The Myths and Opportunities of Technology in the Classroom

Log in to edublogs, watch the video,  and then respond to the questions in the comments section below this post.

  1. Does technology engage or distract our society?
  2. Have teachers been successful in relinquishing control in their classrooms so that students can collaborate and learn together?
  3. Have people learned how to use it responsibly and productively?
  4. Since this video by Alan November came out in 2009(2009!), how far have we really come? 

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43 thoughts on “The Myths and Opportunities of Technology in the Classroom

  1. I really enjoyed this video, the ideas shared were so interesting and unique from what we see today in classrooms. Kids really aren’t asked to have a sense of the world. Sure we learn history about other countries, but this is taken out of a text book; the real world is so very different. The internet can be used as live interaction, and it is something that is changing everyday. School systems need to globalize the curriculum and learn how to teach us to use the internet not just for information. The web gives us the opportunity to collaborate with people across the globe who have different culture, backgrounds and ideas. I don’t think we use the internet to our full advantage; we are too busy worrying about blocking site than showing us sites. The ideas expressed in the video I am sure will take time to develop. I know many teachers who would have problems giving up their control to their students but i think it is a innovative idea; one that would be successful in many learning situations.
    (please excuse the long comment! haha but this video had so much to comment on!)

  2. In this video, it is explained that people need to work together in order to achieve success in the world of today. As education and technology are both rapidly growing, the two things need to cooperate to teach kids the necessary skills. Students using technology is a good idea given that the control technology has on our world is growing more and more by the day, but students need to be able to balance out the technology and their education. Schools need to be able to allow kids to utilize the technology they have been presented with. However, educators need to find a way that allows kids to still communicate with others in order to complete their necessary work. This is because, while technology would be an important factor in learning, it is up to communication to teach kids what it is that they need to do to achieve their goals in the classroom.

  3. I agree with Corinneg93. It is true that all we know about other countries comes from a textbook, and that hasn’t changed -in the last decade. If we use the internet to connect with other people from across the globe, we might learn something about that country and it’s people a textbook never would’ve told us. I do disagree with him a bit though. Maybe back in his generation people didn’t take advantage of the technology they have, but we most certainly do now. There is never gonna be a time when you see someone without their phone on them. But other then that, I agree with Corinneg93 a lot. and I do think that teachers still aren’t ready to give up their control over students learning yet, but maybe it’s time to try something new.

  4. Technology distracts society even though it’s what most our society depends on. Most of our education depends on it, yet we are distracted by it. Teachers also don’t let students collaborate together because they think they will become distracted and not make constructive conversations, but the education we have is quite boring and cannot compare to the technology that we have access to at home like a phone or computer. They make us work independently and the only time to collaborate is over text or out of school, a period of time that we really should not be asking questions as the school’s purpose is just that, yet it never happens. People are able to use technology responsibly, but it sometimes isn’t used correctly as there are so many possibilities with it, which can distract us from what’s really important. After this video in 2009, not much has changed. Students are still viewed as irresponsible and don’t use technology responsibly, and so the educational system isn’t changing either. People still want it to change but it just won’t happen.

  5. Technology both engages and distracts our society. Technology allows learners to access any information that they need or what to know in seconds. This opens up the possibilities that people have and allows them to broaden their knowledge. On the other hand, technology can be a big distraction because you have everything that is going on in the world at your fingertips, which can be a big distraction to people who are trying to learn or doing their everyday tasks. Teachers have not been successful in letting the control of their classroom be in the hands of kids. I feel that there are a lot of individual projects where they don’t let us collaborate on them when they should because that is how students learn and share ideas. For the most part people have learned how to use technology responsibly and productivity because we have made our lives a lot easier and that is mainly because of technology. But it also depends on the person and the age. Most teenagers have not learned to use technology productively and responsibly but some have and they use technology to their advantage to learn more and be interested in what they are learning. I personally do not believe that schools have come very far because teachers still teach the information instead of letting us learn it by ourselves and giving us control of our learning. Teachers have to learn how to lead us in the right direction so we can be engaged and interested in our learning, which will take our learning to a new level.

  6. I believe that technology distracts our society. This is because our society has created many things to replace children. The children are deprived of opportunities to help their community because they have been replaced by machines, etc. Children would be benefited by having real conversations and social experiences but now technology just takes over. Schools are better when there are lots of ideas taken from lots of different places, this does not happen with technology because everyone is taught to learn a specific way and everyone is getting their ideas from basically the same places. I do not think teachers have been successful is gaining control so that students can collaborate and learn together. This is because technology is still greatly used and all it is doing is restricting society. Technology will not make children smarter, it causes plagiarism and provides many distractions. A lot of critical thinking has been lost. I do not think that people have learned how to use technology responsibly. I think this because children these days still get distracted by technology on a daily basis. This just continues to say that since this video has came out in 2009, we really have not come very far. Children are still taught there is only one way to learn and children still get distracted by technology on a daily basis.

