Author Says Technology Brings False Promises to Schools.

I think I am in love with Todd Oppenheimer. I mean I want him, but only for his mind. This man is a genius and a great thinker. He makes absolutely perfect sense when he that that "current emphasis on technology use in schools drains resources from other subjects and prevents students from developing critical and creative thinking skills." I don't mind using technology in the classroom, but the amount of it is overwhelming. This past year I had three equipment magically appear in my room. No instruction was given, no directions, just here you go use them! I ended putting them back in their packaging because they were taking up too much space on my desk. This summer I signed up for four technology courses beside the classes for my field. I feel like if the district is spending all of this money on technology, then I have an obligation to use it. I know that next year it is going to be mandatory that all the educators have a blackboard. It doesn't matter what level they teach or what they teach. I used blackboard a little this past school year, but I have to get more training on it because the training the district gave us was not enough. And when they train you all the information is overwhelming because they throw all this information at you all at once and you are to take it and apply it immediately in the classroom.

I am curious to see how much money my district spends on technology each year. It seems that each year we get a new "toy" that we get three hours of training and then expected to use it proficiently in the classroom. Oppenheimer was right when he said that school-wide investments should not be made before they are absolutely certain that results will match the salesman's hype. A good example when my husband's school decided that it would be a great idea to get all the students a palm pilot to help them remember their homework and keep them on track. Lets just say with the amount of broken and lost palm pilots, they could have used the money and invested in their reading programs. Needless to the say, the palm pilots were not back the next year.

Another genius thing Oppenheimer said was that students can also become victims of "commercial novelties...whose ability to reason, to listen, to feel empathy, among other things, quite literally is flickering." I notice more and more that I have to entertain my students or I loose them. Getting them to come up with their own answers and solutions is getting more and more difficult. My biggest complain about my students is that they don't think, or won't think for themselves. They want the answers given to them. Thinking on their own is way too hard for them, because the are use to googling everything and getting instant answers.