Technology is dynamic in nature, but it has continued to change our world of today in every way and form with its diverse outputs both intended and unintended that come with each type of technology when it was first invented, made or developed. The consequences of technology at times are more feared in today's world than most of the occuring natural events of our daily life.
These emerging technologies in the field of "Communication and Information" are having some serious and direct negative impacts on the entire process of teaching and learning in the America's 21st century classrooms, and in our over 10,000 public high schools around the country. Today, our high schoolers go to schools with different types of technological gadgets, such as Smartphones, PSPs, MP3 Players, iPods, Game Consoles, Cell Phones, Digital Cameras, WikiReaders and portable CD players.
These technologies are now competing for our teenagers' time and attention in our nation's classrooms. This is a serious form of academic distraction with a lasting negative impact of the academic life of today's learners. These technologies also have negative effects on the homelife of these students. They pay more time and attention to these technologies at home than their school homework, leading to their inability to do or complete their schools' homework (an extended form or learning) at all or in a timely manner. The results are seen in the poor academic outcomes shown in schools by these high schoolers.
These teenagers spend a lot of their time on these different electronics gadgets at home. They are always on their Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Chatting Sites, Texting, Browsing the Internet, Listening to Music, Playing Video Games and using their Digital Cameras. All these things are all having a serious negative impact on these teenagers by preventing them from getting enough sleep at home. They show up in schools the next day tired, worn-out and sleepy in the classrooms.
The nuisance caused by these emerging and popular technologies of today amongst our teenagers have finally come to the attention of many of our over 14,000 plus school districts across the nation. Many of these school districts now have policies in place in their Codes of Student Conduct on the use of these electronics gadgets in schools during the normal school hours. This is a good development, but it has not worked as expected in many school districts.
Some schools across the nation are now introducing curriculum that allows the use of cellphones by their students as a learning tool and to also aid instruction in their classrooms. So far so good, it appears to be working well for now, but it is also too early to be able to make a conclusive analysis and detailed conclusion of its longterm merits or impacts.
Today's teenagers are easily bored with the age-old traditional forms of teaching, such as the use of direct instruction and teacher-centered learning. The attention span of today's high schoolers are also too short, they are easily distracted, they want to be involved in their own learning as well as control their own learning. They are technology and computer savvy in this 21st century.
Since these emerging technologies have come to stay with us, and the new ones are being made or developed year in year out. The uninteded or undesirable impacts of these new technologies will continue to compete with the academic goals of our teenagers in our nation's classroom now and in the future. The only way forward will be the introducing of technology-based curriculum into our classrooms that can use some of these teenagers' hot electronics gadgets of today in its delivery. The present policies in place in many of our nation's school districts may continue to be ineffective in practice and in all reality for now.
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