Disadvantages of Computers in the Classroom

Homeschool Math Curriculum Reviews - Disadvantages of Computers in the Classroom

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To start the most essential fact that should be stated is that the computer is a tool, and as with any educational tool, from books to crayons, it can be used to heighten the curriculum and promote learning, but it can also be misused and abused. In this essay, I will discuss the disadvantages of having computers in the classrooms due to the misuse and the abuse of this tool.

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Homeschool Math Curriculum Reviews

I found it hard to find study that had been done on this topic because not only is the study on the effectiveness of computers in the classroom scarce but the study that is there is often done by software fellowships and therefore may be biased. (Emmans 2001). Even though there is no clear-cut rejoinder to the question of a computer being a friend or foe in the classroom, having an unsolvable question of good or bad brings many issues to light.

For example, the fact that much of the software designed for children is spirited to them. If nothing else, it at least holds the children's attention. Though this may seem like a unavoidable characteristic, reconsider this, just because a television show holds your attention, does it necessarily educate you? The rejoinder to this is simple, maybe some do, but certainly not all do, mostly they are just plainly entertaining. This causes me to raise an eyebrow at some, not all, software. As a teacher, one must not use time-fillers, cause a child can watch television or play on a computer at home, but as a teacher, we must educate, and if there is no educational value in the software, what good is it for a teacher?

On the defense for teachers, someone else think for computers being a shortcoming is that sometimes the software is not unavoidable that it is non-educational. This can be a tasteless mistake of any educator, being fooled that a stock could be educational when it is merely entertainment software dressed up in an educational costume aimed at these gullible teachers.

According to Cindy C. Emmans (2001), a professor of Educational Technology at Central Washington University, on software in the classroom...

" Often feedback is the key to learning, and computers are spirited because this feedback can be immediate, which is of course a very sufficient learning tool. Unfortunately, this feedback is not often as sufficient as it might be, maybe because it is not easy to return to the original question to try again, or the pupil must begin at the beginning to report the original article rather then backing up a step or two. In some cases, the feedback for the wrong answers is more spirited than that for the right answer, causing students to try and get the wrong rejoinder plainly for the entertainment value".

Gerald W. Bracey sums it up adequately in a journal report called essential by basically saying that the bells and whistles are all there, but the instruction is not, because it was not produced by someone who understands how children learn. (1996, p.6).

More arguments in the study area prolonged in September of 2000, the Alliance for Childhood published a statement against the use of computers in schools. More than 85 experts in varied fields together with psychiatry, education, and philosophy signed the statement in which calls for a suspension on the promoting introduction of computers into the nation's elementary schools until there is a more rigorous assessment of their ensue (Hafner, 2000). someone else work on in opposition to computers in classrooms is that of Jane Healy, an educational psychologist and the author of "Failure to Connect," a book criticizing educational applications of computers. Thomas Crampton interviewed Mrs. Healy and she declared that computers "can hurt children's personal skills, work habits concentration, motivation, (and) the amelioration of communal skills" (Iht, October 2000, p. 19).

Another think that computers in the classroom would prove to be a disadvantage is the availability of computers in the classroom to each private student. It is rare to find a school that, in each classroom, has a computer supplied for each student. This then brings up the qoute of scheduling and rotating the students to the computers available. (Tiene 2001) This begins a whole new ball game in which you are now spirited a lot of time in which could be used for more sufficient measures rather then scheduling computer time for each student. If this is the case, and only a specific amount of students can be on the computer at one time, then you are dividing your classroom, and not integrating it, as it should be. This causes many difficulties in teaching a whole group instruction, which leads to problems in skill development, since the concentration of some students is lacking. (Tiene 2001).

