Jessica Murchie
ED 498
March 18, 2013
Dr. Holden
Student Motivation with Technology Use in the Classroom
Student’s today are more electronically savvy than any other generation that has come before. They are likely to have a cell phone that is a phone, game boy, computer and GPS all rolled into one. Having access to technology outside of the classroom has changed how our students take in information and what their interests are. The way our students learn had changed and yet, our methods for teaching those same students has changed very little. Now, students are able to multitask better than ever before and their attention spans are very short overall. We still give our students long blocks of time studying the same topics and have notes they must write down. Pen and paper are becoming obsolete in our world and students do not see the reason why they should have to write down everything. Students want to learn by doing and we find that our classrooms are filling up with kinesthetic learners. Critics of computers in the classroom, focusing on early classrooms, will argue that computers are responsible for a lack of interaction in early children. It is my position that computers and technology in the classroom are a motivating and positive factor for students.
The first supporting article is a literature review that discusses both sides of having computers in the classroom at an early age. McCarrick and Li do a good job of explaining both sides of the issue and showing literature that supports the idea that socialization is not interrupted by having computers in the classroom. They discussed a study that showed, even though the teacher tried to have a one child per computer rule, the children still worked together and socialized while using the computers (McCarrick & Li, 2007). In no study could they find an example of where students showed a lack of social skills due to learning from computers. They also included the benefits that computers seem to have on cognitive development with younger students especially when they are helped out by older peers or teachers (McCarrick & Li, 2007).
The next supporting article discusses the uses of mobile technology. McCaffery’s article, “Special Selection: Mobile Learning”, discusses the uses of mobile technology, mostly mobile phones, as a classroom tool. In terms of motivation, this article shows how students are already motivated to use the devices and could easily be persuaded to use them in an educational way (McCaffery, 2011). The opening of the article describes a group project where students are studying history in a variety of locations and sharing information with each other simultaneously. This very much reminded me of today’s fast paced work environments where offices are quickly becoming a thing of the past and business people must learn to work on the go in groups. The article states, “…mobile technology is helping to solve the two challenges facing education today: students' desire to learn differently, and students' need to learn differently”, showing that there is a need for technology in the classroom that is student driven (McCaffery, 2011).
The last supporting article shows specific programs that can be used on either computers or mobile devices in the classroom and their benefits. While it is written about their uses for Science instruction it is possible to integrate them into any subject with some imagination. Campbell and Williams-Ross write about different programs such as Skype and Museum Box that can allow students to use technology in a way that makes learning fun and interactive. Museum Box is a program that they discuss which allows students to create a collection of media, pictures and video, which can represent an idea. This program also allows teachers to take advantage and teach research skills to find appropriate material and even cite it (Campbell & Ross, 2012). I can see the uses for this technology in my classroom for research projects and story lines. Tagxedo is a program that allows students to create wordles and visual representations of ideas with vocabulary (Campbell & Ross 2012). Just like in McCaffery’s article, Campbell and Williams-Ross discuss the fact that students are already wither using the technology that can be integrated into the classroom, or they are using something very similar. The motivation to use technology is there and the training time for students is minimal. Students can often times be the trainer when it comes to new technology in the classroom and it saves on bringing in an outside source that has to be paid.
In conclusion, technology in the classroom is a great tool to use in order to motivate students to learn. Younger students can benefit from the cognitive skills it can increase and older students can benefit from the added instruction time and training on the latest software. I believe that the motivation to use the technology is already present in our students, we should just take advantage whenever possible to use that motivation for learning. At the high school level we are preparing students to either enter the workforce or college and both directions in life are going to require a working knowledge of simple technology. Integrating technology into everyday classroom activities gives students an edge and helps prepare them for life after high school as well as making learning fun. Our students are changing and the way they are taught should change with them. Using simple and complex technology as a motivating factor has many benefits that reach well beyond the grade they will get after being motivated to go the extra mile.
References
Campbell, L.O., & Williams-Rossi, D. (2012). The way they want to learn. Science Teacher, 79(1), 52-56.
McCaffery, M. (2011). Why mobile is a must. The Journal, 38(2), 21-22.
McCarrick, K., & Xiaoming, L. (2007). Buried treasure: The impact of computer use on young children’s social, cognitive, language development and motivation. AACE Journal, 15(1), 77-95.