On the other hand...

However, not all of the advances with technology in education can be viewed as positive. There are several ways in which technology complicates the computer based learning method. One of the biggest problems is that the computer creates a false sense of security for the students. The level of dependency often occurs when people look to the computer to solve all of their problems. However, when a computer server or network crashes, everything becomes frantic because of this rationale. Without the intuition behind the principles that computer software teaches, the students will become so dependant upon the computer that they will not learn how to think for themselves.

Another reason why technology can create negativity is that students have unequal access to technology; economically advantaged students have more computer access at school at home. This is probably the most prevalent reason why technology in schools leaves a negative afterthought in some peoples' minds. Schools that are economically challenged have trouble finding funding for their technology departments, and when they do, the computers and software are outdated and obsolete. Most computers and technology tend to be concentrated in affluent school districts, so the economically challenged students have least access to them.

For example, I attended a Horizons Upward Bound program at the Cranbrook Educational Community during my high school years. Cranbrook Schools are private and boarding schools located in a higly affluential suburb of Detroit. The Upward-Bound program give students in the inner city the opportunity to live and take summer classes on a boarding school campus. The experience that I encountered there was a great supplement to my public high school career, but the level of technology at Cranbrook was on a completely higher and more sophisticated than the level than the technology at Cass Tech. When I entered the University, I was still at a disvantage compared to the students who attended private schools for their entire high school career, not just for the summer.

Other Thoughts:

How I became interested in this topic...

The proof is in the pudding...

So where do we go from here?

Human Interaction with Technology

Bibliography and Interesting Links

Michelle's World