Is Technology the Answer to Student Disengagement?

My reaction to the video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today , by B. Nesbitt is probably not one intended by the video. Rather than wholeheartedly embrace the call to engage students through technology, the images of disengaged students gave me pause; they created a speed bump along my drive into cyberspace as a teacher-in-training. My mixed reaction to the video's message is not because I don’t see amazing opportunities for using interactive technology with older students. It comes from a concern for what young students might be missing out on if grade school teachers adopt a “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” response to students’ growing connection with technology.

In part, my reaction has to do with my belief in the importance of childhood as a precious window of time for children to develop foundational skills through real-life sensory experiences with their environment. A kindergartener's experience of interacting with the natural world through outdoor play, or reenacting a story through dramatic play, cannot be replicated in front of a computer. I question how well technology in the early grades matches with students’ developmental capabilities and needs. What constraints might technology put on the open-ended curiosity, wonder, and creativity that children possess at an early age? My concerns have been influenced by the thinking outlined in a report by the Alliance for Childhood , which points out the potential hazards of computers in childhood that range from impinging on critical childhood time to increased risks for health conditions such as obesity, visual strain, and repetitive stress injuries.

Although I admit I am only beginning to learn about the opportunities for blogs, podcasts and wikis in teaching (and am truly amazed by what I see), I continue to be most inspired by enthusiastic teachers who can bring their classrooms alive and engage students in age-appropriate ways, e.g., through the arts, without adapting a high-tech approach. In the context of an increasingly isolated and sedentary generation of children, we must seriously consider the following remark from the Alliance report, “With children spending more time alone with TVs and computers instead of interacting with others, they come to school in need of more, not less, spoken conversation with responsive adults. Is it wise for schools to exchange face-to-face time with teachers for hypertext and hypermedia?” Perhaps the answer lies in moderation.

At this point in my journey into educational tecnology, I'm going with my gut when I say that the preference for children to engage with the world through technology – where they already devote much of their spare time - is not compelling enough reason to conclude that technology is the best solution to classroom disengagement. Undoubtedly, students need to be engaged in their own learning and through their multiple intelligences. With the evolution of read/write Web capability, technology is no longer simply about consuming information from others, but offers unprecedented opportunities for collaborating and sharing ideas. Given these advances, technology can benefit mature students who have mastered developmental challenges of early learning. But until there is significant evidence to suggest that the benefits of adapting a high-tech approach outweigh the cost to young children, I’ll reserve my enthusiasm of technology for its use in the upper grades and adult classrooms.