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Technology
Over Teachers
By: Sydney Payne
Mrs. Mansfield
English 1000

Sydney Payne

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Mrs. Mansfield
English 1000
November 15, 2015

Technology Over Teachers

Technology is continuing to make its way into our everyday lives. Children
now-a-days always seem to have some type of smart device in their hands.
Technology has become so popular that even classrooms are beginning to
incorporate it into the teachers daily learning plan. But, the question is is the
technology being used in the classrooms going to be benefit the students learning?
Technology is a new strategy for learning, but I believe that the education the
students receive will benefit them in the future.
Parents are becoming very apprehensive about their children learning from
technology and not from the teachers. Technology hasnt been around for long, and
the parents dont want their children to be the guinea pigs of the generation.
Parents of the children are used to what they were taught and how they were taught
in schools that they see no need for change. But, with technology increasing all over
the world, more and more creations are coming out to help us become successful in
the world, so why not in school. Society is becoming a digital world and its going to
continue inside classrooms as well. According to Pew Research Center,92 percent
of teachers said that the Internet has a major impact on their ability to access
content, resources, and materials, and many are finding that it helps their ability to
interact with students. Technology has made it very easy to get the information
that is needed for teachers and also keep the students engaged and wanting to
learn because of the interaction between the student and the teacher.

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Every student learns differently, some are hands on, some visual learners,
others auditory learners, and some need more special attention than others.
Students that have special disabilities cant concentrate as well as other students.
One disorder that most of us are familiar with is ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyper
Disorder). This disorder causes a child to get detracted very easily and also to have
problems sitting still. Parents are worried that their children with this disorder wont
get the special attention they require to retain information. (Assistive Technology for
ADHD, 1) I know some information about this disorder because my friends and I for
our senior project did a volunteering service to help raise money to get standing
desks for Batavia School District. The reason we decided to go with standing desks
instead of traditional desks is because they had more kids diagnosed with ADHD
than any other school district. The desking stands had the same size table top as an
original desk but at the bottom of the desk by your feet, there was a swinging
pendulum bar that moves forward and back when you press on it. The pendulum is
used for students so they have something to do while they concentrate on the task
at hand. Instead of having those students sit in traditional desks, they could receive
a standing desk and just place a laptop on top.
Desks have become advanced because of technology. People are continuing
to make more and more creations because of what the technology supplies them
with. People arent too fond of technology taking over yet so, researchers decided to
try an experiment called the blended classroom. Its a regular classroom with an
average amount of students. The only difference is, the children use laptops for
learning, but if a child needs help with something there are still teachers available.
This combination is called Blended Learning and is taking place at Boody Jr. High
School in New York. So far the program has received mixed results but, showed their

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students are outperforming peers of the same age group. Throughout the program,
children are given a test to see what lessons they need help in, after that, they are
placed in seating arrangements with kids that need the same requirements. At the
end of every lesson, the child is given an exit slip with one question on it. If the
students gets the question correct, they can proceed to the next lesson the
following day, but if they get the question wrong, they will be tutored by either the
teacher, or a helper of a higher grade. (Huntsberry, 3&4)This way of incorporating
technology into the classroom gives parents a firsthand look at how their child is
learning and also if they think their child is benefiting from the technology portion.
We are living in an age of accelerating change. (Wakefield, 1) Education is
getting to be unlike it has ever been before, we dont have plans made up for what
it is going to turn into, no one really knows. Kids are always going to need help in
some subject whether it be math, science, social studies, and sometimes the
teacher may not have enough time to help every student. Already there are
tutorials on how to solve math equations, help for chemicals bonds and the name of
substances, and also all kinds of interesting facts about the world. Kids all over the
world are finding out this information on their own time and coming back to school
the next day and telling everyone what they found on a topic. Kids are already
teaching themselves, so what could be the harm in putting technology in the place
of teachers.
People are going to have a variety of opinions about technology in
classrooms; but, when you look at the big picture, technology is going to continue
no matter what. We as a society are going to have to learn to adapt to it.
Technology is always going to have ups and downs, but looking at the information
from above, it looks as if technology has more positives than negatives. We need to

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continue to push online learning in the classrooms to keep up with the modern way
of life. Technology is going to be our future.

References
Gromisch, Elizabeth. "Assistive Technology for ADHD." Assistive Technology for
ADHD. N.p., 2 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Huntsberry, William. "Meet The Classroom Of The Future." NPR. NPR, 12 Jan. 2015.
Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Tahnk, Jeana Lee. "Why We Need To Embrace Technology In The Classroom Right
Now." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Oct. 2014. Web. 15 Nov.
2015.
Wakefield, Jane. "Technology in Schools: Future Changes in Classrooms." Technology
in Schools: Future Changes in Classrooms. N.p., 2 Feb. 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.

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