Journal #1

“Finding new ways to connect”
By: Eleanor Yang Su

This article discusses how changes in technology have affected the atmosphere of the learning environment in colleges. Students are becoming more dependent on email, MySpace, Facebook, cell phones, instant messaging and other technologies. This article talks about how it is getting harder for professors to keep students engaged in classroom learning because of the many new distractions. Professors have integrated more technology into the classroom to keep students involved and excited about the class. Some professors believe in integrating new technologies but others feel that it isn’t necessary to make it “fun” for the students.
Schools such as UCSD have studied some of the students at the school and how they respond to technology. Multitasking seems to be the new way of completing the tasks at hand. Students seem to be able to do many different things at one time and this has become apparent with the many different ways that students communicate such as cell phones, email and instant messenger. The article was very interesting and it really is true about this generation. Technology has become a necessity for a lot of America.

Questions:
Q: How much technology should be integrated into the classroom?
A: I think that technology should and needs to be used in the classroom. I think it is important to keep up with technology so that our students can be engaged and up to date as well. Technology doesn’t have to be used in everything, but it should be used to help with the learning of the students.

Q: Should Laptops be allowed in the classroom?
A: I think that they should be allowed even if they are sometimes used for extracurricular activities! Even though there a lot of ways those students can get distracted, it is there responsibility to get a good grade in the class. Besides they are paying to be there.