TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLASSROOM

Technology in the Classroom: Effective and Safe Use

Hannah Davis, Emily Graham, Julia Bourne, Sabel Diskin

Arizona State University

SED 322: Classroom Leadership

Prof. Lovitt

11 November 2018
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Abstract
This paper seeks to answer the questions and problems that the use of technology in the

classroom poses. The issue of technology in the classroom is multi-faceted and doesn’t always

rest on the same plane; some classrooms lack technology while others have the access but lack

the know-how. Even further, some classrooms add to students’ technology dependency. The

literature examines the different perspectives on the issue to postulate solutions as well as

provide resources for educators to lean on. The purpose is to ensure that technology is an asset

for all stakeholders: students, teachers, administrators, and parents.

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Introduction to the Problem

In classrooms all over the U.S., teachers are experimenting with the use of technology.

Computers and projectors are commonplace in classrooms, but one-to-one technology is far

behind in many districts. The biggest issues that educators face using technology is whether it is

used effectively and whether students are using it responsibly. This paper will detail how these

problems have been identified in the field, what we know about the problems, and

recommendations for addressing the problems at various levels.

Using technology effectively means integrating it within the curriculum. The average

teacher uses technology to enhance lessons, but this is just scratching the surface. Best practices

involve engagement on a deeper level where technology underwrites the entire curriculum and

fortifies the transmission of information from teacher to learner. These practices also provide

students with a framework to develop their digital lives in a positive way.

There are dangers involved when students use technology. Social media can be a

detriment to students’ mental well-being and cyberbullying certainly has taken its toll across the

U.S. We must also consider the intentions of outside actors who would do children harm. These

negatives may make schools, districts, and teachers wary of using any social media or internet

tech at all. However, the benefits have been shown to outweigh these potential dangers and some

districts that have implemented tech-heavy platforms also have strong protections in place for

students.

Once the barriers of issue of safety have been passed, how do educators then use

technology effectively in classrooms? Students already blatantly use their personal devices

during class time, much to the annoyance of many teachers. So, how do we get them to use it for

education? What kinds of technology should we be using to engage students? How are other
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successful classrooms using it? And if not their personal devices, how do we provide enough

opportunity for students to engage with technology when districts can’t find it in their budget to

bring their schools into the digital age? Further, how can we help teachers advocate for

technology? And how can we persuade districts to update their Acceptable Use Policies and

technology guidelines?

Educators are well beyond realization that technology can bring a wealth of new learning

modes into the classroom. Our focus for the future should be to get technology into the hands of

students and teach them how to use it to benefit their lives. Once they become aware of these

benefits, it’s more likely that they will use it responsibly and even proactively. When one Oregon

middle school teacher piloted a social media program in her school they found after one year that

“20% of students school-wide were completing extra assignments for no credit, grades had gone

up by more than 50%, and chronic absenteeism was reduced by more than a third” (Kessler,

2010). These are dream numbers and every school is different, but the evidence exists that using

technology works for students.

This is great news because educators want to be able to prepare our students for whatever

When students graduate, most companies will require them to use technology as functions of

their job duties and for collaboration and communication. Helping them develop positive,

professional online personas is one step we can take to ensure they are successful in their future

careers. As well, most entrepreneurs today begin their businesses and maintain their livelihoods

on electronic devices, software, and applications. Giving students options with technology can be

a transformative experience for them and help them see beyond Snapchat and YouTube to find

fulfillment in the digital world. The goal is for them to see technology as not only a way to be

creative, but to innovate, inspire, advocate, and collaborate.

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How the Issue is Identified in the Field

Imagine the average public school. Does it have a computer? Two? What about a

projector or DVD player? Maybe it has a TV or a laptop cart. Now imagine the students. What

do they look like? Are they mostly boys or girls? How do they dress? What do they bring to

school with them on a day-to-day basis? Many people would say a backpack, pencils, or

textbooks. Some might even say a lunchbox, ID, or car keys. But there is one artifact that just

about every high school student brings with them to campus on a daily basis, even if they show

up with little else: technology.

Technology in the classroom is inescapable in 2018. Most public school classrooms have

an overhead projector with a screen, speaker, and cable to hook up to a computer. Most teachers

have a computer for classroom use, either personally purchased or provided by the school. Many

schools have laptop carts that teachers can “rent” from the media center, and some might even

have classroom specific laptop carts. This says nothing of even the students, who come to school

every day with a cell phone in their pockets. According to a study done by the University of

Phoenix in 2017, “63% of K-12 teachers use technology in the classroom daily, with laptops and

computers being the most commonly used resource” (University of Phoenix). Also falling under

the umbrella of technology in this survey were devices such as smartboards, tablet devices,

handheld devices, and audience response systems such as clickers.

