Article Assesment #1

Nick Leiser E-Mail: asnal2@uaa.alaska.edu 6-16-2008
Article Title: The Overdominance of Computers
Author: Lowell W. Monke

Article Overview: This article discusses the role of technology in today’s classroom. Monke thinks that technology should not be taking the place of interpersonal communication. Students need real life experiences to learn human qualities such as honesty, compassion, trust… Students today are not failing because of a lack of technological skills. They fail because they lack hope, compassion, trust, respect, a sense of belonging, moral judgment, stability, community support, parental care… Technology should be taught in the last two years of school that way we aren’t training students in technical skills that are soon to be obsolete.

Reference Points:
1. Just because schools should be preparing students for a high tech society does not mean that children of all ages should be using high tech tools. We live in a vehicle dependant society, but we don’t have 10 year olds driving around in cars.
2. Assessment data shows that the more access students have to computers, the lower their overall test scores were.
3. As a result of increased time spent with computers, video games, and TV, the current generation of elementary students will experience 30% fewer face-to-face encounters than the previous generation (Hammel, 1999).
4. It is the lack of hope, compassion, trust, respect, a sense of belonging, moral judgment, stability, community support, parental care, and teacher competence and enthusiasm that keeps so many students imprisoned in ignorance.
5. We label students too quickly, and are eager to apply external technical fixes (including medications) to students who often simply aren’t ready for the abstract, academic, and sedentary environment of today’s early elementary classrooms.
6. Teachers should spend considerable time during the last two years of high school outfitting students with the high-tech skills they will need when they graduate. This “just-in-time” approach is far more efficient instructionally and financially than retraining younger students in technical skills soon to be obsolete.

Significance: We should take a close look and maybe even rethink the use of technology at younger ages. Make sure that the use of technology is not replacing human interaction. Also be careful not to go overboard on the opposite end of the spectrum and remove computers completely from elementary classrooms. They are a great resource for nearly every subject imaginable.