  7. Based on the video, technology has potential to engage our society and benefit people but it is still seen as more of a distraction to society. Technology can engage society because we all have access to any information that we need or want to know or see. This makes life easier for us and it can also expand our knowledge and understanding since a lot of what we should know and understand is right there in front of us. However, we depend on technology so much that it becomes a distraction, or is thought to be a distraction such as using it for educational purposes. This is because anything you want access to is available and ready for you at any time, which distracts some people from learning because the school system now has become so boring and dreadful to follow. Additionally, teachers are still used to the old ways and have failed to let students have more control over their learning and in the classroom. Teachers still make a lot of work independent, which subtracts the amount of collaboration and sharing of ideas between students which is actually beneficial and allows students to not only learn from one another, but solve problems together which are more important skills. Also, it is good to allow technology into the educational world because some people have learned how to use it responsibly, productively, and to their advantage so that they are engaged and interested in their learning. Those who have not are only hurting themselves and that is when it is considered a distraction, but it is still not fair to stop all of the other students from advancing because of that. From the time this video was made in 2009 not much has changed and schools haven’t come very far because students are still being lectured and forced to learn things by force and not by interest. Teachers need to allow students to control more of their learning and lead them down the right path in life because in reality they are more responsible than they think and truly able to use technology correctly.

  8. Technology is the center of our new world, and depending on the person,it can both distract and engage us. It is distracting in that it has countless apps and games that can provide easy distractions from responsibilities. With so many other options, it can be hard to stay on task. But, despite this, it can also engage the users. The internet has an endless amount of information and resources, and it can held users find out pretty much anything they want to know. Because of this, depending on the users and their intentions, technology can be both a distraction and engaging. With this technology, schools can start to loosen their grip on students, but teachers aren’t doing this as much as they should. Although they are giving more control to students than they used to, many teachers still have almost total control over their classes. With the use of technology, students could easily lead their classes and their own learning with teachers to guide them, but many teachers aren’t giving this option. They lead their class and have students blindly follow the curriculum even though they aren’t engaged or interested in the information. Teachers are supposed to guide students through learning, but instead they are instructing them, and because of this, they aren’t giving over control to students enough. The main concern is if students will use technology responsibly and productively, and honestly, probably not all of the time. Again, this depends on the student, but I doubt every student will use technology as productive as possible all the time, but I’m sure that isn’t expected. Sure teachers want student to be productive 100% of the time, but that just isn’t realistic. No one is going to use technology for the best possible reasons all the time, but that doesn’t mean that students should automatically not be trusted with technology. Sometimes you just have to trust that it will get done, even if the given time isn’t always filled well. This video was produced in 2009, and I think the education system has changed some since then, but not enough. Students have more control than they did when this was released, but they are still blindly following teachers. Teachers are still taking most of the control and students are expected to fall in line, but despite this we are making strides towards students having a good amount of control.

  9. In the video, we get a glance at how technology engages and distracts our society. For example, the man in the video talks about his view on how a classroom should be taught, he says how there should be students working collaboratively on their assignments through an electronical base like google docs. The students can work together on designing their own assignments for class while working with there peers at the same time on the same document. I believe that teachers been successful in relinquishing control in their classrooms so that students can collaborate and learn together. More and more these days teachers are encouraging group work with students. For example, the desks these days in a lot of classrooms are arranged in bunches rather than rows. having the desks arranged in rows. Teachers don´t just do this for fun, but they do it to encourage group collaboration among peers. Learning can be more effective this way, as teachers don´t have to spend as much time 1 on 1 with students who do not understand, as the peers that do can help each other with those that don´t. This is much like the idea of the man in the video when he talked about students collaborating on assignments using the same document on google but from different locations. In his theory, they are all helping each other together on the document, just like the students helping each other in the bunches of desks. I believe that people haven’t really all learned to use the technology as responsibly as they could. I believe that it helps our society like I said before, but there are also problems with it. For example, in the video, the man says how many students these days are just plagiarizing work, and copying and pasting. They just want to get there work done as fast as possible, and think that technology is the perfect way to do this. Obviously, plagiarizing is a problem and get you kicked out of school if caught, showing how there is still perhaps instances were we haven’t learned how to use it as responsibly as we could. Since the realse of this video in 2009, I believe that we haven’t come as far as we should have. Sure, we are utilizing groups and collaborative efforts with google docs like the man in the video had a theory on, but the most important part is still there. Many students are abusing the potential that technology has in classrooms. Students are still plagiarizing there work on the internet, only trying to find an easy way out, not applying there mind to the problem , and solving it the way in which their mind will learn the most.

