Resources, and International Management at Nova
Southeastern University, while Albert A. Williams also teaches at Nova
Southeastern in finance, economics, and business statistics. Therefore, all three authors have
experience in education especially in the business field, which is a subject
that involves a lot of technology usage.
They primarily wrote the article to test their hypothesis of whether or
not online course are helpful and just as successful as traditional classes for
students. Overall, this article
contributes to my issue as it shows specific findings that reveal positive and
even some negative effects of online courses for cyber literate students. The concerns, expressed in this article
by education professionals, with online classes contribute to my issue as well.
Katz,
Irvin R. "Testing Information Literacy In Digital Environments: ETS's
Iskills Assessment." Information Technology & Libraries 26.3 (2007):
3-12. Academic Search Premier. Web.
28 Sept. 2012.
This peer-reviewed source is from Information
and Technology Libraries. The
article is based off ICT literacy, which combines informational literacy with
the newly developed digital environments (4). However, the primary concern is that students are becoming
less literate than they have been in the past. Today, students have more resources with the new
technologies but this is making their literacy rates decrease. To explore this hypothesis, the author
tests students using ICT tests that examine iSkills. These skills measured student abilities to use technology,
since many students not only lack literacy due to technology, but also lack the
skills to navigate it. The author
studied 6,400 students at sixty-three different universities across the United
States. The broad range of universities
across the countries makes this source’s findings extremely reliable. This
contributes to my research issue as it explores students’ literacy skills when
it comes to technology. The
iSkills test gives a prime example of how students handle “information through
interaction with simulated software” (6).
The author Irvin R. Katz works for the Research and Development Division
at Education Testing Service. He
is also a senior research scientist for his department. The author’s main motivation of this
study was to respond to the increasing demand of information literacy
skills. Recognizing when
information is needed for an assignment and how to find it on a computer is key
to academic success. Overall, the
article shows how technology can really be negatively affecting students’
grades.
Langer, Arthur
M., and L. Lee Knefelkamp. “College Students' Technology Arc: A Model for
Understanding Progress.” Theory Into Practice 47.3 (2008):
186-196. JSTOR. Web. 13 Sept. 2012.
This
research study is a peer-reviewed article from Theory Into Practice and was
published by Ohio State University’s College of Education and Human Ecology.
The article describes the Student Technology Arc, which is designed to measure
students’ literacy from the impact of technology. The Arc reveals five stages of technological maturity to
group high school and college students into and represent the different ways in
which students adapt and learn by technology. Functional and perceptual knowledge, multitasking, synthetic
awareness, competence, and multidimensional are the five groups students can be
placed into. Along with these
categories technological literacy is also grouped into five variables:
information/ computer literacy, interactions literacy, values literacy, ethical
literacy, and reflective literacy.
The authors then went on to explain, which category of students matched
with each type of technological literacy, according to their research
findings. Both Arthur M Langer and
L. Lee Knefelkamp work at Columbia University. Knefelkamp is a professor of Psychology and Education while
Langer is the senior director of the Center for Technology, Innovation, and
Community Engagement. Their main
goal of the study was to explain their theory of the Student Technology Arc and
the way new technologies manipulate education systems. This article fits into
my research issue as it discusses the gap between the ways in which students
learn. This gap bridges more
issues with the way teachers and schools choose which technology is the best. If all students adapt to technology
differently, than it is almost impossible for a teacher to incorporate all
types of technologies in their lectures.
This idea has further enhanced my curiosity about technology’s affect on
literacy.
Lawless, Kimberly A., and James W.
Pellegrino. "Professional Development in Integrating Technology into
Teaching and Learning: Knowns, Unknowns, and Ways to Pursue Better Questions
and Answers." Review of Educational Research 77.4 (2007): 575-614. JSTOR.
Web. 12 Sept. 2012.
This scholarly research study is from the
American Education Research Association and is peer reviewed. The use of technology by teachers is
the primary force that influences students and their learning. However, in order to implement
technology in the classroom, teachers must first learn how to use it
themselves. Professional
development programs are being established and the increase of teachers’
knowledge of technology has significantly improved students’ scores and
abilities. This article looks into
many different research studies that have been completed about technology and
teachers, and compares them to their own findings. Their findings discuss defining what “constitutes
professional development,” the non-simplicity of integrating technology into
classroom, and the faults in the findings that correlate improvements with
students (577). In these areas of
discussions, the authors lay out how education has improved, what more can be
done, and the problems that still loom with lack of teacher and technology
development. Both authors,
Kimberly A. Lawless and James W. Pellegrino are professors at the University of
Illinois at Chicago. Lawless is
the Department Chair of Educational Psychology[1]
and Pellegrino is a professor
of Cognitive Psychology and Education.[2] The authors’ goal was to create a plan
that if executed, could increase teacher development in technology. Being professors themselves, the
authors see how their own use of technology has helped their own students. One item that needs to be assumed is
that the authors did in fact go through professional development programs of
their own to become experts in implementing technology in the classroom. They stress the importance of these
programs and how the government is starting to fund more and more each day. Moreover,
since this study was conducted in 2007, college students are feeling the
affects of the professional development in technology programs now. This article contributes to my research
issue, as it stressed the importance of literary sponsors, teachers, being
educated in technology to keep up with digital literacy.
