Literature Review

The article I chose for my literature review was called How New Technologies Have (and Have Not) Changed Teaching and learning in Schools and it was from The Journal of Computing in Teacher Education.  There were two authors and their names were Richard Halverson and Annette Smith.  This document was written in 2010.   


One of the first things they discussed in this article was how in K-12 schools, teachers and other members of the school community have reacted to technology in two ways: banning the disruptive technology and using the technology to reinforce existing practices.  I see how teachers wouldn't want to encourage and allow students to text all the time on their phones or play around with their Ipods all class but since technology is very much a part of the students lives it should be embraced and tried to be utilized as a learning tool.  If technology is just being used to reinforce existing practices then it's not being integrated into the curriculum properly.  I personally believe that if you as a teacher are going to use technology it needs to be a more modernized approach to teaching, it can't just be a way to build off the old teaching methods like using a computer to show videos, using overhead projectors, etc which make the class teacher-centered instead of student-centered.  


I found it very interesting when they discussed that the percentage of internet in public schools jumped from 35% in 1994 to 97% in 2000.  That is incredible.  In 6 years almost all public schools in the US got access to the internet.  This shows the importance of technology and the internet in schools.  


This article talks about how teachers are more focused on test preparation than ever before.  This allows for little use of technology because the teachers feel pressured to drill information into the children to gain better test results than allowing them to use their creativity by using technological tools.  I see how hard it must be for a teacher to integrate technology into the classroom when they have the pressures to get their students ready for big state tests.  


It is amazing to me to read how many students are enrolled in Virtual Charter Schools.  The enrollment has grown from 31,000 in 2004 to more than 100,000 in 18 states in 2007-2008.  I have mixed feelings about schools that are all online.  I think it's great that the students are using technology to better themselves and to gain more knowledge but I think cheating may arise and its hard for a teacher to pick up on that when you don't even know what a student looks like or acts like in real life.  


I had never thought of fantasy sports being a learning tool before I read this article.  Students can really benefit from playing these fantasy sports.  When you play a fantasy sport you become the managers and are in control of the teams.  The person playing the fantasy sport tests hypotheses and really get to know the players in order to determine who they will put on their roster.  The fantasy sport player will collaborate with others in order to be successful.  It's crazy to me to have heard about fantasy sports for a long time but never really have thought of how much learning can come out of such a fun experience. 


I really enjoyed this article and learned many new things about technology in education.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.  Here is a link to the article so you may read it too!  http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/EJ907118.pdf