  10. There is potential for greatness in education, but it is being suppressed by an old education system when it can be easily revisioned to fit modern appeal using technology. Alan November wants to move education from having the teacher as the boss, to having the network of students as the boss. The curriculum needs to be changed he is saying, and this can happen using technology. I think personally that technology is more of a distraction to society; it engages us, but engages us too much. However as said before there is potential for it to be the perfect level of engaging material in order to teach kids, we just have try and eliminate it as a tool for distractions (which is probably impossible, it may just be a side affect of having this power). In the past 10 years from when this video was made, some steps were made to change the curriculum, and students discuss with others which helps them learn which is good, however teachers still control the class and students cannot be the leader still, so the steps made were minimal. Technology can help the students have that control by controlling their learning via the internet. There are still downsides however, people may not use technology responsibly or productively, and this probably will happen if we give students complete control. I believe there should be a middle ground where teachers do not have complete control and neither do students; the teacher can just guide them enough without interfering too much. This can be accomplished using the new technological tools of the modern world.

  11. Technology as a whole definitely distracts our society. While it does give us everything we need to learn and expand our knowledge, it can sometimes be overwhelming and that’s when we start to get distracted. Especially with all of the tasks we have going on in our head from all of our classes. At one point you are so distracted by all of your classes that you can’t focus in any of them. This is when the plagiarizing happens as mentioned in the video. Kids just want to get their classes over with so that they can go and do something else whether that be a hobby or just relaxing. Teachers have not been successful in handing over control to the students overall. This is not only because we are so used to the system that we still need to adapt to this new method of learning, but also because some teachers don’t want to lose control. Even though it has been proven that children learn better when they are able to collaborate with their peers, some teachers that too much talking as a sign of misbehavior and not of learning. Another problem is teachers are finally easing their way into using technology, but I believe that there is still a lot of improvements to be made. This is because as mentioned in the video, there are so many new websites and resources that can help us on the internet but teachers haven’t discovered or are too scared to use them which could be holding us back. In my opinion, we are still on the road to be using it as responsibly and productively as we could. This mostly isn’t because we don’t want to but as mentioned earlier, technology poses so many distractions. Especially with now the newer phones that can be used everywhere and for practically anything. This have somewhat improved in the last 11 years. I believe that teachers and students have both gotten more efficient with using technology and are now using many more beneficial resources than in the past.

  12. In the video it explains how technology is advancing society but still is a distraction in today’s society. Technology has the possibility to engage students and allow them to learn and interact with technology. Technology leads to productive ways and allows students to learn, and still keep them interested. Technology is extremely engaging because everyone has access to whatever information they want or need at all times, 24/7. Technology makes our life easier and can help students grow their knowledge and understanding, this is because it is right in front of us at all times, allowing us to learn all the time. When trying to learn at work and or school, for educational purposes technology is seen as a distraction. Students in the present day use technology for the wrong reasons, and in inappropriate ways. This is a big reason on why technology should be censored at schools, and why certain websites should not be allowed to access. Teachers have a hard time adjusting to the ways they teach because they have been doing it for so long, in one specific way, not with technology. This is a big struggle for teachers, the transition from their old teaching styles to now teaching interactively with technology. Teachers have failed to let students be held responsible for their own education, and let them control their learning. Present day teachers make a lot of the work independant making students not able to collaborate with their peers and expand their ideas even more. The method of group work allows students to expand their own personal knowledge but it helps solve problems which is an important life skill. Technology allows students to take their own learning into their own hands, and their own control, allowing them to be strong leading individuals. Technology should be allowed to be used for educational purposes because some kids in the school system who want to learn and expand their knowledge will use technology correctly and they will be able to learn and grow and one day be successful. When certain restrictions are held, technology is extremely helpful and allows students to grow and become stronger individuals. Students that use technology for the wrong purposes should be held responsible for not doing their work, and essentially learning when they need to. These types of people are only hurting themselves and their education. This all ties back to society and how society groups people together based on age. People should move up, based on their intelligence not how old they are or what grouping they are in(grade level). From when this video was made to now, technology’s availability in schools have increased, however not enough change has happened. Technology is allowed in schools today, however certain schools restrain kids from having access to everything. Teachers still have most of the control in students learning today, but we are taking more and more steps closer to students having control over their education, but we are not there yet. Students have more control now then how much control they had then. Students are still viewed as irresponsible just like how they are viewed when this video came out, which shows how the education system is remaining the same as time goes on. We want to make a change in our education systems and how technology is used, we just don’t know how or where to start.

