Journal 4

Question: How does technology affect student learning?

Source: Alnahdi, Ghaleb. "Assistive Technology In Special Education And The Universal Design For Learning." Turkish Online Journal Of Educational Technology - TOJET 13.2 (2014): 18-23. ERIC. Web. 12 Oct. 2014.

Summary: This entire article is about how technology is helping disabled kids learn and be more active in school. Such as that now when a student has a mobility disability, he or she can now use technology to access library and class resources without needing to move very far. Also, with hands free keyboards and mice a student without the use of his or her arms can still participate in a classroom environment. There is also the fact that with cell phones being so popular now a child with a disability has a very easy way to contact his or her caregivers or teachers for additional help. With the popularity of internet a child with disabilities can still be social and active in online communities and gain social skills that he or she may not have been able to develop beforehand.

Synthesis: This article does not come into communication with my other articles as it is specifically about students with disabilities. It does however agree with some of my previous articles that technology has had a positive influence on student learning.

Think:  All the information I seem to be finding though points that technology in the classroom is a positive thing, and not many authors want to refute that claim. Is this because we as a society have become so dependent on technology that if we say anything bad about it we feel it might go away, or is it simply that technology has always been beneficial to students? I am not inclined to believe the latter. I think that no paper published that bashes on technology would be allowed to be brought to a wold scale due to the fact that this hinders progress.

Plan: I think I will try to find an article that shows a negative light on technology. With so many articles saying that technology is wonderful there must be at least one that does not agree with this claim.