Overall, I don’t believe the technology that my first graders use makes them smarter. If anything, they only use the iPads because they just need a break from doing things with pencil and paper all of the time. It’s unfortunate that there are only five in the room, though. I feel like if my students were using IXL, however, then things would be different as IXL actually targets certain skills and standards that students are at. This extra practice could actually help them meet grade level standards and expectations if they worked on it regularly. Technology is becoming such a popular thing in schools, so I feel like my teacher should allow our students to use it a little bit more than they are just to provide a change of scenery every once in a while. In order to enhance their knowledge on technology, students should be give the opportunity to explore it within a classroom setting.
References:
Martin, L. (2012). Connection, Translation, Off-Loading, and Monitoring: A Framework for Characterizing the Pedagogical Functions of Educational Technologies.Technology, Knowledge & Learning, 17(3), 87-107.
Menary, R. (2007). Writing as Thinking. Language Sciences, 29(5), 621-632.
Morgan, M., Brickell, G., Harper, B. (2008). Applying distributed cognition theory to the redesign of the ‘Copy and Paste’ function in order to promote appropriate learning outcomes. Computers & Education, 50(1), 125-147.
ED 386 Educational Technology - Lauren's Blog 