Effects of Technology on Young Literacy Learners - Research Paper Example

? Section/# This brief analysis will consider whether or not the use of technology positively or negatively affects the literacy of young learners. As a means of performing such a task, the analysis will rely on the analysis of prior literature as well as seeking to weigh the results that such authors have presented to determine the net result that the increasingly technologic focused classroom provides to the student with a net benefit, net drawback, or little change whatsoever in the learning objectives of the educational system. It is without question that the current educational experience and the experience of society as a whole have been fundamentally altered by the rapid introduction of a high degree of technological advancement over the past several years. As compared to the traditional blackboard and lecture approach that has become so cliche and indicative of the classroom experience that was implemented for many decades, the classroom experience, as it exists today, increasingly relies on a host of technological aids. These aids are meant to both integrate education with the world around as well as to provide a more seamless means whereby the educator can attempt to integrate the lesson plan with the student. On the whole, most educators and analysts have accepted such a practice as something of a necessary means whereby education mirrors the societal changes that take place. However, the broader question which should be asked is whether or not these technological aspects of the educational process actually aid and assist the impartation of knowledge to the student, whether they affect little to no change, or whether they actually have a negative impact on the way in which literacy learners learn and apply the information that is sought to be imparted to them via the educator. As a means of understanding the aforementioned research questions, this analysis will seek to lay out a framework of comparison whereby the preceding questions can be analyzed, weighed against existing and prior research, and determined based on the analytical levels of inference that this author is able to provide. Furthermore, a critique and analysis of the existing policies, structures, and rules that have thus far defined the process of education with respect to the means by which technology has been actively implemented will also be analyzed. According to Ritzhaupt, technology itself should never be considered as a type of educator unto its own (Ritzhaupt et al 2012). Rather, the view put forward by these authors state that it is the teacher who remains the ultimate repository of knowledge who is merely using existing and emergent forms of technology to nuance the particular message or delivery on a given range of subject matter that he/she is attempting to impart. This approach is of course somewhat intuitive; however, it is one that is oftentimes forgotten within the current education model as a drive to provide greater and higher degrees of technology to assist teachers in the development and success of their literacy learners has become something of a trend in both education and governance. In this way, the given authors put forward the idea that rather than relying on the technology alone as a type of alternative to primary instruction, the student and the teacher should both use technology as a type of supplemental means whereby the rich and flexible medium that it provides can be used to the benefit of all involved. Furthermore, authors such as (Kurt 2012) provide demonstrable statistics that go to show that a litany of studies have proven that regardless of the level of overall technology exhibited in a given classroom, it is readily understood through verifiable and measurable data that the level of learning and understanding that is imparted in a classroom which relies almost exclusively on technology is no higher than that which takes place in a classroom that employs but a small amount of technology as a determinant part of the teaching function. This is of course not an attack on the use of technology as a means to integrate key concepts of learning into an increasingly complex and digital world; rather, it is a means of warning that taken to an extreme, the use of technology itself can serve to be of little additional service with regards to teaching the student than would a more traditional approach. As a way to further categorize and differentiate the approach, the authors go on to state that it is necessary to think of the extant technologies which can be employed in the learning process as little more than helpful tools rather than a solution in and of themselves. In this way, it is argued that the greatest advances in education could be noted through a tempered middle path which seeks to exploit the use of technology; however, not at the expense of focusing upon the core components of traditional education. An opposing view to this does not necessarily have to do with the overall level of technology that is represented in the classroom as a means of affecting learning; rather, the opposing view has more to do with the fact that many researchers see that the growing trend of technological dependence must be integrated within the literacy learners at an early age as a means of preparing them for the demands that an increasingly sophisticated and high take future workforce will necessarily need to engage. One of the researchers that takes such an approach is V. H. Wright in his piece, “Teachers' Use of Technology: Lessons Learned from the Teacher Education Program to the Classroom”. In this particular research piece, seeks to argue that without a gradual increase in the level of technology implemented within the classroom, the learning process itself will be necessarily cheapened (Wright et al 2011). Rather than seeking to measure the effectiveness of how the education itself is imparted to the shareholders and/or literacy learners, this research is merely concentric upon the economic and societal demands that are placed on the coming generation. Similarly, the research of Gilson determined that the use of technology serves little to no beneficial purpose within the classroom (Gilson 2004). By means of understanding this somewhat asymmetrical approach to technology in education, this author presents the researcher with the understanding and evidence for the fact that technology in and of itself is not eh purveyor of meaning. Rather, it is the educator. In this way, the dependent variable in any form of educational analysis with regards to the level to which technology actually benefits the classroom, and by extension the student, is necessarily dependent upon the level of technology expertise, understanding, and knowledge