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FacebookStudents Engaged by Discussion, Not Smart Classrooms
August 15th, 2009 | Posted in Uncategorized 1 Comment »
All the money spent on making classrooms smart and high tech is basically a waste, since students find these formats boring. What really engages people is discussion and participation. Teachers should strip out all the “smart” gear and reformat the classroom back to the same structure that existed in Athens. (Link courtesy of tc.eserver.org)
Tags: classroom, discussion, engagement, lecture, smart rooms, What I'm Reading
Excellent post. It really brings to light the biggest fallacy of technology: That implementing technology alone solves any issue. A question to ask is if students find the use of technology in the classroom boring because so many professors who use technology are using it in the same methods and ways as it has been used in boardrooms and meetings for years?
The PowerPoint presentation that the instructor reads from, the static content that no matter how pretty it is made leads to the same old snooze-fest, the use of “smart” technology to supplant solid teaching practices are what lead to student disengagement, not the technology itself. Students have a much better understanding of the cutting edge technology that excites them than the instructors and professors do.
As educators, we need to remember that “smart” classrooms in and of themselves do not equate with better teaching and learning practices. Technology does not automatically engage the student. Projecting a Word document onto a screen in a classroom equates with using technology in the classroom for many instructors, but not all. Some instructors and professors make quite interesting and engaging use of technology to build onto the classroom interaction and discussion. Using YouTube, Wiki’s, discussion boards, and other innovative and, some might say, unusual integrations of technology in the classroom serves to further engage the students.
The key to effective smart classrooms is to combine the technology with traditional modes of teaching and engaging students rather than allowing the technology to overtake solid pedagogical practices.