Week 1 Article reflection

What stood out the most to me while reading Postman’s article was his repetition of asking, “What problem does this solve?” regarding technology.  The only answer he seemed to get was that technology solves the problem of providing information and he rightly argues that it is not lack information that causes the problems in the world.  He says, “These things happen because we lack something else.  It is the “something else” that is now the business of schools.”  I agree that our schools today are asked to find a way to figure out what this “something else” is and to fix it.  However, I disagree that that is all we do in schools, I believe we are still in the business of providing information to students as well as opportunities for students to find information on their own.  This is one way that technology has become important in schools.  Technology provides opportunities for research and exploration.  According to Reigeluth and Joseph, these opportunities for student exploration in an area of interest to them will help them to become problem solvers in their field. 

Reigeluth and Joseph were a little before their time in saying, “In brief, it would require a learning-focused educational system that offers customization rather than standardization.”  This idea of “customization vs. standardization” and as we call it today, differentiation, is how teachers are now taught and expected to run their classrooms. Everywhere you turn there are workshops and conferences on differentiation to better meet the needs of ALL of your students. “How can a teacher help 30 children to all learn different things at different rates and in different ways utilizing authentic tasks?” (Reigeluth and Joseph).  While this is our job, it can be quite daunting and that is why I find technology to be so refreshing.  Technology helps us, as educators, to come closer to helping all of our students. 

I use technology everyday in my classroom.  As I prepare my weekly lessons, I am constantly using technology to find new and interesting ways to present a topic, ways that will appeal to all of my students and their unique learning styles.  Additionally, I use technology to help me differentiate lessons to fit my students’ different abilities. 

These are only a couple of the ways I use technology in my classroom, but one of the most important reasons for technology goes far beyond the classroom in my opinion.  If Postman were to ask me, “What problem does technology solve?”  I would say communication.  Thanks to technology, I can communicate with educators in other schools, districts, or even states to see what is working for them.  Thanks to technology, I can find ideas to help my struggling students and to challenge my high achieving students.  Thanks to technology, I can learn how to better serve the needs of my individual students.