It is interesting to think about
the ways technology has shaped our classrooms, seemingly without us even
knowing. When I was in high school, I was in an Honors English class. Every
night for homework we had to read at least a few chapters of whichever book we
were working on. However, there were some nights when I was too lazy or tired
to read, so instead I would look at the summary on Sparknotes. It was not that
I did not understand the material, but some nights I just did not want to
actively read, which included highlighting, commenting and thinking about what
the passage meant. Reading the summaries on these websites was so easy, and my
teachers never even noticed; the summaries were so in detail, it was easy to
read that and still be able to participate in a classroom discussion. Looking
back, I wish I had just read the books; the amount of time I spent reading the
summaries could have been used to read the actual book, but nonetheless I did
really well in my classes.
As times are changing, the classes
we are teaching will be more diverse, which will probably include many ELL’s
(English Language Learners.) This means that the students will already be
struggling with the complexities of English, and then have to read books that
are already challenging for students whose first language is English. Because
of this, websites like Sparknotes and Cliffnotes will be used even more. These
websites are so easy to access, and even easier to read, which means it will be
harder to pick up on whether students understand the material. It becomes even
more challenging when students who can read choose not to, because then it will
become even harder to detect who is just lazy and who really cannot understand
the books.
Another problem English teachers
will face with the rise of technology is autocorrect and spell check. Students
write papers mostly on word, and when they make a spelling error it immediately
shows up and gives them the correction. However, many students do not
understand the root of the error and continue to make it over and over. When
they have to write papers without spell check, they do not understand their
mistakes, and make them once again. However, when you write with a pen and
paper, there is no spell check to tell you that you made a mistake. This is
especially true with technical errors like passive voice and verb-tense
agreement issues. My fear is that at some point teachers will not be required
to teach these critical rules because Microsoft Word can do it just as easily.
Even though technology is very
helpful in most classroom situations, I do not think it is as helpful in
English classrooms. Students need to learn the basics of the language, and they
do not need a computer, tablet, or cell phone to do so. Most of the time these
technologies make it even more confusing to learn an already difficult
language, which is something schools should consider when making their
curriculums and equipping students with these powerful tools.
