Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Responses to Your Questions

Thank you everyone for your questions. Here are my responses to some of them.

Erin
 Your topic and my topic are super similar! Technology in school communication is really interesting because we are currently in school and as technology develops, it is becoming more prevalent with our studies. My question for you is: Based on your conclusion that there is a technology gap between teachers and students, are there any steps that can be taken to close this gap? If there has not been enough research done on this yet, what do you think is the first step that should be taken to close this interpersonal divide and why?

Thank you for your thoughtful questions Erin. I also commented on your blog and yes our topics are very similar, as they both have to deal with education. To answer your question, yes there are things that can be done to close this gap. First, this gap is present mainly due to the age difference between students and teachers, which is something that cannot be changed. Also the rate at which new technologies are being introduced to society is faster then ever before. This can also not be changed by us. But what can be done to help close this gap is by having schools provide their teachers with new technology as it comes out. Most classrooms are consistently a few years if not more behind the latest technological trends. There has not been a lot of research done on what could be done to help improve the technological skills of teachers, but by having new technologies available to teachers it would give them the tools to be caught up with their students. This is because teachers as individuals are usually not behind the technology trends as they are well equipped with smartphones, tablets etc. It is more that the schools as institutions are behind the eight ball when it comes to technology.

Lars
In our world education is the key to our development as a nation. With other countries such as China repeatedly outscoring our youth on exams, it seems to be a waste of our resources to have our technology used for communicational purposes. Do you believe this to be true? Or do you believe that we are using our technology in school in the most beneficial manner?

Lars thank you for your question. It is always important to compare our education system to the rest of the world. China is a good country to compare us to because it is a very similar country to the United States in terms of world powers. Just because China is repeatedly outscoring our youth on exams doesn’t mean that the use of technology in American Classrooms is holding us back. In fact, according to Katie Lepi who has done extensive research on US vs. Chinese classrooms and she has found that Chinese schools are more likely to integrate technology, students spend more time on technology per day, and teachers are more tech savvy compared to Americans. (Lepi, 2013). With that said one could argue that American schools need to use more technology and better integrate it into classrooms. So in regards to your second question I don’t think that American schools are using technology in the most beneficial matter. I don’t think so mainly because it seems like most schools have out of date technology in the classroom. Because of this students are using the latest and greatest when they are at home but when they come to the classroom they are told to use technology that they haven’t used in years.
Lepi, Katie. (2013). How U.S. And Chinese Classrooms Use Education Technology. Edudemic Connecting Education & Technology.

Grace
In your literature review you talk about emailing your professor to talk about sensitive subjects in class. I was curious if the ability to use technology to communicate with teachers and students through technology is causing a decline in student's ability to participate in face-to-face conversations with their teachers and overall with their peers?

Thank you Grace for your great question. I also commented on your blog and thought you did a very nice job with your project. I would say that because of technology it allows students who wouldn’t normally participate in class a way to voice their opinions to the teacher. Everyone learns differently and everyone has a different personality so some students who may be bright and have great ideas don’t have the confidence to voice their opinions in class. Technology allows these students to have their voice heard. This way students who are naturally more shy than others do not get punished on their final grade for poor participation. I do believe that students who traditionally participate in class are turning to emails and other CMC to communicate with teachers because it is easier for them. In this instance students are participating less in class because they know they can just email their questions to the teacher after class. So technology and CMC can be a double-edged sword for students. It allows shy students to have their voice hears but also gives students who usually provide conversation in class another way to ask their questions.

Ryan
What is your opinion of the topic of communication and technology in college classrooms such as ours. Do you believe technologies used correctly in this setting, used not enough, or used to much?


Thank you for your questions Ryan. I think you touch on a very important topic especially because we are in the midst of college right now. We know better than anyone else how technology is being used on college campuses because we are the data points that researchers are looking at. We are living the life of a college student who interacts with technology on a daily basis. I think it is very important that colleges use technology every way possible because the reality is that upon finishing college nearly everyone is going to have a job that uses technology. Nearly every profession is capitalizing on the advancements in technology. Because of this it is so important to have ample experience with technology in college and before. I think every college can do a better job of incorporating technology because technology is always changing and there are always new apps and products out there that are designed to make us more effective and efficient. Denison does use a lot of technology but compared to other schools that I know people at Denison is on the slower end of technological advancements. For example many schools use smart boards while Denison is still in the projector phase. However Denison does to a good job of making technology available to us on a daily basis.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

For my research paper I am exploring how technology has greatly impacted the classroom as we know it to be. Technology has changed the way students communicate to other students as well as how students communicate to their teachers. This topic is important to me because I am an Education major here at Denison and am very interested in classroom dynamics and logistics. This topic is also important to the rest of the world because millions of children are attending schools on a daily basis and are constantly communicating with one another and their teachers. The education system is something that we will all encounter at some point in our life. This is also important because there has not been a lot of research on classroom dynamics and logistics as it relates to communication and technology. So this research will be groundbreaking in both the Education field and the Communication field. Also as the education system in the United States is under much scrutiny technology can be a huge tool for educators to have US schools back on top of the global sphere. 

Gross, E. (0001). Adolescent Internet use: What we expect, what teens report (English). Journal Of Applied Developmental Psychology, 25(6), 633-649.

Levin, D., Arafeh, S., & American Institutes for Research, W. C. (2002). The Digital Disconnect: The Widening Gap between Internet-Savvy Students and Their Schools. Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Lynne, K., Robert L. Duran & J. Jerome Zolten (2001). The effect of reticence on college students’ use of electronic mail to communicate with faculty, Communication Education Journal, 50:2, 170-176.

Sangrà, A., & González-Sanmamed, M. (2010). The role of information and communication technologies in improving teaching and learning processes in primary and secondary schools. ALT-J Association For Learning Technology Journal, 18(3), 207-220.   

Tabatabaei, M., & Lam, M. (2013). Awareness and Usage of Collaboration and Communication Technologies in Student Teamwork. Journal Of International Technology & Information Management, 22(2), 71-83.

Waldeck, J., Kearney, P., & Plax, T. (2001). Teacher e-mail message strategies and students' willingness to communicate online, Journal of Applied Communication Research, 29:1, 54-70.

Waxman, H. C., Boriack, A., Yuan-Hsuan, L., & MacNeil, A. (2013). Principals' Perceptions of the Importance of Technology in Schools. Contemporary Educational Technology, 4(3), 187-196

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

For my research paper I am exploring how technology has greatly impacted the classroom as we know it to be. Technology has changed the way students communicate to other students as well as how students communicate to their teachers. This topic is important to me because I am an Education major here at Denison and am very interested in classroom dynamics and logistics. This topic is also important to the rest of the world because millions of children are attending schools on a daily basis and are constantly communicating with one another and their teachers. The education system is something that we will all encounter at some point in our life. This is also important because there has not been a lot of research on classroom dynamics and logistics as it relates to communication and technology. So this research will be groundbreaking in both the Education field and the Communication field. Also as the education system in the United States is under much scrutiny technology can be a huge tool for educators to have US schools back on top of the global sphere.