Blog Reflection – Week of September 17th

All right, I have found a new thread to toss into the discussion of whether schools should have technology in the classroom that has the potential for student abuse. Some of our classmates would ask schools for unfiltered access to the Internet; some (especially Liz perhaps) would ask for students to have the opportunity to use their cell phones; and others would probably like to see every class equipped with electronic whiteboards. An opponent to these ideas, however, generally raises the issue of student abuse, but what would it take for students to stop abusing these forms of technology, and more broadly first-rate technology as a whole?

David Warlick, in his blog on September 25th, raises this exact question. He cites a school district in Arkansas that gave unfiltered email accounts to its students. When the technology was first offered, there were certainly students that abused the system, and each of the abusers appropriately received some type of punishment, usually a temporary ban. As the program continued on, the number of email abusers lowered, and after five years, there were no incidences of student email abuse by the semester break. At the end of his blog, Warlick asks, “But I wonder how long it takes for a new classroom technology/tool to evolve from being a new toy to play to becoming another learning tool, another part of schooling, a technology or tool to be worked?”

I would like to elaborate on two possible answers to this daunting concern. First, I think time will probably be the most important factor. As students spend more time with the technology, their initial attraction will most likely diminish, but this will enable the opportunity for students to become more attracted to its educational components. Being somewhat new to wikis and blogs this year, I have never been tempted to abuse either forms of technology, but that’s because I only recognize them as educational mediums. The more time I spend with them and the more often I see my colleagues interact with them, my understanding of their use only solidifies. One thing that I am sure concerns schools, however, is how much time is necessary. For instance, many of us realize the awesome potential of both wikis and blogs, but if a classroom of students continues to abuse them, a principal or other administrator may step in and say, “All right, that’s enough.” How do teachers who are excited and optimistic about relatively new forms of Web 2.0 instill a sense of patience within their administration? How can we convince our administrators that there are educational benefits to come?

Second, I think teachers should take it upon themselves to spend a considerable portion of time educating students about the particulars and potential of Web 2.0 technologies. I suspect that some students abuse technology because they are bored with it. Maybe a student has mastered all of the ins and outs of posting a blog – that takes, what, a whole two minutes? Perhaps, we can encourage students to take more ownership in their blogs and wikis. For instance, we can ask them to start a series of blog posts that are related to a specific topic, and we could ask them to upload at least one picture or video clip that supplements their posts. Students are capable of so much more than I am sure most of believe – let’s push them forward. If students are challenged and limited by their own creativity, I believe less abuse will occur in the virtual world.