These teachers know that technology, when properly implemented, can have a positive

effect on learning. They might use visual aids such as an overhead projector or websites like

PearDeck to model expectations for their students. They might turn studying into something a

little more fun with Quizlet and the array of study game features it provides. They might ask

students to hit the speaking and listening standards by creating and presenting a multimedia
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project using a PowerPoint, movie, or podcast. These teachers also know that in order to have

technology be effectively used and appreciated in the classroom, guidelines and rules must be

established and enforced from day one. Having technology in the classroom is a privilege, and

teachers must make that clear to their students from the very beginning. Just like with classroom

management, the management of technology in the classroom thrives on setting reasonable

expectations for use.

The University of Phoenix data also tells us that approximately 37% of K-12 teachers use

technology less than 5 days a week in the classroom, and that some may not use it at all

(University of Phoenix). For classrooms in that 37% it is important to consider the reasons they

are not using technology daily. In many cases, schools simply can’t afford to provide enough

technology for every class to use on a day-to-day basis. In other cases, teachers are provided with

the technology tools but not given adequate training regarding the resource, and may opt out of

using it because they do not understand how. Then there are teachers who simply prefer a more

traditional classroom.

It is typically teachers in the third category who oppose the use of technology in the

classroom. These teachers might feel that technology is more of a distraction to students than a

benefit, or struggle to police the activities student participate in on their devices. These teachers

may feel that technology tends to be more of a distraction in class, as the temptation for a student

to use the technology for leisure is too great to ignore. These teachers may also be ones who

have attempted to implement technology as an addition to the classroom, but failed to have

students use it exclusively for educational purposes.

For those who are given the opportunity to use technology in their classroom, it is wise to

at least attempt a system. If the district or school a teacher is in is lucky enough to have access to
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those resources, it is because they believe it can benefit their students. Much like anything else in

the classroom, it is amazing what can be accomplished by students when they are given clear

guidelines and expectations surrounding a particular task.

Background of the Issue

The issue of technology in the classroom follows two main narratives: the efficacy of

technology in the classroom and its involvement in child development/mental health. In the

former, technology doesn’t necessarily have to be absent - this can also mean that knowledge

surrounding the technology doesn’t exist, either. In the latter, the research is more concerned

with

Efficacy

If technology is present, it can be difficult for an educator to determine how to use it to

enhance learning and ensure that it doesn’t dominate the classroom as a distraction.

Unfortunately, in many classrooms, it is not being used as effectively as it can be to benefit the

student’s learning. Teachers often fail to capitalize on the potential that technology and other

devices can offer for their students.

First, teachers are not given the best support needed to effectively utilize all the

educational benefits technology has to offer. In 2005, Maine funded the first 1:1 student to laptop

ratio statewide program in the country (Norris, 18). When test-scores were not improving in

2007, New York Times discovered the following: “the [New York Times] pointed to two reasons

to explain the lack of impact: 1) There was no educational software per se...2) the teachers were

not provided with sufficient professional development support, i.e., by an large, the teachers

were taught how to use the computers, but they weren’t taught how to transform their existing
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paper-and-pencil curriculum into curriculum that took advantage of the affordances of the

networked laptops” (Norris, 18-19).

With teachers not being shown the proper way to effectively implement technology in the

classroom, there is also an issue with proper rules, procedures, and management when

technology is being used in the classroom. Many teachers are not aware of what students are

capable of doing with technology, especially when the teacher is not monitoring the students.

Also, once students deviate from instruction, it is very difficult to “bring” students back into the

instruction.

The biggest way that technology is being used effectively in the classroom is platforms

such as discussion boards and blogs are being used for individualized concept rather than

collaborative learning. Technology should be used for “interaction, not isolation” (McNeely).

Ben McNeely, from North Carolina State University, discusses that relationships drive learning.

If a student feels like he has solid relationships in the classroom within a positive environment,

then his drive to learn and collaborate will improve. Technology should not replace interaction,

but enhance it, particularly for shy or quiet learners. Arman Assa, MBA candidate and president

of PackMUG—the Mac Users Group at NCSU, says “Historically, communal learning has

always been the most effective way for educating the student and generating thought-provoking

discussion in class. Does this mean that interactive technology is bad for the classroom? No. It

means that it should simply augment what is already there” (McNeely). Tools like online

discussion boards, blogs/wikis, and Google Classrooms should not be used only as a writing

platform, but should be utilized in the classroom to encourage collaborative learning from all

kinds of personalities and learners.

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Phones and laptops, the average teacher’s biggest fear, should be embraced for use in the

classroom. When allowed in classrooms, Regents Professor Cathleen Norris points out that

technology devices were solely being used as “type-writings or encyclopedias,” and “computer-

based activities took up a very small percentage of time in the total lesson” (Norris 19). This

was typically done due to lack of teacher knowledge on proper resources, and fear of allowing

students independence with these devices. Devices such a phones and computers possess an

unlimited amount of knowledge, tools, and resources that will enhance students’ higher level

thinking skills and make them educated global citizens, yet they are being used for typing and

googling.

