The Moss-Free Stone

A recent article in the Berkshire Eagle demonstrates, yet again, that many educators, while recognizing the important contributions of technology to student learning, still hold it in a form of contempt as a distraction and deterrence to the educational process. The article is boldly titled “The student suffers from technology,” and it recounts the struggles of respected professors who, in frustration at the nuisance of cell phones, Blackberries, laptops, and the like, have resorted to dramatically banning such technology from their classrooms. One states, “when they’re in a wireless environment, they’re all over the world.” The educator further worries that students now have access to “an unbelievable amount of information, instantly.”

“when they’re in a wireless environment, they’re all over the world.”

Another professor went so far as to stage the smashing of a student’s cell phone with a hammer to get across his message that such distractions will not be allowed in his classroom.

The author of the article, Clarence Fanto, makes a good assessment of the biggest issue associated with such an immense and daunting knowledge source. Students need to learn to be skillful critics and thinkers, not just indiscriminant consumers of tiny, isolated pieces of information. They also need to learn to utilize the resources technology affords beyond leisurely socializing. While they are “all over the world,” why not be learning more about a topic. I know I have sat in a presentation, looking online for more information, spurred by a presenter’s message. As another professor states, “This separates those who want to use technology to grow smarter from those who want to use it to get dumber.”

This is a valid concern, and one that is being addressed by many in the field of education. I can’t help but think, however, that the professors cited in the article are not doing this by banning the technology. Rather, it appears that they are hoping the problem will simply solve itself or be solved by someone else willing to make the effort to work with their students in a technology-friendly environment.