Liu,
Tingting, and Sun Haibin. "Analysis Of Information Literacy Education
Strategies For College Students Majoring In Science And Engineering."
Modern Applied Science 5.5 (2011): 227-231. Academic
Search Premier. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.
This
scholarly source is from Modern Applied Sciences and is peer-reviewed. The study examines information literacy
in technology for specific subjects, science and engineering. The study goes
over how students can improve their literacy skills on the computer in the
classroom. For example, the
authors give ways to put visual learning into context, use resources based on
the Internet, and the expansion of courses that teach undergraduates how to
properly use technology (228-229).
This is essential to my research question as it gives potential
solutions to the problem of students lacking technological skills. In the end,
the authors concluded that being able to adapt of literacy online is key for
student to become independent learners, especially in science and engineering
classes. Thus, the authors reveal
how technology is more important to some subjects than it is to other classes. This study is extremely relevant as it
was published in August of 2011, a little over a year ago. The authors, Tingting Liu and Haibin
Sun are both professors at Taisban University at the Institute of Physics and
Electronic Engineering department. Their motivation behind their study was to
derive strategies to improve college students’ information literacy and teach
them how to use technology in the science and engineering fields. This article relates to parts of my
issue as it works directly with college students to improve their technology
skills.
Luis, William, Ritu Agarwal, and V.
Sambamurthy. "Sources of Influence on Beliefs about Information Technology
Use: An Empirical Study of Knowledge Workers." MIS Quarterly 27.4
(2003): 657-78. JSTOR. Web. 14 Sept. 2012.
In this scholarly research study from MIS
Quarterly, the authors conduct the analysis of people’s beliefs and influences
toward the use of technology.
Everyone who uses a piece of technology forms beliefs about it before
and after they use it. Moreover,
they have cognitive reasons for doing so, stemming from intentions and usage
(659). Beliefs about technology
use stem from three main factors: institutional, social and individual factors. For example, people are more likely to
actually use technology if it has little cognitive effort, as it will require
little effort (660). The authors
go about the analysis by conducting a survey of a university of 31,000
students, both graduate and undergraduate, and 1,600 faculty members. Using their data, they created a model
of these three factors entitled, the Perceived Usefulness Model. Furthermore, they also used their
findings to reveal how top management and hierarchical powers in businesses can
influence technology usage. The
same can happen in education and institutions. The author, William Lewis a
professor of MIS at the Terry College at the University of Georgia, while Ritu
Agarwal is a professor of Information Systems at the University of Maryland,
College Park. The third author, V.
Sambamurthy is a professor of Information Technology management at Michigan
State University. All three have
extensive knowledge and experience in the information systems and technology
field. Coming together from all
over the country, the three wanted to explain how people perceive technology
and their driving forces for using it.
This is important to my research as technology use by students stems
from how and why they decide to engage in technology in the first place.
Overall, this study gives a more psychological perspective to my issue, further
enhancing my argument.
McCoy,
Cindy. "Perceived Self-Efficacy And Technology Proficiency In
Undergraduate College Students." Computers & Education 55.4 (2010):
1614-1617. Academic Search Premier.
Web. 28 Sept. 2012.
This
source is peer-reviewed and is from Computers and Education. This study was designed to examine the
relationship between self-efficacy and technological proficiency. Proficiency with computers and other
forms of technology does not come naturally and takes time to develop. This applies to everyone including
college students. Self-efficacy is
a person’s “perceived capability to perform a behavior” explains why an
individual does a certain behavior (1614). Thus, the author is trying to find a correlation between
this self-efficacy and technological skills. To carry out her study, the author surveys 25 undergraduate
college students aged 18-25. The
surveys were e-mailed to these students, as apart of testing their computer
communication skills. In the end,
it was discovered that mainly having a computer at home builds technologically
proficiency for a student. The
author, Cindy McCoy is a professor at the School of Nursing at Auburn
University. Her driving motivation
to conduct this study was to see why some students have a higher technological
proficiency than others do.
Moreover, from working with students who use e-mail, discussion boards,
and instant messaging to communicate with her, McCoy wants to know where these
computer skills have come from.
Overall, this article adds to my research issue since it explores why
students have the skills they do in this technological generation. However, to help the source’s validity
one must assume that all student responses are reliable. The students needed to answer the
questions on the survey honestly in order to receive an accurate representation
of self-efficacy correlated with technological proficiency.
O'Connor,
Noreen. "Harnessing technology to improve liberal learning." Peer Review 8.4 (2006): 12+. Academic ASAP. Web. 27 Sep. 2012.
This peer-reviewed source is an interview
of Steven Sachs conducted by Noreen O’Connor. Steven Sachs is the vice president of instructional and
information technology at Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA). On the other hand, Noreen O’Connor
works for the Association of American Colleges and Universities as the
associate director of Web communications.
