Technology in the classroom: Is it worth it?
What can technologies do that pen and paper can’t?
I regularly participate in journal writing, as it clears my head. I was only ever able to handwrite, as it felt inherently more personal, however typing on a computer was able to capture the speed of my thoughts more efficiently, though still never fast enough. Locke explains this as ‘different media are not equally effective in aiding the externalization of inner thought’ (2014, p. 34). The computer was also quick to point out my mistakes in grammar, spelling and punctuation, though with the free-flow style of my writing, these mistakes were not important to me. Nevertheless, I couldn’t leave my entry with all the red squiggly lines and uncapitalized letters, so I edited my own thoughts. It felt wrong, yet I couldn’t leave my imperfect thoughts typed so haphazardly.
So, Jasmin, why did you choose to format your assignment in a blog?
As writing is a deeply intimate exercise, students should be given opportunities to express themselves in a variety of forms. Blogs and Vlogs allow for a multimodal and technology-based focus, which presents a portfolio of ideas, musings and creations which reach beyond the restrictive limits of a traditional essay response. In our ‘networked and electronically connected world’, multigeneric technologies such as this blog allow for authentic contexts to be realised in assessment rather than imagined (Jetnikoff 2009, p. 307). As students today are finding online forms of self-expression through various social media sites, these platforms can be used collaboratively to connect the outside world to the classroom setting in an authentic context, with a potential ‘real’ audience beyond the teacher or assessor.
Are you saying we should ditch traditional forms of writing?
Not necessarily! Language skills should continue to be taught, as the act of handwriting can crystallise syntax, grammar, rhythm and provide excellent opportunities for drafting and editing processes. However, I can’t imagine writing essays these days on paper, as we expect our students to. My thoughts translate to the page in messy phrases, where the links are not immediately apparent. I construct my essays as though they are a puzzle, rather than a letter. Sometimes whole chunks of text are moved, shifted and deleted. However, our students are expected to handwrite for hours on end and spill free-flowing thoughts onto the page in a logical, coherent and ordered manner. Technology has changed the nature of drafting and editing to become a live and fluid process, and yet there will always be a place for the pen and paper, both in my heart and within the classroom.