  13. Technology could have the aility to engage society. However, people don’t know or don’t feel like using technology in the ways that can benefit them because they don’t enjoy as much as the ways they use it now. From the video, “We’re operating, I believe, under some great ideals. The technology is really going to improve society, but the actual practice is far from that.”(The Myths and Opportunities of technology in the classroom, 7:23-7:39.) This quote proves that technology distracts society because people don’t know how to use it in a way that will benefit them. They’d just rather go on social media than use it for educational purposes. Going into a different topic, teachers do not allow collobrative work even though it can be much more productive and beneficial for child learners as they are often best in situation where they can talk with other kids in their class. Teachers do not allow it because they believe that this amount of power in their education is unfair and that children must work by themselves. They aren’t willing to give up some of their power and allow the students to have some of it while learning. Instead everything is followed as the curriciulum says which most of the time means that students aren’t allowed to collaborate. Therefore, not much has changed since Allan November made this video 11 years ago. A he said in the video, “What I can’t do in an afternoon, is teach people to be comfortable with shifting control. That takes a long time, for some people years.”(The Myths and Opportunities of technology in the Classroom, 4:13-4:21.) In this case, society is taking even longer to shift control and allow different things than what they already do to happen.

  14. I believe that technology both distracts and engages society. We use technology to learn and also it is more convenient, but there are some negatives to it also, we are reliant on technology. Technology opens new doors, there are new jobs that are based on using technology, doctors use technology to help them and make operations more efficient. Technology engages others to learn, people want to learn about technology and it is constantly evolving because people who are interested in technology constantly are finding new ways to make it more efficient and improve. Technology also distracts us, for example in school, students use their phones during class, people play games in school. Technology distracts us, but it does not outweigh that technology engages us. Teachers can use digital platforms like edublogs, google docs, google classroom, etc. We collaborate using google docs, quizlet and other platforms. Teachers use these platforms to engage us and technology is more interesting to use.

  15. I believe that technology both distracts and engages society. We use technology to learn and also it is more convenient, but there are some negatives to it also, we are reliant on technology. Technology opens new doors, there are new jobs that are based on using technology, doctors use technology to help them and make operations more efficient. Technology engages others to learn, people want to learn about technology and it is constantly evolving because people who are interested in technology constantly are finding new ways to make it more efficient and improve. Technology also distracts us, for example in school, students use their phones during class, people play games in school. Technology distracts us, but it does not outweigh that technology engages us. Teachers can use digital platforms like edublogs, google docs, google classroom, etc. We collaborate using google docs, quizlet and other platforms. Teachers use these platforms to engage us and technology is more interesting to use. Teachers use these platforms to be more successful in engaging us to learn and make us collaborate more, for example, working on a google slide together. Some students have learned to use it responsibly and productively, while others find technology as a distraction. Students who are willing to learn will use technology responsibly and productively, while others use technology to play games and is a distraction to them. Since this video has been posted in 2009, I do not believe that we have came a far way using technology. Students are distrusted and do not use technology responsibly and productive, many students are trying to find answers online and they are not trying to solve the problem and actually understanding it, but instead trying to find an answer online and giving back information. We are still being distracted by technology and not using technology productively.

  16. Technology engages as well as distracts us. It engages us because we now have information to any information that we may need, and it takes only seconds to get it. This may encourage people to learn more on their own because they have more access to information than ever before. Technology can, however, easily become a distraction to people. This has become people ten to rely on technology a lot more than they should. The idea that people can have any information at any time is a great thing, but it causes students to become disengaged from their learning. This happens because they know that they can google any information that they need to, so they do not think that they have to put any work in to actually learn anything at school. In addition, teachers are still using old ways of teaching, even though times have changed since the education system was invented. Students are given too much independent work and not enough collaboration is done, which stops students from potentially learning new information from their classmates. Allowing technology in education is a good thing because it provides more learning activities for the students and makes a lot of work easier and more convenient for them. Since this video in 2009, not enough has changed and not as many improvements are being made as they should. A lot of teachers still stand in the front of the class and lecture while students take notes and then get tested on the information that they will later forget. By being able to take more control in their learning, students will enjoy school more and learn a lot more information that interests them. Technology will help with this because it makes students independently learning so much easier because they can research easily on computers and do not have to be taught the information by their teachers.

  17. Technology does distract students in today’s society. There are video games, where it’s on their brain constantly. Then, there is the fact that plagiarism is incredibly high in today’s society since it is of greater ease to copy and paste and not directly learn from the material, as said in the video. Teachers have taken note of this, however, they always maintain students so that collaboration is more organized in the class. The talker in the video had talked about students using podcasts to reflect on their studies, and how they all come back together to reflect on the work they did in groups. Students then use technology by using their materials collaboratively. Students are allowed to learn when they want to learn and have more of a creative workplace than what the industrialized teachers had dealt with. They can use things like google docs to collaborate with others, they have the entire internet to google what they please. Technology has changed a lot since the start, or 2009 when the video was made. Now, we have an entire system that can connect people from all across the globe with a device that can slip into a pocket. There are new apps that cause for creative design and thinking, all at a finger’s touch. Today in comparison to then, technology has brought our society to great lengths.

