Technology is great ... when it works. But why does it always seem to fail?
Countless times this semester, I’ve found myself seated in the new Darla Moore School of Business while the minutes tick by slowly as my professor attempts to wrestle with the cords and the user interfaces of the new dual touch-screen monitor located throughout the classroom.
Understand this isn’t a direct criticism of teachers’ inability to use the new technology. It is a criticism on how we, both here at the University of South Carolina and at other universities, are not actually enhancing the classroom experience with these resources.
Allow me to explain. I’m currently enrolled in seven classes with 22 credit hours among them. For each class, I must regularly check Blackboard — you all remember Blackboard, the site that was supposed to contain all of the information for all of your classes in one easy-to-reach location. After my daily check of Blackboard, I log into ROTC Blackboard (yes, a separate blackboard for my ROTC class). Then, I check MyOMLab(for management science), MyFinanceLab (for finance), LearnSmart (for marketing) and Connect (for accounting). I also have to check the marketing department’s Sona system website, ensure I have access to the paid subscription services of Top Hat (so that I can pay to be marked present in class, after I have already paid to take the class) and lastly, I check my email (just in case). I know I’m not the only one.
I know we have all hassled with terrible homework software. We have all paid heavy sums for online access codes and i>clickers, and I believe we have all seen teachers use these ineptly or even apathetically.
All too often, it seems, teachers use technology in lieu of teaching, not in the aid of it. I’ve been in many classes where teachers use PowerPoint to present information only as a script for them to read verbatim off the slides. I’ve seen teachers show YouTube videos, which end up distracting students more than they supplement the material. I’ve had teachers defer to online resources rather than answer questions in class. There is a very definite danger that teachers are using these tremendous assets not as a way to teach, but as a way to not.
But the fault doesn’t solely lie with the teachers. The thing is, if the teachers use these “aids,” then they no longer have to come up with questions to assess knowledge, they no longer have to grade quizzes, they no longer have to check work to see where students are struggling and they no longer have to answer questions. It can all be found on [insert textbook company]'s website.
Clearly we are missing the mark with technology in higher education. What was meant to assist has actually hindered students’ learning. I suppose I should say here that I am by no means against the use of technology in the classroom, rather I am for using these resources in a better way. I think that teachers need to embrace them, rather than use them for achieving the bare minimum.
But what exactly would successful technology integration look like? Well, it would be accessible, aesthetically pleasing and engaging.
It would be going to class and taking out my tablet, which has been synced with the classroom’s technology and contains all of the reading material, all of the worksheets, all of the quizzes and all of the notes directly in front of me with an interface which ensures ease of use. It would be a classroom where a teacher doesn’t stand up front and lecture off of PowerPoint slides that he/she did not even create. It would arrange the classroom with the teacher in the middle, with students seated at circular tables around the teacher so that everyone has a front row seat and everyone is engaged in learning. It would consist of using a touch screen table to do virtual dissection in biomedical courses. It would bring technology companies testing new products during class (think Google's Project Soli or Glass, think Facebook Messenger, think Boeing and SpaceX sharing parts of spacecrafts for the purpose of learning real-world technology before graduation) and it would be free and open to use to all students.
I am inspired by the possibilities our technology offers us, and I hate to see them wasted. It goes without saying that all of this is going to take a while to implement but shouldn’t deter us from starting now. I eagerly await the seamless integration of technology in the aid of our learning.