Red Group: Influences on Good/Bad Uses of Technology

After reviewing my post about technology in the classroom, I think there are many positive, or appropriate, uses of technology in the classroom. However, there are some bad, or inappropriate, uses of technology in the classroom as well. Technology is useful in the classroom because it provides additional sources of learning for students. Technology, such as laptops, the internet, powerpoint presentations, blackboard, etc, helps to enhance students' learning environment by making useful resources more readily available to aid and enrich the learning process. For example, as mentioned  in my previous post, blackboard helped me become more organized and prepared for class, in addition to providing supplemental information to make the subject matter more clear and to provoke more thought and discussion about various topics. Another example of an appropriate use of technology is the use of powerpoint presentations by students and professors. Powerpoint presentations are useful because they help visual learners by giving the professors the option to teach students with videos and/or pictures. Students can also give presentations in a more organized way. 

Despite the appropriate uses of technology, there are also some inappropriate uses of technology. Technology gives students the option of conducting research via the internet, and, although this contributes to the learning process, it opens the door to plagiarism by allowing students to copy the work of someone else's without truly learning the information. Laptops can also be very useful in the classroom, but it is often easy for students to misuse their laptops during class time. For example, instead of taking notes on his/her laptop, a student may choose to surf the web or chat with friends using instant messenger or Facebook. Lastly, spell check can cause students to overlook grammatical errors and lead to less proof reading and more reliance on the actual word processor. 

My reaction to the technology integration scenario was mainly influenced by professors and the classroom. It was influenced by professors because in college I was introduced to blackboard and powerpoint and was given the option of taking my laptop to class. From classroom experiences, I learned that blackboard and powerpoint were positive uses of technology. On the other hand, I learned that laptops could sometimes be distracting during class and hinder the learning process. Also, from personal experiences I have learned that plagiarizing can be easy to do and it is often easy to rely on spell check too much.