that the educator themselves is able to pass along to the student. However, as the author notes, even if the level of the educator’s knowledge of technology is quite high, the learning process is still dependent upon the abilities of this educator to explicate this expertise to the literacy learners and engage them in learning in this way. Likewise, Buzzard et al actively supported the use of a higher degree of technology in the classroom and as part of the educational process due to the fact that the authors believed that it was merely another means by which participation and a greater degree of communication could be fostered (Buzzard et al 2011). As a means of engaging literacy learners, fostering a higher degree of participation and discussion has oftentimes been what many educators considered to be the gold standard of success. Now with the implementation of a plethora of both in-class and out-of-class technological means whereby this level of participation and communication can be increased, the educator has a valuable tool within their arsenal to seek to effect positive learning experience both during class time and beyond. One need only to consider the ways in which integrative technological experience have impacted upon other realms of the current world to see evidence of this. Although far beyond the scope of this individualized response, the reader would do well to consider the means by which certain educators are utilizing blackboard and a host of other tools to seek to engage shareholders/literacy learners with salient material and learning objectives beyond the classroom time. By expanding upon the way in which the teacher engages with his/her literacy learners, the process is not only differentiated and expanding into a realm of technology that the student will doubtless utilize to a greater and greater extent throughout the remainder of their lives, it also allows the educator to provide a means of more active engagement in a way that traditional means would not necessarily allow. The topic is of course of relevant concern not only the broader understanding of how learning objectives are accomplished but to what means provide the best results with the lowest cost. Education, like any profession, is therefore bound by the same economic constraints that dictate how many resources will be allocated and in what way. In such a basic understanding, Figure 1.0 helps to illustrate what percentage of technological investment is spent and in what ways. As a function of understanding the subcategories that educational technology develops, the researcher can seek to understand that the money that is spent on technology within education is not merely lumped into a single category labeled “technology”. Rather, it is a nuanced and differentiated set of categories that helps to speak to unique and identifiable needs within the realm of education. Figure 1.0 From the discussion that has been analyzed with relation to whether technology provides young literacy learners with a positive or negative effect on their learning, it is the belief of this author that the answer is that the net effect is positive. However, with that being said, merely because the preponderance of evidence points to the fact that it is likely a net positive, it should not be misconstrued to promote an even higher degree of technological dependence. Moreover, merely due to the fact that technology has proven to be an effective means of conveyance and a helpful tool for educators to engage key topics of information and promote certain ideas, the use and dependence upon technology as a means to accomplish such goals must be remembered to be only one of a litany of ways in which educators can seek to accomplish a given set of goals. What is interesting to note from the analysis that has thus far been conducted is that with reference to the prevailing trends that exist within the fields of educational research, the degree of dissimilarity between the theories of understanding of the use of technology and practical implementation thereof is surprisingly small. This of course is a net positive due to the fact that if a wider degree of dissimilarity between theory and practice was observed it would likely yield the researcher to understand that a greater disconnect exists than actually does. This is course not to say that educational research is all in agreement with regards to the way in which technology should be incorporated and what extend. As has been evidenced by the brief literature review which was performed for this analysis, it is abundantly clear that dissenting voices do necessarily exist within the field of educational research based upon this topic; however, more importantly the preponderance of the research that has been performed on this topic has indicated that there is either a clear positive correlation to the implementation of technology in the classroom as a function of increasing overall understanding, participation, and education or little to no discernible affect whatsoever. Conversely, those that state that a negative correlation exists have a very difficult time pointing to any valid statistics or studies upon which they can draw a discernible level of inference. Although it is not the belief of this analysis that the proper implementation of technology in the classroom as a means to effect a greater and/or higher degree of learning has little to no affect on the educational process, it is nonetheless a measurement that the analysis is comfortable identifying with due to the fact that measuring such a determinant in terms of the absolute will oftentimes lead to a dangerously inconclusive answer that is predicated on the absolute terms of the way in which the question was originally posed. References Buzzard, C., Crittenden, V. L., Crittenden, W. F., & McCarty, P. (2011). The Use of Digital Technologies in the Classroom: A Teaching and Learning Perspective. Journal Of Marketing Education, 33(2), 131-139. Gilson, S. (2004). Examining integral factors influencing teaching with technology. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 64, Gilson, S. (2004). Examining integral factors influencing teaching with technology. Dissertation Abstracts International Section A, 64, Kurt, S. (2012). How Do Teachers Prioritize the Adoption of Technology in the Classroom?. Teachers And Teaching: Theory And Practice, 18(2), 217-231. Ritzhaupt, A. D., Dawson, K., & Cavanaugh, C. (2012). An Investigation of Factors Influencing Student Use of Technology in K-12 Classrooms Using Path Analysis. Journal Of Educational Computing Research, 46(3), 229-254. Wright, V. H., & Wilson, E. K. (2011). Teachers' Use of Technology: Lessons Learned from the Teacher Education Program to the Classroom. SRATE Journal, 20(2), 48-60. Read More