  18. This video gives us two viewpoints on how technology impacts society. The two aspects are how it helps to engage and how technology distratcs us. Technology helps to engage students and others in society in many different ways. Using present day technology, we can access any information from anywhere, at anytime, or whatever aspect you would like. This helps to engage students and give them the best information to complete there assignments. But these reasons could also be the reason why technology is becoming a distraction in the classroom. When people can access any iformation at any hour from anywhere they wnt, people take it for granted. They become dependable on that single source of technology that gives them there information. Therefore, technology can have a very positive impact on society/in the classroom, or a negative one based off of how one uses it. Educators and other adults have varrying opinions about the subject as well. Some of these may also varry especially since a lot of the adults/parents of our generation have not been exposed to the technology we use in our classrooms. People have very different opinions on whether or not technology should be used in the classroom, but it all comes down to one thing. How the student uses that technology. If the student uses technoilogy in an innapropriate fassion, they will be distracted and not learn. But, if a student takes advantage of the technology around him the possibilities would be endless. For example, the man in the video talks about how childeren are just trying to get there homework over and done with as fast as possible by copying and pasting others work. That is an example of not taking advantage of technology around you. An example of taking adbvantage of it would be researching for a project and finding different sources of data. Therefore, childere/students will get out of technology what the put into it. If they don;t put any effort in and they cheat/lie, they won’t be succesful. But if students use technology the right way there is no telling what the possibilites are in store.

  19. I believe that this video addresses the issue of technology faced by schools on a daily basis. In schools, children have millions of different things thrown at their face daily and they are expected to regurgitate, but we haven’t given the resources that we truly need, technology makes students feel engaged and gives them a chance to explore the new chance to explore the opportunities, we are being deprived of our main source of knowledge. The video does make a point about the damages caused in education by technology, students do seem to get distracted and ignore their education when they have all the power of technology in their hands, this is why keeping teachers close is important, not to order and pressure students into doing work that doesn’t interest them they could simply supervise that they are sticking to their education and preparing for whatever future they have in mind.

  20. Technology has great potential to become very beneficial and productivity in our school systems if educators learn how to use it correctly to get through to our students. Technology allows to learn new things in seconds because everything you could want to know is right there in front of you and can easily be accessed. This opens up lots of new learning oppurtunities but our school systems aren’t using that to their advantage. Technology has the potential to get students excited for learning because it provides lots of different ways to connect with students that require different learning styles and methods. However, the way learning is done in the classroom is not changing at all and it is making school so boring for students that they have no desire to learn because they view the information as a boring when really it is only the way it is taught to them that is boring. Since students are so miserable, this is when they resort to using technology for non-school related things. Technology could be so beneficial to us we just have to learn how to use it the right way.

  21. Technology, although a major help to the society, is a huge distraction in the classroom or anywhere really. Having phones in the classroom while working or doing work at home is a huge distraction. Having the constant urge to talk to friends or play games is always a factor that distracts students from learning. Computers in the classroom have gotten old and students have figured out what they can do with them and hide from their teachers. When students use the technology giving to them to their advantage, they won’t get work done, it’s that simple. With that said, teachers are meant to supervise their students and lead them in the right direction, but with the distraction of technology, it is near impossible to do that. There will always be distractions in class but technology is the biggest one as of now. Teachers sometimes can’t retain control of their classrooms and the kids in them because of this. And kids know how to use their Chromebooks productively and responsibly, they just don’t choose to because there are more fun ways to use the Chromebooks. It isn’t 100% the students or the teacher’s fault though. They need to cooperate with each other, students follow the directions of the teacher and then benefit later in life from this. Since this video came out in 2009, not much has really changed. Students are still counterproductive because of the technology used in the classroom and because of this, they can’t become productive members of society. Technology has made the human race lazier as a whole and have less productivity than ever before.

