In the culture and time period we live in today,
everyone, be it students, parents, or children, are glued to their mobile
devices. The world is changing so fast that everything needs to tend to the
technological era we live in. However, I fear in using EBook's and programs of
that nature instead of actual paper books in my future classroom. Despite the
fact that I personally feel English is a connection between the reader, writer,
and the written word, other forms of technology can be implemented into my
lessons and still be able to use “old-fashioned” books. Technology can be
incorporated into writing essays and doing group presentations, without taking
away from the “traditional” way of interacting with the text.
In
high school my English teachers always encouraged us to use marginal notes in
anything that we read. Since then, I became very apt at reading in that manner.
It is very rare for me to pick up a book and not underline phrases or write in
the margins; I feel that it is my duty as an active reader to participate in
what the author is communicating to me. Because reading is a very active and distinctive
thing, I think if we take books away and start using software’s such as EBooks
or iBook, it will take away from this experience. I do know that you can
highlight and enter comments in these software’s, but it is not the same. When
a student is underlining or writing in the margins, literally writing, it gets
stored in their brain. This way when they are preparing to write an essay, or
searching for quotes, it is stored in their brain and they can easily locate
that information on the page. This active learning is very common in English
classes and enforces great studying skills. How will we in the future adapt to
changes like these? Will paper books become extinct and the school systems
dramatically change?
Whenever
this occurs I think English classes will drastically change and everyone will
need to adapt to these new changes. Until then, other technological uses can be
used in my English class such as PowerPoint presentations and using technology
for projects. I can use PowerPoint to introduce new authors, strategies for
writing papers, or students can use PowerPoint for debates and presentations. I
can also incorporate technology into the classroom by having my students use
the internet or technological devices for projects. For example, I can have
students perform a scene from a play that we are reading and record it. Or I can
have them create “FakeBooks” for the characters in a book. They can also access
different databases to research articles to incorporate in their essays. Since
most schools have memberships for various databases, it would be extremely
important for my students to be able to access this information for their
essays. This will ensure that they use the right resources and not invalid
sources such as Wikipedia.
The
educational system is changing as the generations change. Children of today’s
generation are taught at a very small age to use technological devices. Therefore,
I do feel that sooner or later the school system will need to reform
drastically in order to tend to the way in which children learn. In some ways
this is already occurring with some school systems adapting their curriculum
with the use of iPads. If everything is going to change sooner rather than later,
only time can tell. The effectiveness of this change will also be visible once
these future generations are set out in the real world. However, all subject
areas will be affected once technology totally shifts as the only resource in
the classroom. Until then, all we can do is take in the moment in time and engage
our students with what we have.
