Tech Blog: A Touch of Technology

For my blog this week, I read an article about a school in South Dakota in which students in elementary classrooms use an iPod Touch as part of the educational process.

The article detalied how they used the iPod to first read a story, then wrote a summary, drew a picture, and then turned those into a podcast, all on the device. These are things that normally happen in an elementary classroom, but I think it is amazing that the students are able to do these mundane things in a way that makes it exciting, easy, and fun.

The kids interviewed in the article love using the iPods, and the teachers had nothing but rave reviews, but I see some problems with using this technology in every subject.

First of all, one of the teachers says that the iPods help first graders with handwriting skills. I would have to object and say that it does not adequately prepare children for writing properly. Using their fingers to write on a tiny iPod screen, while helping with fine motor skills, does not show first graders how to hold a pencil or use their hand to write.

Secondly, one of the students says "you can search anything you want". I, personally, would not want my child being able to have free reign of the internet, even if it is on an iPod. As an elementary education major, I feel that it is the teacher's responsibility to find appropriate sites that can enhance learning. Letting children, especially first graders, search for whatever they want does not sound like a good idea to me.

Another objection I have is that the students are using the iPods as personal dictionaries. If they can't figure out how to spell a word, they type it into their iPod and it corrects the word for them. Learning to sound out words and develop phonemic awareness is critical for students if they will ever be able to write and spell properly in the future. Giving them the easy way out is not benefiting them whatsoever.

So, even though I am a fan of incorporating technology into the classroom, I'm not sure this school is doing it in a way that will best help the students.

http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6373.cfm?Id=111852