When most teachers typically think of technology in the classroom, their minds

automatically go to PowerPoints. When used sparingly, they are great tools to present a lot of

information, especially at the beginning of a unit. However, they have been abused since their

popularity in classrooms soared. According to Paul Ralph from Business Insider, “Slides

encourage instructors to present complex topics using bullet points, slogans, abstract figures and

oversimplified tables with minimal evidence. They discourage deep analysis of complex,

ambiguous situations because it is nearly impossible to present a complex, ambiguous situation

on a slide. This gives students the illusion of clarity and understanding” (Ralph). The excessive

use of plain PowerPoints stuffed with information is turning students into mindless copying

robots. Rather than practicing collaboration, problem-solving and critical thinking, they are

focusing on copying and memorizing the presented material.

Mental Health and Oversaturation

Equally dangerous is an oversaturation of the actual technology. Oversaturation of

technology occurs when students, educators, administration, and parents are unaware of screen
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time, or time spent on a device. As previously mentioned, the distracting elements in devices are

more common than ever. It is difficult to find any device that does not come built-in with games

or features for customization.

As well as distractions provided by the device in and of itself, students are exposed to

external factors like advertisements. While advertisements may seem unworthy of specific

attention, Barve, Sood, Nithya, and Virmani noted that “children are especially vulnerable to

advertising because they lack the experience and knowledge to understand and evaluate” these

images (2015). They can be especially attractive to younger audiences. When taken into

consideration with the already limited risk-taking and self-control sectors of the adolescent brain,

advertisements create a whole problem on their own. What are educators to do when students are

bombarded with hundreds of online images an hour? With so many of teachers’ resources

residing on the web, the issue advertising creates is not one that is easily solved.

Furthermore, recent research has established the issue of technology’s detrimental effects

on adolescents’ mental health. With more teenagers experiencing symptoms of anxiety,

depression, and having suicidal ideations, technology has been put under the microscope for

inciting some of these mental health problems. Lewinsohn, Clarke, Seeley, and Rhode found that

the risk for major depressive and anxiety disorders “increase substantially with adolescence,”

just as their technology use also goes up (1994). As technology becomes more pervasive, this

issue becomes more widespread as well. Perhaps the most obvious effect of technology

oversaturation has to do with students’ sleep patterns. In a study conducted in Canada, Maras,

Flament, Murray, Buchholz, Henderson, Obeid, and Goldfield found that computer use was the

second strongest influence in “severe depressive symptoms” (2015). Are educators responsible
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for students’ technology dependence? Absolutely not, but they are responsible for a portion of

student screen time.

This research has led stakeholders to rightfully question the role technology plays in our

classrooms and seek solutions.

Solutions

Before technology is brought into the classroom, the teacher should create and establish a

set of rules for using technology in the classroom. These rules and guidelines should be

presented to the students in the beginning of the year, and preferably as soon as possible. They

should also be displayed somewhere in the room, or easily available, so students and parents can

access the rules at all times. Preferably, the teacher should send home the rules and a to the

parents and have the student and parents sign a “technology contract” so that everyone is aware

what is expected of the students. Some examples of rules could be: never share your personal

information online, only visit approved sites, no eating and drinking when using the device, do

not change the settings, etc.

When putting these rules into practice and to assist in classroom management, there are

many ways to ensure that students are using technology effectively and safely. For example, a

teacher could use a sign to indicate when it is and is not okay to use cell phones. When the sign

is green, students can freely use their phones. When the sign is red, phones must be put away

immediately. Another method for controlling phone use is creating a phone rack. Students will

be assigned numbers, and the numbers will be written on the phone rack. When coming into the

classroom, students will be expected to put their phone into the corresponding spot on the rack

slot with their number. Once they are allowed to use their phones, then they can be dismissed to
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get them. Similar to the phone rack is the idea of a charging station: a teacher sets up a power

strip (or strips, depending on class sizes) and allows students to use them to charge their phones

during class. The caveat? If you choose to charge your phone during class, it must remain there

the entire class period. This means the phone is not in use during instructional time but students

still retain some form of control over their device.

To help veteran teachers shift away from the traditional use of a PowerPoint, free tools

like Pear deck and Nearpod are readily available to any educator. These softwares transform

previously made PowerPoints into interactive experiences for the students. Students are able to

respond to questions, share their opinions, work with peers, etc. It also benefits the teacher

because the teacher can grade students right from their responses to the prompted questions and

interactions. With the PearDeck and Nearpod like presentations, frequent “think-pair-shares” and

chances for collaboration and movement should be sprinkled throughout the lecture lesson.

