Blue, Elfreda, and Rose Tirotta. "The Benefits & Drawbacks Of Integrating Cloud Computing And Interactive Whiteboards In Teacher Preparation."Techtrends: Linking Research & Practice To Improve Learning 55.3 (2011): 31-39. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Mar. 2015.
For this article, I wanted to delve into the problems or disadvantages technology use in special education could create. Although unable to find articles specific to the drawbacks of special education, I was able to find a good article about the disadvantages of technology in traditional education.
This article deals with the benefits and drawbacks of three specific technologies in education: social media and blogging, collaborative writing tools, and SMART boards. For blogging and social media, the main benefit was more emotional investment. The author argued that students would be more invested in their writing and work if they knew it would be viewed by a community of their peers. However, the study also showed that when teachers assigned projects through blogs, they often receive more vague and shorter assignments than they wanted. With collaborative writing tools, the article focused on them as used by instructors. The main benefit for this technology was the ability to share documents and lesson plans, but the most significant drawback would be the reliability on the internet. If all the teachers' lesson plans were online and the internet were to go down, they would be unable to reach the materials they need for their lessons. SMART boards benefit classrooms by creating an interactive learning environment and motivating students. The main drawback of SMART boards was the lack of training for instructors. Many said they didn't know how to use all the applications to their full potentials.
In order to do good critical thinking with this article, I need to take the disadvantages pointed out in this article and apply them to the field of special education. I think there are two main drawbacks that I can take and apply; those being the reliability on internet and lack of training of educators. If these students rely on online technology for a majority of their education, they would not be able to learn in the event of the internet going down whether it be for minutes, hours, or days. Teachers also need to be properly trained in order for students to succeed especially in special education. Students with special needs require such individualized learning that if the teacher are not trained or unprepared, there is virtually no reason for them to try and teach.
This article is what I've been waiting for in order to start a good conversation with my other articles. I believe that this is a good contrast to my two first journals. Those two focus on the benefits of technology integration, but my most recent two articles argue the drawbacks. This article especially opened my eyes to a new way of looking at this issue. The first two articles had me totally on board for technology in special needs classrooms, but after reading this I am seriously questioning if this is the best option.
My next source will be a book about technology integration and hopefully will highlight benefits and drawbacks that will allow me to come to a conclusion on what role I believe technology should place in special needs classrooms.
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