  22. Technology has engaged our society, not distracted it. Tech allows more teaching ideas to be spread and implemented, allows people from all over the world to socialize, and has led to a better quality of life due to the amount of information available to people all over the world. Back before the invention of the smartphone, you would have to use a map for directions, either go home to a PC, or to a library for information on something, and allows people to converse over long distances with ease. This is also supported by the speaker of the video, as he discusses how the school has a podcast for each class to recap the students learning. He also goes into depth about how students were allowed to find assignments for themselves, like a book trailer. This allows kids to be more independent, and allows for more expressions of creativity. Teachers have not been successful in handing over control to technology. I only use my chromebook regularly in one class, being this cyber english class. In all my other classes, I will sit through lectures, blankly staring off into space as teachers repeat things I already know, or I will read through a textbook just to find the vocab and questions to answer. This has led to me dreading school due to the monotony and boredom that entails spending 7 hours, 5 days a week in it. If I was allowed to study things at my own pace, and not forced to slow myself down, school would actually become enjoyable. Allowing children to study at their own pace would also free up the teacher to help those children who are lagging behind, as the teacher can now focus almost exclusively on the struggling students. People have learned how to use tech responsibly and productively. This is evident whenever use a phone to connect to your friends, or order food, or for directions. These things quite clearly show that we can and will use tech to the fullest extent when allowed too. unlike school, where we are hamstrung by an misunderstanding or uncaring administration. THis is also evident with automated factories, as entire cars can be assembled with almost no intervention. If anything, I would say we have regressed from 2009. In this video he talks of schools allowing children to find their own projects to do, allowing them to prepare for a job later in life, and leading to a happier student body. From my personal experiences, I have never been able to do such a thing, or even use tech to its full advantage. With the introduction of Securly last year, this problem has been exacerbated, as it is now impossible to view many trustworthy websites, and even impossible to type in certain words or phrases.

  23. This video shows the ideas the technology isn’t always the best option in the classroom but can be. Everyday kids in their classroom get distracted from their phones or their computers in class because they are able to. Without these sources for these children, they can’t get distracted. Technology can be very distracting because it gives kids a source of distraction because they aren’t engaged in the topics they learn. Although this is true, technology is still very helpful in the classroom because it gives everyone so much endless information and that’d hard to give up. Children are able to teach them selves with cutting edge technology such as the chrome books provided to us. We can finish a project without picking up a book or even asking the teacher a question. But the real question is if teachers support this way of learning. It is very possible that technology puts teachers out of their job one day but until then, teachers will teach in their own custom ways. New technology hasn’t been around long enough to prove anything in terms of good or bad for classrooms but rather is an opinion. Technology can render good or bad to the classroom.

  24. I agree with Corinneg93 from October 18, 2010 at 7:46 pm. Nearly everything we know about anything comes from a textbook, but that isn’t as accurate as it could be. The internet has so much valuable information that many kids don’t know what to do with, a teacher should help students use this vast source of knowledge. If teachers implemented the internet more into their curriculum and didn’t fear it as much I think we could create a much more intelligent generation. Teachers see the internet and technology as either a distraction, or a reason to not teach. Teachers should be teaching with the internet to spark more creative and helpful people. But I don’t think that teachers are ready to give up their control over students learning yet.

  25. Education has the chance to thrive but it is being stopped due to the fact that individuals within the education system today do not conform to the system itself. Children are being forced to learn in a community that doesn’t fit their needs, and it is resulting in a poorly run education system. Alan November wants to move education from having the teacher being in charge to the children being able to control and have a key role in their own learning.He believes children have a better opportunity to succeed if they are able to figure out in what manner they work best in and being able to tone in on that specific learning habit. I personally agree with this, due to the fact that society as a whole has more potential to srtive if they can lead their own learning.The first step to this would be eliminating all distractions and focusing on your own personal needs. For example, if one student heavily stuggles on writing thesis statements while another student has a hard time completing thourough research, they shouldn’t be forced to be doing the same work. They should have the option to complete work that they need and are interested in imporiving in. This video was published a long time ago and it is clear that multiple changes he mentioned were not acted apart. Every school I am aware of has teachers still leading classes and students have just about no say in activities or topics that they want or need to know. They are forced to follow a strict curriculum and their concerns are not usually considered. Technology can help the students have that control by controlling their learning whiloe using the internet to obtain new information. We also have to have trust in the students and truly believe that they will use the technology on what they are interested in, rather than using it for inappropriate school reasons, such as games. Giving them the benefit of the doubt is the start to a successful future revolving this generation.This can be accomplished using the new technological tools of the modern world.

  26. I think that technology has a great opportunity to be prominent in society and especially in the classroom. I believe this because it can be a great, quick resource for people to learn quickly and a variety of topics. This benefits students because it allows them to find a topic that they enjoy learning about in a quicker time, potentially setting up their future and making them enjoy school. As of now, we have access to any information that we might require, and it takes a short time to get it. This may encourage people to learn more by themselves because they have more access to information than ever before. In the past, students had to use books and other resources to get information, which took a lot longer than today. Although, technology may be a distraction because of this reason. In other words, technology may influence students to become more attached to it, leading to a negative outcome of addiction. Besides this case, technology is overall good for educational purposes and society as a whole.

  27. This video does a good job of elaborating on how technological advancements can sometimes be the best option but other times cannot. Children can learn fine without technology but sometimes it is more crucial than one cares to think. Technology has its pros but also has its many downfalls along with it. However, it all comes down to a matter of opinions of what is best for any child in the classroom.

