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Yolonda Alston
Eng 101
Professor Alicia Bolton
25 July 2012
Technology overTraditional Ways
In today’s worldtechnology is all around us, its unavoidable. Technology is being integrated into
the smallest aspect of our lives. Computers are everywhere, they are in the cars we drive, they run the
supermarkets we shop in, and even the smallest toy can out compute an actual computer from a decade
ago. Amy Goldwasser’s article “What’s the Matter with Kids Today?” argued that the internet has a
positive effect on today’s youth in response to the older generation’s blame that the internet is
responsible for the decline with kid’s actually reading literature. The internet is now the largest source
of knowledge on the planet. You can research almost any and everything at the click of a button
anywhere you please thru cell phones, PDA’s, laptops, etc.Even though technology is everywhere, some
people simply refuse to accept it. Others have accepted it but refuse to let older ways of life go; and last
but not least, the generation that grew up, and perhaps can’t live without technology. Since this
generation is so immersed in technology, it would make sense to incorporate it into education.
However, there are a lot of people that say technology may be the downfall of today’s youth and
technology shouldn’t be used as much in today’s classroom. But if this way of life is all that kids know,
why not use it to our advantage. Technology has its place ineducation; it can be used to get kids involved
in learning, and if they arereading and writing through social media andtechnology why not uses it to
further education.

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Technology has its place in today’s education. Thinking otherwise is just backward thinking being
that the kids of today grew up using and interacting with the world through technology. Marc Prensky,
author of Digital Game-Based Learning (2001) and “Don’t Bother Me Mom--- I’m Learning” (2005) stated
in his article “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants”that:
It is amazing to me how in all the hoopla and debate these days about the decline of education
in the U.S. we ignorethe most fundamental of its causes. Our students have changed radically.
Our students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach(Pensky 3).
The digital immigrants (older generation) need to adjust the way the digital natives (new
generation) are being taught. If you think completely opposite to someone, how can you
effectively teach them? Why try to force kids who are already thinking forward to move
backwards?
Adults seldom try to look at life through a kid’s perspective; this is where the problem lies. Adults are so
stuck in their ways that they won’t consider any other way, which won’t benefit anybody. The rules of
the game have changed and so should the way we educate children.
Technology is a viable way to teach and to get kids involved in education. The digital natives
grew up with entertainment through technology so why not use that as a means to teach. In the film
“What Media Can Do for My Students” from Integrating Media into the Classroom: Theoryand Research;
John Condon, the science teacher at Skyridge Middle school thinks that “the youth will do better in
school, better test scores and performance, and captive their attention and focus more in class with the
entertainment of multi-media.” Condon agrees with my point that using what is normal to digital natives
to teach them will get great educational results. Kids will perform better with audio and visual aid. In the
film “What Media Can Do for My Students” from Integrating Media into the Classroom: Theory and

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Research, Becky Kozak , a student from Celebration high school in Florida states that, “when the teacher
describe that the jellyfish is a purple dot in the water it doesn’t mean anything but, when she show the
actual picture it gives a better understanding of the jellyfish.” So if the kids are interested in using
multimedia to learn, why deny them that way to learn.
Kids today are reading and writing on their own through social media and technology so why not
use this fact to our advantage. In Prensky view, today’s college grads spend less than 5,000 hours of
their lives reading, 10,000 hours playing video games, and 20,000 hours watching TV (Prensky4). If
technology is where their interestlies, why not focus on that fact and use it to improve our educational
system. In the article “Making Students Literate in the Digital Age” talks about how the principal of New
Milford High School Eric Sheninger in New Jersey encourages his students to use digital media in school
to help with education. According to Sheninger,“The teachers routinely ask students to power up their
cell phones to respond to classroom polls and quizzes” (Toppo 1). Sheninger states, they use Facebook
to communicate with the students and parents, plan events, and they also encourage students to write
and post their work on the school Facebook page(Toppo 1). This is a great idea to get kids involved in
learning. Sheninger states that, “the internet as we know it is the 21st century; and, it is what these
students have known their whole lives”(Toppo1). In Sheninger’s view, “They’re connected, they’re
creating, they’re discussing, they’re collaborating”(Toppo 1). So if kids are doing this on their own time,
why not entwine this practice with school work. That’s a win win situation, the students are entertained
and willingly doing their school works at the same time. Marilee Sprenger author of the book Brain –
Base Teaching:)In the Digital Age states, thatschoolshave to adapt to the digital learning instead of the
traditional way which is boring lectures and textbooks(Sprenger 42). Schools have to be creative to
compete with the evolving world around us. Why should the process of teaching and learning stay in the

