Will Technology Destroy the University Classroom?
Technology Has Reinvented the Classroom, but Will it Replace the Classroom?
These prophecies are overzealous. Cell phone technology is becoming more and more prevalent. Rarely do we attend a lecture without a cell phone interruption. However, this technology is more of a nuisance than a tool. As the technology becomes more common, we grow accustomed to the nuisance and less affected by it. Yet still, we roll our eyes or sneer at the person whose cell phone distracts us from our lecture. I doubt we will ever welcome the ringing cell phone in class.
To be sure, technology is becoming more advanced, and this technology is pervading our classrooms. Professors happily use technologies that add to the learning experience. For instance, PowerPoint allows the professor to easily outline his lecture and provide visual aids. This technology is useful because it enhances the traditional lecture. Another enhancement, the laser pointer, allows the professor to easily point to items without wasting the time and effort of walking and reaching.
However, these technologies are extremely basic relative to their capabilities. Lasers are extremely high-tech, powerful devices. Yet we only use them as high-tech yardsticks (pointing devices). PowerPoint simply outlines what the professor is going to say. It's really just a glorified, pre-marked chalkboard. However, computer technology has already advanced to the point where the computer could give the entire lecture through a program like PowerPoint. In fact, there isn't much need to attend lectures, since we could run these programs from the comfort of our own home (worldwide). Even question & answer and discussion could be done with computer chat rooms or videoconferencing.
Yet we still spend immense sums of money to attend top universities, and we trek through sometimes torturous weather to attend lectures (at least at my school). We prefer to hear and see a renowned professor, even though his lecture could easily be recorded for us. Consequently, we utilize technologies that enhance the personal lectures we enjoy (Powerpoint), but we don't employ technologies that threaten drastic change.
The technologies that will make their way into the classroom will include those that improve our current system, like PowerPoint, CourseTools, and e-mail. However, we enjoy our personal lectures. In our classrooms, we will reject technologies that threaten to harm our lectures, like instant messaging, cell phones, and possibly even the Internet in lecture halls.
Technology will continue to modify, and hopefully improve our classroom. But we will continue to be annoyed when cell phones, or any other technologies, interrupt our favorite professors. It is unlikely that technology will antiquate universities.
Published by Scott Schlimmer
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4 Comments
Post a CommentI agree. I say the classroom is irreplaceable. Technology will end up facilitating, as in your case. Not replacing.
It depends on your proffessor to be honest. Some email you the power points or post them up like my school does on what is known as Blackboard. Others however use power point to facilitates ideas and we have a back and forth open forum discussion on the subject matter. There are also multimedia features as well as podcasts that we use in class and then discuss. Again i feel it depends on your major, how much you care about that subject and what year you are in. I am a senior bis major so what i am doing now is vital to my career.
Yes, online education has become popular. But that only proves that online education has become popular, not that online education has replaced the traditional classroom. Do you think online education has replaced the classroom? I can agree that online education has been booming, but the traditional classroom has not become any less popular. More popular if anything. I'd say that both traditional education and online education have boomed lately.
I think you may be missing the point you are trying to make. Will technology REPLACE the classroom? Have you looked into online education? It's experiencing a significant boom. Most reputable college and universities offer at least one or two online classes, many offering complete diplomas that are entirely online. It's also quite amazing the number of people who are taking advantage of this opportunity. I think over the next 5 years we are going to see a drastic increase in the availability of these styles of courses, as more people discover them and recognize their potential. While I think you've brought up an interesting point, I disagree with your conclusions.