  28. Based on the video, essentially technology can be very beneficial and very distracing to students. The speaker from the video says that technology must be used correctlty in order for it to be beneficial. If we use it to look something up or copy and paste, we won´t learn anything we will be getting our work done but we won´t really be learning anything. To use technology correctly, all the students must come together. They should be put into teams. Some students will research, others will write notes, and others will write things. Then as a class, we will all come together and reflect upon the learning. So far, since 2009 when the video came out, nothing has really changed and that is because teachers just cannot give up control. Our education system is still the same as it always was and shows no signs of changing anytime soon. We have incorprated technology a lot more into our learning. But, not in the right way. We use computers to look things up and copy and paste, exactly what the guy in the video says not to do. The video really does make you think that we as a society and as future generations of the world, must do something to fix the problem that is our way of education.

  29. Technology allows students to learn new things in seconds because everything you could want to know is right there in front of you and can easily be accessed. This opens up lots of new learning opportunities but our school systems aren’t using that to their advantage. Technology has the potential to get students excited for learning because it provides lots of different ways to connect with students that require different learning styles and methods. However, the way learning is done in the classroom is not changing at all and it is making school so boring for students that they have no desire to learn because they view the information as a boring when really it is only the way it is taught to them that is boring. Since students are so miserable, this is when they resort to using technology for non-school related things. Technology could be so beneficial to us we just have to learn how to use it the right way.

  30. Overall, technology can both engage and distract our society. This is because technology can be used for many things like for our jobs, for traveling, and for living. But, with the pros, come cons. Really, it all depends on the person using the technology. Teachers also have not relinquished control in their classrooms. They do let students work in groups, but they usually just drop packets off at the groups and make you work on them for the class period, which can be seen as a positive and a negative. People have learned to use technology responsibly and productively, but can get off topic sometimes with technology. Again, it really boils down to the person. Things have changed in the classroom since 2009, but slowly. Teachers still have control their students and don’t let students be in charge of their own learning.

  31. Technology distracts everyone in our society. Most of our education depends on some sort of technology, yet most students can be easily distracted by it. We are allowed to carry our phones around school this gives students the constant urge to text back their friends or play games. This takes away their learning possibilities in school. Having our own chromebooks during school has allowed kids to play games constantly while in class, rather than doing school work. Most teachers don’t know they are playing games, this is a distraction to their education. Teachers are meant to guide students in the right direction, but with technology such as chromebooks it is nearly impossible. Yet technology has great potential to help students and educators in the long run. It provides many sources to help with classwork, homework, projects and etc. In my opinion technology can be bad or good depending on how students and educators use it.

  32. Technology is giving us the upper hand in the new generation of learning. Although it has many positives it also has many negatives. Technology can take over jobs and basic things. People won’t have to leave their houses for anything anymore. The population will become lazy because they won’t have to do anything for themselves. There will also become an increase in poverty due to fewer jobs being available because they were taken over by technology-based things that can probably do things faster than us. We may also be a dumber generation because of technology because we will fully rely on the internet to do everything for us. Teachers are going towards technology-based things and students are able to do newer things.

  33. I really do like how Alan has these ideas on how we should be connecting kids globally. I 100% agree wth Alan. If we as in the education system connect all kinds of students from around the world, think about all the great ideas students can come up with and all the things they can do. Our world can be a better place in every single problem we have. And I really do think this because thinking about how many kids there are in the world that can work together and make some great ideas that really can change the world. Examples of things I think these students could change could be pollution. There is already an organization founded by a kid and so think about it if we brought thousands of students just to change pollution. I think we can totally get rid of pollution and this I why I really do agree with Alan.

  34. Technology can help in education to a certain extent. There are very good uses of technology that can be used in classrooms, but there is also plenty of unnecessary technology in our classrooms that is just a distraction. The video supports this by explaining how phones and computers can be a distraction in the classroom. Technology also helps to promote students to learn on their own and have an open mind to learning and show them that it can be fun. Technology in the classroom connects the students to anyone in the world which can be a good thing until social factors cause a distraction. Technology in the classrooms is good for many things, but it also brings up many issues.

  35. Technology can be both an engagement tool and a distraction to society. We can choose and yet, we still see more people using the new tools wrong and it causes the system to fall apart. Technology has all the info people need and yet, some just don’t want it. There is no correct answer to technology’s influence, rather it’s an opinion based on those in society. The new use may one day be the only method of learning, and this will take too long to adapt and be successful with this method.