On the Colorado state instruction web site (2003), I was able to find questions that were asked to teachers with regard to computers in their classrooms. The teachers were asked, "What do you find unattractive about teaching in a computer based classroom?" The one educator commented that, " Students have a tendency to come in a print out their papers at the beginning of class instead of advent into class with a hard copy..." someone else educator said, " Technological difficulty, your whole part could be shot for the day if the computer would go down". When the teachers were asked about the difficulties they faced themselves and with the students due to computers in the classroom, they answered, " It is hard to get the students concentration when they are on the computers." someone else educator commented, " There are times that I send them to work and instead they are interacting with each other." someone else educator stated her fear of the computer classroom by saying that, " Students are at their own screens, they're in their own puny world, and they are not talking to their classmates, sometimes I think that they don't even know half the names of all the citizen in their class." (Barnes 2003)

I feel that these teachers comments are very leading when seeing at the issue of computers in the classrooms, because these are the citizen that certainly interact with the children in the classroom, they are not just some random study study by a software company, these citizen are the real thing, and they see how computers are effecting their classrooms.

Another issue of computers in the classrooms regards the child's health. If a child were to be functioning on a computer for a long interlude of time or with incorrect positioning they will inadvertently obstruct their own health, some problems caused from this include muscular-skeletal injuries and foresight problems. (MacArthur & Shneiderman, 1986).

Another issue with regard to computer use in classrooms is that a lot of teachers have not been trained to use a computer, and many do not know how. An gigantic amount of time would have to be consumed for the teachers to learn both the hardware and the software of the computer. They also would need time to collaborate with other teachers. Time is something that many teachers spend planning lessons and the weekly events of their classroom. The other qoute that was just mentioned was the training of the teachers. Some educators do not have local training options available to them. Some do not have the time or money to spend on it. someone else issue is that even if a educator does go straight through training, there are always unsuspected things that can go wrong with a computer. If a educator were to base their whole part on a computer, and it were to crash, and the educator just being minimally skilled in using computers, would not be able to fix the ideas so that they could continue their lesson. (Tiene 2001).Therefore an on-site technology expert would be needed on site at all times in case any of these incidences would happen, and quite frankly I do not think that there are too many school districts seeing for someone else expense.

Another think for computers being a disadvantage in the classroom is that if the computer is Internet accessible, if this is the case, then the children can be exposed to Internet article that is not standard for their age level. They can also be exposed to child predators, which is a huge concern in today's world.

Though this may seem far-fetched it truly is not in an report published on the gurdian angel websitein 2000 states,
"The facts are plain. Children are being targeted, solicited, and made victims by pedophiles. What do the ratios or statistics matter? Isn't even one too many? These predators range from the simple minded closet pedophile who has surfaced because they believe they are safely anonymous behind their inventory alias, to the very organized and skilled child pornography rings that operate predominantly off of Us soil, behind quick discard web sites, and anonymous re-mailers, pushing their hideous wares for big profits. Have you ever heard of a child being molested or kidnapped in your hometown? Don't you teach your kids to watch for unavoidable things and, not to talk to, or go everywhere with, strangers for just that reason? This is our point. Just as there are real world lessons that you teach your children, there is a necessity to teach them cyber-world lessons. " (Hook, 2000).

To put this quite simply, are you sure that your child is being watched very intimately when accessing the Internet at school? It sure would be hard for one educator to keep a close eye on each private pupil in the classroom when they are all accessing the Internet at the same time. Therefore are you, as a parent or a teacher, certainly quite sure that a computer is essential to learn in school? I mean, didn't you, the parent or teacher, learn in school without the computer? I agree that learning the newest technology is a necessity, but I do not agree with using computers for classes like mathematics or reading.

To sum it all up, Computers in the classroom lacks study of it being an advantage in the classroom. Computers in the classroom may not contribute the students with the allowable instruction that they need if the software being used is not adequate. Computers may not be, depending on the school, made available to each student. The concentration of the students is harder to get when they are on the computer. An new educator in the technology area may cause many problems in the classroom, and consume essential time that could be used to educate. Most schools do not contribute an on site technician in case a mystery may arise. The children's condition may be affected by long-term use of the computers, and probably the most frightening one is that these children can be exposed to child predators and unfiltered inappropriate article straight through the web while they are in school and in their classrooms presumed to be receiving their education.

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