On the
bright side: technology
- Assists
- Enables
- Connects
- Engages
- Empowers
On the
dark side: technology
- Inhibits
- Complicates
- Isolates
- Distracts
- Divides
We must have balance and moderation with our students. Video chatting with a classroom across the country is fine, but it will never replace a snack time face-to-face discussion over a bag of Cheez-Its. E-readers and tablets are slick and shiny. But they can't replicate the smell and texture of a physical book. The clackity noise of a student using a well-worn keyboard makes me feel like my classroom is über cool, but what a travesty if it comes at the price of the scratchy sounds of a fresh ball point on a new journal page.
This reminds me of earlier ths year when I got so excited to get my students collaborating on a shared Google doc. Then, after a day or so of watching them work, I realized they were sitting together in the same room typing away and staring at keyboards rather than looking one another in the eye and listening to each other's thoughts and ideas. I'd actually set us back rather than moving us forward.
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