Where do you stand on computers as teaching and learning tools in the classroom?

Answer 1

I think computers have a place in the classroom. With all of the evolving technology, it is important for our young ones to know how to adapt to this new lifestyle. However, I do not think that they should be the main method of teaching and learning. As a society, we have learned to depend too much on computers and other new developments. I have students who can't read, write or add, but they know how to play games on the computer! And they can get by without learning how to spell because they use spell check. Who needs to learn how to speak or write correctly when you also have a thesaurus and grammar check on the computer?! I think computers are a wonderful supplement to the curriculum, but students should also learn to think, compute and write on their own.

Answer 2

computers in the classroom are a great tool for teaching, specially wit the special education students. Then again who has access to at least 16 computers at the same time every day?

Answer 3

My personal belief is that a classroom is not a place for a computer. People need to accumulate knowledge in order to make everyday decisions - using a computer tends to make the personal accumulation of knowledge a very "temporary" thing. There is no reason to learn anything thoroughly enough to make it personally noteworthy if some machine can give it to you at the touch of a button.

Answer 4

I stand in front of it and share it with 5 aids and 12 students so I am very limited. Other teachers have smart boards and laptops..yes, I am in special education, how did you guess?!
I wish I could hook it up to a projector and run video-stream and other media, wish I had the capability to install special ed programs, programs for typing, generating graphics and habilitate communication disorder students. We have the technology but not the resources to give all the teachers what they need..oh, and it would be nice to not have to buy all my own paper..260 bucks this year so far. I still use a chalk board while others have dry erase....

Answer 5

Well, as much as I think they are the reason that my students can't spell and can't punctuate anything correctly, I still believe they have a place and have to be embraced as a teaching tool. Let's face it, computers aren't going away any time soon. So, my thinking is that we, as teachers, need to find a way to use them to fit our needs. Kids are so comfortable with technology these days that it would be a shame to lessen its importance in our lessons. They also need to see that these things they see as primarily entertainment tools are used for more than that.

As a middle school English teacher, I try to incorporate as much technology as my school district will allow me to (meaning with the equipment I have available to me). I have found that a writing lesson that is taught using computers is MUCH more easily absorbed than the good 'ole paper/pencil variety.

Answer 6

I think that one of the reasons that children do not write as well today is technology. Instead of copying down sentences off of the board, and thus learning correct spelling and sentence structure, they circle bubbles on multiple choice worksheets. Computers just take this trend a step farther. I think they have their place, but primarily for classes that deal specifically with programming or multimedia.

Answer 7

I think it is important for students to learn to use technology to learn. It will be imperative for the students to have experience with technology when they grow up so they need to learn to use them now. It is especially important for students to learn to be critical of their sources, i.e. to practice evaluating how credible information on a website may be. It is important, however, for teachers to use computers to teach subject matter, not just to have fun computer time.

Answer 8

uh....er.... the darned things are GREAT if they work!