  36. We’ve come a pretty long way from when this video was made in 2009. In the video, Alan November said, “Sadly, most schools use the internet only to get information…People learn by having conversations and testing each other and trying to figure this out together: we are social beings.” Technology is a tool that can actually better help people to work as a team: and today, and it has invented a way to do exactly that, with appliances such as Google Drive (invented 2012, after the video was released) that lets people share work. However, not every teacher decides to use these available appliances and still prefers to assign individual work. For example, worksheet after worksheet is a common method that teachers use to convey information. Often times, these worksheets don’t even require collaboration. There is also controversy around technology being a possible distraction to students, and it has carried over into this decade. There is always an urge to get work done as soon as possible, so the internet has also provided an easy way to plagiarize. The internet is also full of threats and dangerous people, and it’s important for students to know how to avoid these things. Our school had already made an attempt at control by using a program called Securly, but it doesn’t really teach us anything. It just frustrates students and makes it even harder to use the tools available on the internet. Just monitoring Chromebooks should be enough. The number one job of schools should be to protect students from the dangers of the internet, but to make sure helpful resources that can help them collaborate, (such as letting them have more freedom in what they do) Collaborating as a team is an important skill to have in the workplace when students start their careers, after all.

  37. Though many people believe that technology is a big distraction to society, we wouldn’t be where we are today without it. In my opinion, learning through the internet shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing. There are so many things on the internet that can be embedded into students learning today. There are so many databases and websites and online books that can provide new information to students that they never knew before. With applications such as Google Docs and Google Slides, we are able to write our essays more efficiently and with Google Slides, we are able to create informational power points that can be shown and presented to our peers. With these technologies, we are learning something new every day.

  38. In the long run, technology distracts society as a whole and has both solved and created numerous problems we face today. Technology and the internet has been stigmatized by older generations, because that was not like the world they grew up in. Technology allows us normal people to access information on a widespread scale. unfortunately, this also allows many people to be fooled by disinformation and its spread. the education system we have today is outdated and can not provide our students with the skills and information they need today. technology can help solve this problem. If we allow students to choose what they learn, and make their own path, they would be much more interested and engaged in learning.

  39. Technology is shaping our entire society. In the older times we used to be fine without it, but now we need it like oxygen. Technology has had both a positive and negative impact, as it has both distracted us and helped us advance. Without technology, we would be nowhere, but with it we still have some setbacks. Technology helps us access information more than ever before, but it only pertains to the personalization by recognizing the tings we do and then showing us other things that are related to that, shortening our accessibility of further knowledge.

  40. People can use technology to distract them but it can also be the most engaging tool that students can use. students can collaborate with any other student in the world and get their help and opinions on topics they are learning. unfortunately teachers are afraid that students will use technology to engage in off topic shenanigans. but kids can learn so much more and be so much more engaged if they can talk to anyone in the world about what they are learning.

  41. This video shows the potential education could have with the addition of new technology, but technology is increasing much more rapidly than the education system, and the two just can keep up. The education system needs to begin to catch up and teach their students all the new necessary information to live in our society. Additionally all this new technology is not just positively impacting our students, but negotiably impacted them with a slew of new distractions to keep students off task. There are easy work arounds to this but with all this new technology students are incorrectly using it. Rather than learning from it students are using it as a means of playing games or looking at pictures rather than learning from it.

  42. Technology now in society has a tendency to make the newer generations overall lazier and causes people to be less hardworking. Overall, technology is able to connect the world at our fingertips, but there is always the negative side of things which is the distracting aspect of it. Because of how easily accessible and user friendly most devices of technology are, like the internet, it often leads people to gravitate towards it because of how so simple it is, as opposed to actually completing the job that the were tasked. In the classroom, many teachers have backed away from the standard way of teaching, which includes standing up in front of the class while the students take notes to then ‘regurgitate’ them on a test in 2 weeks, but to loosen their grip on their classrooms and allow the students to learn and explore their curiosities at their own level and speed. One way to show success is to display traits of progress. In school, this can include things like improvement in test scores, but with this ‘loosened grip’ on the students, improvements can include a better mental state, an increase in a students curiosities, and an overall more collaborative classroom. Which, has been displayed when teachers have a little less control in their classroom. But, there are pros and cons to this type of teaching. Realistically, many students take advantage of this and don’t get much work done, leaving a consequence most times for the entire class, including those who are actually working to complete the task at hand. Considering that this video was first aired in 2009, the predictions that were said have a higher chance of being noticed because it was nearly 11 years ago. Generally they have been right, but not for the better. It was believed that students would begin to simply look up the answers and not exactly put in all of the effort that was needed to complete the task or assignment. And it is because of this that us as a generation have become lazier and less advanced. Meaning, things are now needing to become ‘dumbed down’ for us in order for us to understand them. So instead of us looking into things and researching for ourselves, or looking in a dictionary to understand a word or learn new terms; we are left to have somebody else tell us what to do and put everything into simpler terms just so that we are able to comprehend them.

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