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past while the world is forever changing. In the film “Future of Media in the Classroom” fromIntegrating
Media into the Classroom: Theory and Research, John Condon states that “he would like more
interaction between media sources such as websites, DVD players, and digital / streaming sites. He
would also like to have “sound activated environments to do commands in the classroom while he
lectures.” I’m pretty sure this will keep students from falling asleep during a lecture, or in class period.
Even though, I am all for the integration of technology in school, they are many who oppose this
idea. Some say that kids must first develop their minds by reading traditional literature before the
changeover to digital learning. A land line survey conducted by the research organization Common Core
found our young people to be living in stunning ignorance, but this is a biased survey. They didn’t take
into account the amount of hours kids spend reading and writing online. Goldwasser states,”We’re
talking about 33 million Americans who are fluent in texting, e-mailing, blogging, IM’ing and constantly
amending their profiles on social network sites” (Goldwasser 667). According to Prensky,“Digital
Immigrants don’t believe their students can learn successfully while watching TV or listening to music,
because they (the Immigrants) can’t” ( Prensky 6). One-sided thinking in today’s society is a big problem,
so why should it extend into how we teach our kids. Technology is not the problem, learning how to
adapt to technology is the problem. Paulson states, “ Increasingly, fears over bullying and improper
contact with students are promptingdistricts and schools to try toregulate the vast world of social media
– often, say some educators and technology experts, with too heavy a hand, however well intentioned (
Paulson 1). To fear something just because it’s different from what you are used to is backward thinking,
why go back while you can go forward and progress.
In conclusion, technology has its place in education, it can be used as a viable way to teach and
get kids involved in learning, and if they are reading and writing on their own thru social media and

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technology why not encourage it and its use to further education. Others arguethat kids today don’t
read enough traditional literature. Times have changed, kids today don’t think like the older generation,
so why should we as society expect them to learn like the older generation did.

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Works Cited
GoldWasser, Amy. “What’s the Matter with Kids Today? “The Norton Field Guide to Writing with
Readings and Handbook. 2nded. Ed. Marilyn Moller. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010.
666-669. Print.
Integrating Media into the Classroom: Theory and Research. “What Media Can Do For My Students?”
Films Media Group, 2005. Films on Demand. Web. 15 July 2012.
<http://digitalfilms.com/PortalPlaylist.aspx?aid=3503&xtid=34583>.
Integrating Media into the Classroom: Theory and Research. “Future of Media in the Classroom.” Films
Media Group, 2005. Films on Demand. Web. 15 July 2012.
<http://digitalfilms.com/PortalPlaylist.aspx?aid=3503&xtid=34583>.
Paulson, Amanda. “Schools Weigh Risk and Benefits of Facebook.” Christian Science Monitor 27 Sept.
2011: n.pag. SIRS Issues Researcher.Web.15 July 2012.
Prensky, Mare. “Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants.” The Digital Divide.Ed. Mark Bauertein. New York:
Penguin, 2011. 3-11. Print.
Springer, Marilee. Brain – Base Teaching:)In the Digital Age.Association for Supervision and Curriculum
Development, 2012.eBook Collection (EBSCO Host). Web.14 July 2012.
Toppo, Greg. “Making Students Literature in the Digital Age.” USA TODAY 25 July 2011: A.2.SIRS ISSUES
Researcher.Web. 25 June 2012.

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