PLO 1 -- Article Review

The article that I found was that of “Adult Educators in Cyberspace.”  The author of this article Margaret Holt explains some of the advantages and disadvantages of mixing education with technology in the classroom.  She states that, “adult educators, like everyone else in the teaching and learning enterprise, are forced to weigh ethical issues attached to instructional technology.”  Holt does agree that there are advantages of using technology in the classroom, but there are also disadvantages of doing so.  Some of the disadvantages are:

·         Concerns for learner privacy

·         Learner dishonesty

·         The ability to access the technology

·         Intellectual property rights and copyright infringement

I feel that this article really makes the educators take a good look at how the use of technology could affect their classroom.

I currently have no formal training in the classroom so I am going to use what I have seen in my children’s school and my home to answer this part of the question. When it comes to the use of technology anywhere I feel that there are advantages and disadvantages.  I have seen over the past few years that the use of technology has become more and have often wondered why with children being so young when it is introduced.  I feel on one hand it is a good thing, but on the other it should be up to the parents when to introduce it to their children.  As a parent, I have had to take a long hard look at how the use of technology has affected my children.

I have an autistic child that we rely on the use of technology for daily.  She has different applications on her iPad that teach her how to know how she is feeling, if a certain situation could affect her, to timers to help her know when things need to get done by such as hygiene, chores, and bed time.  I have seen this help her tremendously, but then on the other hand she likes to have her iPad all the time to watch videos.  I have also seen in my children’s school the use of computers to do research projects, spelling test, and the use of quizlet (pre-test, group activity). 

References

Holt, M. E. (1996). Adult educators in Cyberspace: ethical considerations. Adult Learning, (2), 15. Ebscohost