Her primary reasons for interviewing Sachs was to find how academic
related technologies are affecting students’ education and his perspective on
whether or not technology has revolutionized learning. O’Connor asks questions such as “How do
new educational technologies influence a student’s learning experience?’ and
“How can faulty and administrators help ensure that students get a high-quality
education through distance learning?”
In general, Sachs provides to two viewpoints. He feels that technology has brought about more active
learners, as interaction does not stop when a student leaves the
classroom. Moreover, he brings up
the fact that people during their leisure time learn from technology such as,
television and radio everyday. Thus, students should learn from technology in
the classroom, as well.
Contrasting these positives of technology, Sachs brings an alternative
view that shows how technology does not help student performance. He informs that technology does not
“select, create, and organize content on its own” (3). The teachers’ abilities to lecture on
the subject to their students in an enticing and informative way are what
matters, not the usage of technology.
I found this to be the most interesting part of the article as it gives
a completely different viewpoint to student success in the classroom. This is a critical fact to my argument,
as many sources stress the positives of technology, while this interview states
the opposing view of most of my findings.
However, one must assume that Steven Sachs is knowledgeable in his field
and comes from an accredited university.
Also, this article was published in 2006, six years ago, so the reader
must assume the information present is still knowledge today in 2012.
Watson, Joseph A., and Loretta L. Pecchioni.
"Digital Natives And Digital Media In The College Classroom: Assignment
Design And Impacts On Student Learning." Educational Media
International 48.4 (2011): 307-320. ERIC. Web. 28 Sept. 2012.
This
peer-reviewed article is from Educational Media International. The authors conducted a research study
on the digital media and digital literacy in the classroom. The data they found revealed that
students had an increase in critical thinking and literacy skills from digital
technologies. To go about their observations, the authors watched and recorded
student interactions in class and with technology when making a documentary. They traced student in-class behavior,
questions asked, office hour visits, and e-mail exchanges with teachers. In order to create the documentary
students needed to work with an abundance of digital technologies. The researchers found that many students
had not work with many technologies past a computer, cellular device, and
television. Thus, a challenge was
posted to not only learn to use the technology but to understand the
technological vocabulary. This
lack of skill is a huge issue that technology can pose when developing
technological literacy. Overall,
the authors found a few problems that came with student technology literacy and
the level in which student comfortably shared writing pieces was limited to
their teachers. Visual technology
helps students break away from this by allowing them to broadcast work to
others easily. This study is
specifically helpful to my issue as it provides a real classroom example of how
many assume students always have the most up-to-date technology skills, when in
fact they often need to be taught.
Both authors, Joseph A. Watson and Loretta L. Pecchioni are from the
Department of Communication Studies at Louisiana State University. Their primary motivation in writing
this article was to view how learning techniques in the classroom are affected
by technology.
Zhao, Yong,
and Kenneth A. Frank. “Factors Affecting Technology Uses in Schools: An
Ecological Perspective.” American Educational Research Journal 40.4 (2003):
807-840. JSTOR. Web. 16 Sept. 2012.
In
this peer-reviewed article, the authors conducted a research study on
technology usage in school using the metaphor of the ecosystem. The article is based around the
following: the schools are ecosystems, computer uses are living species, and
teachers are species (811). Thus,
the authors use similarities in environmental adaptations to how schools
implement technology to their students.
For example, technology changes as the years go on just like species in
natural selection. The more “fit”
and used technology will survive years of improvements. Moreover, the article discusses the
goals of a school and how computers can be misused and underused. To conduct their research, the authors
performed a survey of all staff of a university, interviewed administrators and
technology staff, and took observations on students. From these examinations, they found the most frequently used
technologies and how competition of technologies can affect student learning
and usage of them. These findings gave me a different view on my issue, as it
relates technology practice in schools to the ecosystem. I never thought of relating my topic to
something completely different but it helps make sense in a different
perspective. This article was written in 2003 but its assumptions and
observations still hold true, as seen from other sources. The authors Yong Zhao and Kenneth A.
Frank are both professors at Michigan State University. Zhao is a distinguished professor of
educational psychology and educational technology.[3] On the other hand, Frank is a professor
of Measurement and Quantitative Methods.[4] Both have done significant technology
research, qualifying them for this study. Their main reason for pursuing this
study was to given a take, different from the traditional viewpoint of
technology and education, on how schools use these new innovations.
Works Cited
Skiba, Diane J. "Back to School:
What's in Your Students' Backpacks?" Editorial. Nursing Education
Perspectives 2009: 318-20. Teaching With Technology. Web. 1 Oct.
2012.
[1] Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.
"Kimberly Lawless." UIC College of Education. University of
Illinois at Chicago, 2011. Web. 02 Oct. 2012.
[2] Learning
Sciences Research Institute. "Jim Pellegrino." Personal
Information - LEARNING SCIENCES RESEARCH INSTITUTE. University of Illinois
at Chicago, 2012. Web. 01 Oct. 2012.
[3] Michigan State University. "Yong Zhao." Special
Reports. Michigan State University, 2012. Web. 01 Oct. 2012.
[4] Frank, Ken. "Vitae." Dr. Frank Vitae. Ken
Frank, 2006. Web. 04 Oct. 2012.
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