|
|
|
 |
||||||
 |
|
|||||
|
||||||
| |
|
Schools tie into technology By Brittany Hopwood College Academy @ BCC Important: This article was last updated on February 7, 2008. Please call ahead to confirm hours, prices, dates and other information.
It's become commonplace for laptops, smart classrooms and even iPods to be used in today's learning experience. More and more teachers depend on Web sites and other conveniences to teach their students and organize class materials. The computer is not being used for simple typing projects and research. Many teachers, even math teachers, are putting their assignments online and using the Internet as a second teacher. Websites like Edline.com and MyMathLab.com offer tutorials and online help, making it extremely easy to teach yourself what you didn't learn in class. But "you can't depend on Edline. You have to be responsible," said Josh Palmer, a junior at American Heritage. Computer systems fail and your computer can get viruses, so putting your faith in technology isn't always the smartest thing. One student complaint is that with Web sites like MyMathLab.com, teachers expect students to already know the material and so spend less time actually teaching it. "There's no real person to help you. It's just a screen," said Lucy Maria Flores, a College Academy @ BCC senior. She said technology should be used as a prop to enhance learning, not replace the teacher's job. Students count on being able to use the Internet to finish their projects, which forces them to use time wisely if the only computer at home serves four people or they have to go to a computer lab in the library. Procrastinators can run into trouble because some schools' media centers don't open until 15 minutes before class. And using other means isn't an option. "[Teachers] don't want written work," said Lasceeka Willis, a senior at South Plantation High. But reliance on technology also teaches independence. Students have the resources to review the material at home at their own pace, and there's no waiting for the next assignment, it's available at the click of a mouse, Flores said. That means absences are no longer an excuse for falling behind in class. "Teachers put homework assignments and notes online on their Web sites for people who miss class," Willis said. But while technology can help students learn better, Flores said nothing can replace classic student-teacher interaction. |
|
|
|
||||||||||||
