What disruptive technology means to me....
As I was going through the readings, I started to think about the class title and what it meant. What makes technology "disruptive" and who does it "disrupt"? I came to the conclusion that disruptive technology is only disruptive to those who don't understand it, can't use it, and are affraid of it. One arguement that I hear all the time is that bringing technology into the classroom creates a distraction for students. I think this is complete bologna. When I was in middle/high school I didn't have any technology in the classroom and I still managed to find plenty of things to distract me: looking out the window, doodling, and day dreaming. Instead of passing notes to one another in the classroom, students are sending text messages or IM's. Technology didn't suddenly create distraction in the classroom, it just changed the type of distraction.
I'm still not sold on the notion that technology is "disruptive"; at least not from the viewpoint of the students. Students know and use such technologies in their daily routines; to me, it is more disruptive to strip the students of these technologies. If anything, I think technology is disruptive to the educators and administrators, who may not understand or be comfortable using them.
We are spending a great deal of time in this class learning to become familiar with technology and finding productive ways to incorporate them into the classroom. What are the chances that we are going to be working in a school district that is going to have the funding to support technology use in the classroom? If resources are available, will we have the freedom we need to use these tools? A friend of mine teaches in West Virginia and informed me that the school's network blocks sites like youtube and other social networking sites. How do we handle those students in our classroom whose socioeconomic status doens't afford them the access to such technologies? Technology can be used to give shy or non-english speaking students a voice and engage students, but it can also further single out those disadvantaged students. So I guess the use of technology can be disruptive to those students as well...
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