Pitfalls of Technology in the classroom
Until taking this course, I thought it was a sign of weakness for the instructor not to know "it all". The material in this session made a very compelling point by stating instructors can leverage the intellect of the savvy techy GenYers in the class room. I believe the author indicated it is better to NOT fake it because these GenYers can sniff a phony out in a minute.
E.,
this is an excellent point & you are right that faking it is a bad idea; I think it has become much more dangerous with the availability of fact checking.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
I believe that faking it has always been a bad idea. It's intellectual dishonesty. That didn't just become wrong when students got smart phones. I tell my students to become comfortable uttering the following sentence: "I don't know." I tell them that the more often they use that, the less often they will have to use the other sentence I encourage them to become comfortable saying: "I was wrong." Of course, "I don't know" doesn't work if it is something that you should know. For example, as an English teacher, I should know the answers to basic questions about English grammar and punctuation.
though I agree with not giving incorrect information because they will quickly pounce on you. I do believe there is some detriment to the fact they now rely on the technology instead of learning the necessary knowledge so that if for some reason the technology is not available they can no longer perform the correct tasks
I find that my students rather enjoy being able to stump me on a question from time to time. They will rush to their phones or Ipads as fast as they can to find that answer. I always remind them that just like them, I, too, had much to learn at one time. That just because I am in front of the room, it does not make be any better than the next person. It is also a great way for me to show them that we never stop learning.
I love it when I do not know the answer to a student's question and within a minute other students are sharing the answer because they were able to look it up on their phone.
Well Info. needs to be credible and relaiable especially if it is coming from an instructor. I think that the Power point presentations have made some of us lazy in preparing before coming to the exam. Power point presentations are mere visuals to the student, they don't teach; they are a mean of teaching. The instructor should use it as a background and visual and not read from PPs as it makes the lectures boring. The attention span of the present generation is rather short so the instructor need to be creative to keep the student's involvement sothat they keep learning.
Also, Generation Y (and all of us, now) are used to having so much information at our fingertips that we can find it on our own! I find that my students really enjoy bringing information into discussions that they found themselves.
I always have this believe that no man is an island. When I started using smart technology in class, I had difficulties figuring out little things but was so surprised most off my Gen Y students could easily use this technology. In most cases, I allowed them to do the set out and calibration and this was a relief for everybody in class.
Shawna,
yes, credibility & authenticity are key factors with this generation so definitely better off not faking it, but rather admitting you don't know it all.
Ryan Meers, Ph.D.
