For this week’s blog, we have decided to discuss and research the cons to have technology shortcuts in the classroom. During our group discussion…
- takes away from the students’ learning
- students stop thinking about the little details of their grammar and spelling
- students rely on these shortcuts
- if you don’t know it, when there is a list of possible correct options given, you don’t know which one to choose.
Following our group discussion, we researched a couple of articles and found the following quotes:
- “In using e-mail or word-processing software, we become less proficient proofreaders when we know that a spell-checker is at work” (Nordquist, 2019).
- “Typically, if you have misspelled a word the spellchecker will offer a list of alternatives. Unless your initial attempt is reasonably close to the correct spelling, you are unlikely to be offered sensible alternatives, and, even if you are, you have to be able to make sense of what is on offer” (Nordquist, 2019).
- “By middle school and high school, students start saying things like “I don’t have to spend time on this because I can ask Siri,” Gardner said. “I’m even guilty of it. I use Grammarly. … We’re less likely to self-monitor our spelling because we know the computer will do it for us” (Denn, 2019).
Based on our findings from these articles, we have found that there is good reason to be cautious about the amount these tools are used in the classroom. There are those students who need the support of these tools, however, it’s still important for them to learn basic literacy skills. In younger grades, there is no need to utilizing these tools because this is the time when students should really be learning these skills. As students get older, and have a strong understanding of grammar, spelling, and reading, then they can begin to use short-cut tools to enhance their writing, however, it is important that they do not come to rely on these tools.
Articles we used in this blog:
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