Technology in English Classrooms

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.