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I teach writing to law students and use powerpoint and anything else to get their attention.  I notice they have more remedial writing skills training needs than their predecessors ( ten years ago).  They are also addicted, truly, to their computers, and really struggle with not being provided a "right" answer from me. There is no right answer in a legal argument, just a more well written argument.  The will power to tackle tough problems seems to be waning over the ten years I hav taught. My kids are in grade school and their school is going to promethean boards.  I wonder if too much screen "learning" accounts for the decline in end-stage ability in writing.  Any thoughts?

The use of Promethan boards is subject entirely to the teacher.  I have an activeboard in my classroom, and I use it extensively for all of my classes (English 9, 10, and AP 12).  Just because I have the board doesn't mean we're engaged in screen learning.  In fact, I would argue the exact opposite.  The board has allowed me to easily access and project the millions and millions of thought provoking resources on the internet to my class without any hassle.  It has allowed my students more freedom in technology based projects.  I love speaking with my AP students about propaganda then finding examples through an image search and having the interpret it. 

The activeboard itself is really nothing more than a large chalkboard, projecter, and notepad all rolled into one.  How it's used is entirely up to the teacher.  If a teacher wants to "teach to the screen", he or she can certainly still do that without an activeboard.  However, the Promethean technology has allowed good and great teachers to become even better.

On a side question, why wouldn't you want your children engaged in using as much technology as possible?  The world they're going to work in will only vaguely resemble the one we currently work in.  The rate of technology growth dictates that we teach our children as much as we can and as quickly as possible.  Think about 2008 in comparison to 1998; how much different is a classroom (or anything in society) now than it was then?  I can't remember the last time I paid cash or check for something in a grocery store or gas station (actually, I can't remember the last time I actually went into a gas station to pay for gas!).  Ten years ago I only carried a cell phone on long trips for emergency purposes; now, I can barely function without it right beside me.  In two years, I'm willing to bet that no one will even own a cell phone that doesn't come with something extra (music, pda, etc).  In my opinion, we're obligated as parents and teachers to throw as much of the new technology at our kids as we can, especially in learning environments like school.

Many of my peers have received Smartboards in their classrooms, and use them regularly. I do not have one in my classroom, as the school could only afford a certain number, and I'm relatively new here. What I do know is this, however: Use of an activeboard is no indicator of teacher or technological proficiency. Here's why -- Among the teachers that I know who currently have a Smartboard in their room, many of them either a.) do not know how to carry out operations within the realm of other technologies, or b.) use the board as a substitute for actual relevant class content.

The big picture is this:Yes, the boards can be great tools, but only when used as a supplemental resource rather than a central point of curriculum. I may be chasing a few rabbits here, but in this age where we're told to implement technology left and right by so-called "experts," there is a great deal of imperative knowledge that is being left by the wayside as teachers turn to computers for content provision. In the end, it all depends on the teacher within the classroom.

These two posts really define the argument, I think.  Technology for technology's sake, because we are affraid of the future of technology so we immerse our young children in it, on the one hand  and teacher quality, the crux of good education, regardless of medium, alleviating ill uses.  But when you have technology in the hands of average teachers, without equipping them to use the technology with sufficient guidance, how do you know it is not developmentally harmful, like television?  I think the high schoolers are less affected by the down side of purely visual learning, but 4th graders still have much brain development to do, and when the switch is made to lots of screen time, you have to give up something, as the second poster mentioned.  So my question is not should we abandon all technology in education, my question is, does anyone have any sources to help determine the age appropirateness of switching to the screen for all major substantive lessons, math, language arts, writing, science and social studies?  My law studnets learning habits are hard to change, but my third grader's are still being developed. 

Even television is a great teaching tool if used effectively.   The idea is to teach our kids to think and create on their own...not to fear the "incorrect" answer.  If we do not, our country will continue to suffer on the world market...more scientists come from Asian countries than the USA today.  That trend must not continue.  As parents, we MUST become more involved in our children's education and demand more of school systems.  I, for one, am thrilled that schools are incorporating more technology and making kids think for themselves.  Asking the questions why? how? and what if? are imperative. 

