Teaching with Tech: Does it Work?

By Adam Hunter, special to MSN Tech & Gadgets

Are students in the digital age getting dumber?
Students today don't just write papers—they create PowerPoint presentations, design Web pages, and take tests using interactive software. The rise of these computer-based technologies over the past decade has been heralded as a boon for education. However, stories abound of students repeating inaccurate facts from sources like Wikipedia, peppering their papers with instant message lingo or wasting study time on Facebook. These concerns have caused some educators to take a more critical view. Are students merely learning how to use computers, but not actually learning?
A 2005 Pew Research survey of more than 1,000 pairs of parents and their teenage children found 80 percent of parents and 86 percent of teens believe the internet helps kids do better in school. If technology is dumbing students down, it's doing it without their knowledge.

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Another concern of educators is that the language skills of younger students are suffering because of constant use of text messaging and instant messaging. The fear is that abbreviations and syntax used in these short communications can cross over into a student's schoolwork. New Zealand made headlines last year when their educational Qualifications Authority announced it would accept the use of “text-speak” in answers on their national exams. One can imagine that far in the future, when history is written in the abbreviated, text-message language that has swept the globe, New Zealand may very well be regarded as the only country in our primitive 21st century that had the foresight to capitulate to the inevitable victory of technological convenience over proper spelling.
"Students are particularly tempted to use abbreviations when they’re rushed for time. So it makes sense that they would be tempted to use abbreviations on a timed exam," says Mignon Fogarty, author of Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips to Clean Up Your Writing. Fogarty believes that when kids text habitually, they in effect train themselves in writing a form of shorthand. "Kids seem to be sending text messages almost constantly, and it's considered normal to use abbreviations when you’re texting. Imagine what it would be like if every student had extensive training in shorthand and they used shorthand every day. They'd be tempted to use it on their homework and exams. They might even slip into using abbreviations unconsciously."
Oppenheimer isn't surprised. "If schools don’t have the guts to address this, then that says something about the sad state of our schools," he says. "There’s no job in the real world that allows writing in IM lingo."
Laptops in Class
More and more professors are allowing laptops into the classroom for note taking purposes. However, a recent study conducted at Winona State University in Minnesota found that laptops in class actually interfered with students learning the material. On average, the students spent 17 minutes out of a 75-minute class doing activities not related to class work. 81 percent of students admitted to checking e-mail, 68 percent reported using instant messaging, 43 percent surfed the internet, and 25 percent played games. The study also found students with laptops earned an average grade five percent lower than those who didn’t bring computers.
Leyes allows laptops in his classroom, but keeps a close eye on how they’re used. "My rule is they are fine to take notes with, but if I catch you doing non-course related stuff, the penalty is pretty severe," he says. "It’s easy to tell when people are taking notes and when they are playing solitaire or instant messaging."
The Digital Classroom
Despite these reservations, a new generation of teachers is embracing high tech educational tools. Erica Braverman, 26, began her teaching career two years ago at a school in a low-income area in Brooklyn, New York, and in her view, the lack of available technology hurt the students' education.
"Kids are drawn to technology and it’s not wise to not incorporate that into how they are taught,” Braverman says. “Podcasts are a fun way for students to learn about a topic that might have otherwise seemed dull reading out of a textbook. Many schools have adopted the use of blogs, wikis and podcasts into their learning environment, and it really gives the students a voice in their educational process."
In fact, when Braverman recently got a new job as a 6th-grade Language Arts/Social Studies teacher at a school in New Jersey, the superintendent suggested she use the popular online virtual world, Second Life , to teach students lessons about community building and communication. "There are virtual field trips that a teacher can lead through Second Life. If a student is most comfortable in a virtual environment, why not let him learn that way?
"I don’t think it’s a bad thing for students to be dependent on technology," Braverman says. "Teachers are there to prepare students for life, and to teach them how to get by. I would never not allow a student to use any resource because it made their life easier, so long as it wasn’t cheating in any way."
The U.S. Congress seems to agree. The government is spending more than $700 million a year to support technology in the classroom, according to Mathematica Policy Research Inc., which studies educational software for the Department of Education.
Oppenheimer isn't against computers in the classroom, but believes they should be introduced later in a student's development, and then in moderation. "The idea that we need technology in school has been popular for almost a century. But no reputable studies have found it makes any significant difference. What are we spending all this money on?"