Technology in the Classroom

            I think that having technology in the classroom both encourages and hinders exploration or creativity in students. In my opinion, technology needs to have a balance within the classroom. It can’t dominate the entire curriculum, yet it needs to be used in some sort of way. Technology is too important in the world outside of school, such as in the workplace, for students to not learn how to use it.

            Aside from that, I think that technology can hinder creativity in many ways, but it can also encourage it. Technology gives yet another way for a teacher to be able to teach their lesson. This is very beneficial for students who feel like they don’t learn in the traditional way, such as learning through lecturing or through a textbook. Technology may help these students to be more successful in school, thus encouraging creativity for that particular student. However, I also believe that technology can be hindering for the same reason I described above. Some students may not feel comfortable having a curriculum that is dominated by technology, as they are not comfortable with the applications associated with it.  

            In every scenario that I can think of, there are two sides to the use of technology. These sides are both the good and bad, and it depends on how an individual wants to look at it. It also greatly depends on what you think about technology in the first place. Personally, I think that technology can significantly hinder the creativity of a child. Whenever a student wants to look for something or use something from, let’s say, the internet, I believe that the student is ultimately using someone else’s design. This in effect is not allowing that particular student to use his/her own creativity. Every student is capable of creativity, but with technology being encouraged in many schools, their own creativity is being stifled.

         In terms of exploration, I think that technology does some good in encouraging it. All of the information that a student needs is right there at their fingertips. It makes finding what they need pretty easy. However, the technology, especially the internet, also has a lot of information that is not correct. How are students going to know what is actually true and what isn’t if they are researching a topic that they want to learn about? In this case, I think that technology can hinder exploration for students.

         In conclusion, I believe that technology both encourages and hinders exploration or creativity in students, even if I personally believe that technology has more negative benefits than positive ones. It all depends on what a particular individual thinks about technology in general.