Yes to tech?!? My cautiously optimistic view on technology use in the classroom.

Reflection on debate topic #1: Technology in the classroom enhances learning.

First of all, bravo to the debaters; I thought Jenni, Leanne and Dustin did an amazing job arguing this first debate topic! Special shout out to Dustin for both working alone and tackling the ‘disagree’ side which was apparently very unpopular! As the initial, pre-debate vote displayed, the vast majority of our class agreed that technology has an important place in the classroom (unsurprising in an educational technology class I suppose). I, too, voted yes, technology enhances learning, although Dustin presented many great points that had me challenging the idea of tech inclusion more and more. Anyone else?

Of course technology enhances learning…right? Upon reflection, I realize I haven’t given a lot of thought to the actually enhancement of learning with tech use…technology has just been essentially expected and, therefore, integrated more and more in the classroom since I began teaching eight years ago. Digital portfolios, online learning platforms, supplementary curricular websites/programs, digital communication, and so on have become the norm in schools, but why? I appreciated this week’s debate as it gave me a chance to pause and reflect: is all the technology I use actually enhancing my students’ learning experiences? Or am I using more and more technology out of obligation / expectation? What aspects of technology are enhancing and what aspects aren’t? I had lots to consider this week and the debaters did a fantastic job challenging this topic!

Here are a few points that resonated with me from debate one:

Yes, of course technology enhances learning and should be widely used – the agree side:

The ‘agree’ side started the debate off strongly, highlighting the numerous ways technology does enhance learning. From increased student engagement, stronger teacher-student connections, promotion of personalized learning and real world preparation, I found myself enthusiastically nodding along to these well supported points in their opening statement, confident in my stance on tech in the classroom. In the counter arguments and open discussion, Jenni and Leanne continued to support tech’s ability to enhance learning and did a nice job of combatting some of the challenges that tech brings. Leanne talked about the importance of tech use requiring clear boundaries and intentional design; the word intentional stood out to me. With so much technology available to teachers – learning platforms, assessment sites, supplementary materials, AI tools, etc. – being intentional in our technology choices in the classroom is key. 

She also mentioned the importance of tight procedures and high expectations in relation to student technology use, to combat the counter point that tech use with students is often frustrating and time consuming, which stood out to me. With primary learners, technology use often feels like a hassle – by the time we get out laptops, turn them on , log in, get to a website…well now it’s recess. I find that the time consuming side to tech use is my go-to excuse for cutting it and switching to something that feels easier; while this is valid in some cases, shying away from technology because of the initial pains of routine-setting isn’t benefiting my kiddos in the long run. Short term pain, long term gain feels like a good mantra here.

No, in fact, technology does not enhance learning and is negatively impacting our children: the disagree side:

The ‘disagree’ side did an amazing job of highlighting the downfalls related to technology in the classroom. Dustin brought up many concerning points, in his equally convincing opening statement, such as the negative impacts of technology on student focus in the classroom, academic performance and overall well being. He also spoke to the digital divide created by technology, which led to a great discussion on equity with tech throughout the open debate. Dustin argued the irreplaceable qualities of face-to-face learning, which I do agree with. This had me reflecting on the dark days of COVID, when Sask school pivoted online, basically overnight, and how challenging it was to teach primary students through a screen. The quality of my teaching, and their learning, took a dive and many students returned the following Fall with major learning gaps. I just couldn’t form the same connections and engage my young learners over Microsoft Teams and I (and I’m sure they) felt so disconnected during this time.

He also spoke to the issue of children no longer knowing how to be bored. In the open discussion, Jessalyn continued this point by suggesting that students today require constant entertainment. Teachers are expected to be fun, fun, fun (all the time!) to engage students every minute of the day, thus leading to teacher burnout. Students’ constant need for mental stimulation, ultimately thanks to technology, means that students don’t get bored and thus reduces opportunity for their creativity to flow. Many classmates echoed this idea of boredom in kids, sharing the incredible things they see kids come up with when they have the time to experience boredom for awhile. Leanne argued that yes, children need to experience boredom, but not while we’re teaching. Hmm – also a good point.

To tech or not to tech – what does the literature tell us?