We parents must not be lazy...we must be involved and supplement wherever we find weaknesses in the education system.  Otherwise, there will be no jobs available for our students.  The jobs of the future will be increasingly more technological and specified.  With robotics, etc. there will be fewer laborer-type jobs.  Our country is simply producing a very large population which will be impoverished and goverment-dependent since school systems insist on teaching the same way as they did 20 and 30 years ago.  Teaching methods must evolve to accommodate the changes that are occuring right now and will occur in the future.  Stay on top of your child's education and do all that you have to do to ensure he/she is able to think, question, explore, and create on his/her own. 

Well, I am not afraid of falling behind the rest of the world because we teach young children without using computer screens.  I think computer screens make for lazy thinkers because children, and teens, carry the expectation that the screen will provide the answer for them, and they do not have to think.  That is the downfall of mass television consumption -- documented reduction in literacy rates, and a need to dumb down curriculum and testing, which began in the seventies.  I am looking for correlating brain development / reasoning skills development / abstract thinking ability with the appropriate use of technology.  My school district mngmt is afraid to say NO to technology because it fears the future as well.  But, the people who invented the internet did not "learn" as fourth graders through screen media.  The third grader who has a whiteboard classroom "loves" the whiteboard, but when asked what she learned on it, could not recall a single thing.  Are we "engaging" them or just entertaining them with these monitors?  Does anyone actually have data?  Thanks.

Kari

I have mixed feelings about technology.  I, too, find problems that correlate between the technology onslaught and the decline of writing skills, to be honest.  I get more discouraged each semester when I find that students' writing abilities are declining, really.  I love what technology has done for our world, but it has definitely had its big disadvantages, as well!

I definitely feel that technology is responsible for the terrible writing my students produce (text speak in papers.....UGH!), but I feel that technology has its upside too. I use my LCD projector all the time, and my students (as well as the enviornment!!!) definitely benefit. There are FABULOUS webquests to teach lessons and United Streaming lets me have educational videos at my fingertips. Google Earth allows me to show the students where the pen pals they are writing to live.

I have to say that technology has enhanced my classroom.

As a middle school teacher who has used smart boards and is dealing with a very technologically-literate group of children, I would would argue two things.

1.  I don't think that "screen time" per se affects end-stage writing.  I would say that writing is affected by the decline in time spent actually writing.  What I notice that bothers me among my students is a tendency towards abbreviation (I have actually gotten idk as an answer), difficulty in explaining their reasoning, and an unwillingness to write any more than the bare minnimum.

2. More and more teachers are focusing on teaching "Higher Order Thinking Skills" and Bloom's Taxonomy, which should lead to students being more used to being forced to explain themselves and their reasoning.  I have taught overseas, and noticed that those students were not as used to being questioned on things like the author's intent in writing a story,  but rather wanted a question that could be answered from a specific place in the story. 

I would agree with the poster above in that technology has definitely enhanced my teaching.  I used my smartboard to create graphs from the experiments that my students did during class. When they could see and create information that quickly and visually, they were a whole lote more quick to volunteer to come up and share their answers.  

On a lighter note, my lcd projector has saved me from having constant vis-a-vis marker stains on my fingers! 

I do not believe that technology has led to a decline in the writing habits of students.  I have a Promethean ACTIVboard in my classroom and use it every day for a variety of topics.  My fifth-grade students are learning the writing process through hands-on investigation. I am able to teach the steps of the writing process to the students and then model the writing process to the students through the use of technology, without having to use an overhead and worry about the pens!  If the students and I have a question about something in our paper, we can research it on the spot using the activboard.

I think the real answer to the stated question is how are teachers using the technology, which is clearly the way of the world.  Web 2.0 is here to stay and we have to teach our students how to adapt to the world.  The key to using technology is to make it relevant and to use it to enhance the learning process.  Students MUST learn technology or they will be lost in the digital future.  Teachers must teach proper skills within the realm of technology.