Technologies in the Classroom

Thanks everyone for the feedback on my comments regarding incorporating multimedia technologies (specifically video games) into the classroom as a way to align students’ native interests with course material.  I’m certainly not advocating for World of Warcraft or Black Ops to become part of the classroom structure, but rather I am advocating for the incorporation of multimedia technologies that have a specific learning purpose.  While students may be more interested in the video games mentioned above versus learning-centered games, I believe overall they would have a native interest in interactive learning games which could supplement traditional learning structure of lectures and lessons.

However, as a student within the Instructional Systems Design program, I am very aware of the limitations and problems with incorporating technologies into the classroom.  First and foremost, there must be support for the incorporation of technologies; teachers must support the use (and therefore understand the technologies, be comfortable with them and be able to troubleshoot when necessary), the school administration must be supportive as well.  Is there IT help available?  Are teachers responsible for finding their own technology lessons and incorporating them (who then judges if the games are appropriate)?  Another support concern is who will pay for the technologies?  These are questions that should be addressed before the incorporation of technologies into the classroom.

In addition, there is the issue of access to consider.  Can all students use/access the technologies?  What about students with different abilities and learning styles?  Will students be able to access/use the technologies at home?  Not all households have gaming systems or Internet connections (economic issues to consider).  Not all students are comfortable with computers or games (gender issues to consider).

Finally, I definitely do not advocate using multimedia technologies or games to completely replace more traditional teaching methods and classroom structures.  I do not think that is possible in today’s educational system nor desirable.  Children must learn to work together, to interact with others, and to learn in ways that do not involve staring at a screen.  The world is changing and I just believe that educators (both on a personal, classroom level and at the administrative levels) must begin to look at the possibilities which exist with new technologies, all while being aware of the limitations of these same technologies.