I enjoyed diving into the annotated readings that both supported and dismantled the debate statement. Here are a few ideas that stuck with me:

• Technology’s ability to save teacher time:

Who wouldn’t want to save time in this increasingly demanding job? The article, Artificial intelligence in education: How will it impact K-12 teachers | McKinsey, focuses on the numerous ways technology can be time-saving for teachers whose workloads have increased significantly in the past few years. The authors show the diverse ways teacher time is used, and offer that technology can save teachers time many areas, especially in content planning, cutting this time needed in half (yes please!). Also, the authors argue that automation of many teacher tasks – preparation, feedback, communication, and administrative duties – allows teachers more time to do what they enjoy both inside and outside of the classroom. The article expresses that these gained hours can result in more time with students, more time to provide personalized learning experiences, as well as giving teachers increased time in their personal lives, helping prevent burn out. It’s suggested that “[t]o improve student outcomes, the teacher still needs to be in the classroom, but their role will shift from instructor to facilitator and coach,” with the example of flipped learning classrooms provided. The article stressed that technology can’t and won’t replace teachers but can help streamline the increasing workloads. The below diagram shows the ways teacher time is being used, less than half of which is actually with students, which I found impactful: 

• Technology’s benefit to the overall student learning experience:

The blog, 7 Proven Ways Classroom Technology Improves Student Learning Outcomes | Explorance, outlines seven key ways technology in the classroom enhances an educational environment, such fostering tech-related skills needed in the workforce, connecting a classroom to experiential learning opportunities (ie. virtual field trips) and simply creating a more fun and engaging learning experience for students. This article also mentions how tech inclusion can streamline student feedback benefitting both students, who can receive more timely and focused feedback, and teachers, who can access tech tools (various AI programs) to save time in feedback giving (again, time saving for the win!). I think technology’s ability to create a more engaging, connected and efficient classroom is indisputable and important for educators to consider, even though this meaningful tech inclusion does begin with significant pre-work, planning and learning for the teacher and student. Tech inclusion also equips students with skills like digital literacy, ability to access information and being critical and safe tech users. Providing these necessary life skills, and providing students a time and place to develop them, prepares students for safe and meaningful technology use outside of the classroom, and will benefit society overall as these learners will grow up as competent tech users.

• Wait, but is technology all good? No, there are actually lots of downfalls…

In the Vodopivec article, A Review of Studies Exploring Negative Effects of Digital Technology on Student Learning, Academic Performance, and Class Participation (2024), the author acknowledges the benefits of tech in classroom, while also warning society about the harmful qualities: “technology improves education quality, fostering collaborative and creative learning while digital tools help teachers create engaging lessons and support distance learning, building learning communities and support networks (Raja & Nagasubramani, 2018). Despite the many benefits of digital technology, significant concerns persist regarding its misuse and the detrimental effects it can have on learning and development.” The study results found three main negative impacts of technology: distraction – students struggling with focus on taskness, purpose – tech use being used for non educational purposes, and performance – lack of information retention and lower work quality. I think all teachers can admit seeing these concerns in the classroom.

Another quote that resonated with me from this work is: “[m]ultitasking with cell phones during class negatively affects learning, information retention, and academic performance (Fried, 2008; Wilmer, 2017; Beland & Murphy, 2016). Research shows students often turn to their phones when course materials are disengaging, highlighting the importance of engaging teaching practices (Green, 2019).” This a great point considering adults are the same in regards to being distracted with tech and disengaged from the world around us. If I, myself, struggle with tech use, how can I expect kids not to as well? When the TV show I am watching is dull, I start scrolling on my phone and then end up missing what’s happening, or if I lose interest in a PD session I begin multitasking with other work on my laptop, therefore not retaining the info being presented to me.

Also, in the video Dustin provided, The Most Compelling Argument Against Tech In Schools, the speaker, Sophie Winkleman, presented a very convincing case against tech use with kids in general. She preaches the dangers of tech in terms of social media use, increased screen time, and AI use. Negative implications of technology resulting in higher rates of mental illness, suicide, self-harming, nearsightedness, and screen addiction are impossible to ignore. She offers that schools aren’t helping with these severe issues, as we are promoting more tech use, more screen time, and more reliance on technology that is just supplementing kids already tech-revolved worlds and suggests that schools have the opportunity to go against this instead of feeding in more to the issue. As well, she reiterates the point (that we covered in the debate) about the lack of creativity and imagination in our students as technology is creating passive learners, instead of active ones. The speaker calls for many fixes to this issue including a parental movement and government cooperation. She also discusses the need for intentionality and moderation with any tech use, which I agree with.

OK so yay or nay to tech??

Instead of technology in the classroom enhances learning, I would change my agreeance to a slightly altered statement:

Technology in the classroom can enhance learning when done with caution, purpose and reflection.

I definitely feel less 100% about my ‘yes!’ opinion of the debate topic after hearing both convincing sides and reading into the pros and cons of tech use in the classroom. I think a balance is required with technology in the classroom to ensure we are getting the benefits of tech to student learning, while also being cautious of the negative impacts technology can have. 

As teachers, we are in a tough spot to both ensure we are preparing our students for a technology filled society while also protecting them from the dangers that technology brings. I think of digital citizenship, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, self-control and moderative tech habits as areas we need to support students in developing. So, in conclusion, while seriously acknowledging the downfalls to tech use, I still (cautiously) fall on the side of technology for enhancing learning but realize that an extremely fine balance is required when using technology in the classroom to protect and support students. Call me a cautious optimist – anyone else?

Thanks for reading!

– Teagan