By: Lindsay Morgan
Over the past few years, with the explosion of technology and social media, teaching has become somewhat of an arms race for students’ attention. Teaching style and information presented must now be more compelling than ever; that is, the person at the front of the room needs to be more captivating than what is on students’ phones and computer screens. This challenge can be especially difficult considering that technology has one clear advantage: students choose what goes on their screen. That means students must actively choose the teacher and the material intended to be taught. Unfortunately, introducing technology in the classroom has led to students messaging their friends, reading their emails, surfing the web, and checking Facebook. Even if they are working, students attend to other assignments and immediate stressors while passively attending to, if at all, the current information presented in the classroom. After all, they won’t be tested on the material for a few more weeks, typically. This technology-infused classroom is not hopeless, however. Teachers must ask themselves what changes they can make in their teaching, both substantively and stylistically, to succeed in the race to capture and maintain their students’ attention. This does not mean banning technology from the classroom; in fact, it means quite the opposite. If they are to safeguard the sanctity of teaching, teachers must keep themselves up-to-date and informed about the different technological advances (e.g., education-friendly apps, Massive Open Online Courses [MOOCs], PowerPoint, Blackboard, and “Clickers”)—even Facebook and Twitter, if used effectively, can aid the learning environment.
While the introduction of technology into the classroom has made for a rather difficult task for teachers, there is a positive side as well. Technology has changed how classes are organized and how information is presented to students (Kirkwood & Price, 2013). For instance, information can now be aesthetically organized onto PowerPoint slides that contain carefully crafted bullet points interspersed with color photographs and sometimes even streaming video. Integrating the latest or coolest technology into teaching style can improve teachers’ connectivity with their students, as it allows them to connect on a different level. The bottom line is that it is exceedingly important for teachers, in an environment whereby technology is rapidly evolving, to remain informed about new and effective teaching technology. For example, the presentation of information in the classroom has evolved from speaking, to speaking while writing on a board, to speaking with the assistance of a presentation slideshow. However, this evolution of presentation style has not stopped there. For a while, students took on the responsibility of adjusting to note taking in an environment whereby many words could be displayed in rapid succession or even simultaneously. Learning in a lecture hall quickly became an inner battle between listening, reading, and writing down everything one could muster. So, students began bringing laptops into the classroom for note taking purposes. The problem with that is that students feel compelled to write down every single word that appears on the PowerPoint, or that is said by the teacher, verbatim (Mueller & Oppenheimer, 2014). However, there has been a shift in some classrooms; that is, teachers are providing handouts to their students online. Some provide them before and some after, as there are pros and cons to both practices. The advantage of providing students with handouts before class, for instance, is that students can print them off, bring them to class, and take notes right on them – by hand! Teachers must remain informed concerning such best practices and be open to adapting and evolving their teaching styles.
Technology is always evolving, and the same is true for teaching technology. Certain technologies catch on and become must-haves, while others come out and then quickly become a thing of the past. For example, MySpace was a social media website, much like Facebook, where users could create a personal profile and share it with others. While MySpace was introduced to the world much earlier than Facebook, Facebook was the social media platform that exploded and has since become essential in some people’s lives. There must have been some component of Facebook users found preferable. Similarly, classroom clickers did not receive much attention until they could be used with cell phones (Poling & LoSchiavo, 2014). It is extremely difficult to predict which technologies will be embraced or rejected. Teachers must reflect on and then determine which technologies will and will not be effective in their classrooms. Furthermore, it is imperative that teachers consider how such technologies will affect students’ learning of the material (Poling & LoSchiavo, 2014). Importantly, while it remains important to be flexible in style, the technologies teachers embrace should be based off personal preference. People are more excited about what they love and thus, by teaching material that they love, teachers improve their teaching. Similarly, by choosing the technology they are excited about, teaching will be enhanced (Poling & LoSchiavo, 2014). However, personal preference should be in part derived from professional opinion, as there are a few arguments for certain technologies over others (Kirkwood & Price, 2013).
For instance, currently the literature supports the use of clickers in higher education classrooms (Watling, Clarke, & Rowell, 2014; Lantz, 2010; Poling & LoSchiavo, 2014). Clickers are small handheld tools that allow students to answer questions, in real time and anonymously. Recently, clicker technology has evolved to allow students to answer questions using their cell phone in a similar manner. This provides students the added bonus of being allowed to touch their phones, as they have most likely been craving. Research suggests that clickers may be good for student engagement and learning (Watling, Clarke, & Rowell, 2014). Furthermore, students report that they find the clickers useful, despite their technological problems (Lantz, 2010). The increase in response with the clickers compared to hand raising and response card usage suggests that the anonymity of the clickers allows students, who would otherwise not participate in class, to participate (Lantz, 2010). However, because the act of explaining and justifying one’s thoughts out loud is so conducive to learning, these students may need alternative outlets for such practice. Moreover, because clickers allow shy students to hide behind a screen, they may never learn to respond publicly should they always use clicker technology.
This clicker example provides some insight into the types of questions teachers must ask themselves to ensure that they are choosing the right teaching technology to complement their teaching style, material, classroom, and students. While technology’s intrusion into the classroom may have been abrupt, it has likely also been largely misunderstood. Admittedly, there are some downfalls to having technology in the classroom (e.g., diverted attention). Still, there are countless ways teachers can defend their classroom against the evils of technology. Surprisingly, the best way to do so is to embrace it!
References
Kirkwood, A., & Price, L. (2013). Missing: Evidence of a scholarly approach to teaching and learning with technology in higher education. Teaching in Higher Education, 18(3), 327-37. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.library.carleton.ca/10.1080/13562517.2013.773419
Lantz, M. E. (2010). The use of ‘clickers’ in the classroom: Teaching innovation or an amusing novelty? Computers in Human Behaviour 26(4), 556-61.
Mueller, P. A., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2014). The pen is mightier than the keyboard: Advantages of longhand over laptop note taking. Psychological Science, 25(6), 1159-68. doi:http://dx.doi.org.proxy.library.carleton.ca/10.1177/0956797614524581
Poling, D.A. & LoSchiavo, F. M. (2014). Ten timeless tips for keeping on top of teaching technology. Teaching of Psychology, 40(1), 69-72.
Watling, R., Clarke, R., & Rowell, C. (2014). Clickers in the classroom: The use of student response systems in teaching psychology. Psychology Teaching Review, 20(2), 36-38. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy.library.carleton.ca/docview/1658436966?accountid=9894