Other options for free software to be used in class include Kahoot, Quizlet, and

NoRedInk. Both Kahoot and Quizlet can be tailored to fit any class because the user inputs all

the information themselves. Kahoot differs from Quizlet in that it is, at the core, a learning game.

Users “sign in” to a game with a code and then use their own devices (be it a computer, tablet, or

phone) to individually answer multiple choice questions. These questions are created by the user

(in this case, the teacher) and settings such as response time, number of response choices, and

length of the game can all be changed. Teachers can even add photos or gifs to their games!

Quizlet, on the other hand, is first and foremost a study tool. Users can create their own

“study sets” of digital flashcards to practice with. Recently, Quizlet introduced games and other

study modes to their website. Users can now take practice quizzes, play matching games, and
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even teach themselves how to spell the words or terms in question on top of the traditional

flashcard mode.

NoRedInk is a different beast than both Quizlet and Kahoot. NoRedInk provides mini

online lessons and practices about different aspects of grammar and writing. The lure to

NoRedInk is that when a student begins, they must first create an account. When they create this

account, they are asked to pick their interests from a list of provided interests. These interests can

range from something as generic as “sports” to something as specific as “Harry Potter”. Many

options revolve around music, popular culture, or movies and television. NoRedInk then uses

these selected interests to “tailor” the practices to each student by inserting characters or “facts”

from each interest into a sentence. For example, in a sentence asking a student to fix

capitalization errors, the sentence might read: “harry potter and his friends, ron and hermione,

attended school at ogwarts”. Students would then select that the names Harry Potter, Ron, and

Hermione need to capitalized as well as the name of the school, Hogwarts. This resource in

particular provides an element of interest and personalization for the students.

If a teacher is “stuck” on whether or not a piece of technology is being used effectively,

they should attempt to answer these four questions:

1. Does it improve the quality of the content that is available to students?

2. Does it improve the means by which that content is delivered?

3. Does it improve student engagement and motivation?

4. Does it improve pedagogical practices? (Wang).

If the use of technology answers a majority of these questions, then it is safe to assume that it is

being used effectively in the classroom. Another way to look at the effectiveness of technology is
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the Technology Integration Matrix. Created by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology,

the matrix challenges teachers to test their integration of technology. It’s divided into attributes

of learning environments (active, collaborative, constructive, authentic, and goal-centered) and

levels of integration (entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation). A PowerPoint

presentation by a teacher may fall into the category of active on the learning environment and

adoption on the level of integration which isn’t very engaging for students. What we want to see

more of is educators using technology at the transformative level, where students can live in the

collaborative, constructive, and goal-centered areas. One example of a transformative, goal-

centered use of technology is a group-created podcast about a real issue in the world that can be

heard by anyone across the globe. To use the matrix, we have to consider what we’re using

technology for in our classrooms.

Educators and communities should be trained on the potentially negative effects of

technology. While technology is a valuable asset in the classroom, families should make a

conscious effort to limit screen time at home, especially for younger children. Organizations

such as Stanford Students Against Addictive Technologies, Wait Until 8th, and the Center for

Humane Technology offer resources for families who want to educate themselves. Wait Until 8th

in particular has pledges that families can initiate in their communities. Educators could initiate a

PBL activity on technology use where students debate whether it should be used freely or limited

within the school. At a school-wide level, activists, whether they are students, educators, or

parents, can encourage people to sign the pledge for responsible technology use.

Because these risks run beyond what is easily observed, educators should also be trained

in recognizing pre-emergent anxious and depressive behaviors. Though the use of technology in

the classroom exclusively is unlikely to contribute to students’ mental health, educators are often
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the first line of respondents to student mental health situations. ELA teachers have specific

access to student writing and should be on extra alert. Schools need to have specific protocol and

interventions in place if students do display anxious/depressive behaviors.

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References

Barve, G., Sood, A., Nithya, S., & Virmani, T. (2015). Effects of advertising on youth (age group

of 13-19 years age). J Mass Communicat Journalism, 5(260), 2.

Kessler, S. (2010) The case for social media in schools. Mashable. Retrieved from

https://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/#e70J6.vozgq4

Lewinsohn, P. M., Clarke, G. N., Seeley, J. R., & Rohde, P. (1994). Major depression in

community adolescents: age at onset, episode duration, and time to recurrence. Journal of

the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 33(6), 809-818.

Maras, D., Flament, M. F., Murray, M., Buchholz, A., Henderson, K. A., Obeid, N., & Goldfield,

G. S. (2015). Screen time is associated with depression and anxiety in Canadian youth.

Preventive medicine, 73, 133-138.

McNeely, B. (n.d.). Using Technology as a Learning Tool, Not Just the Cool New Thing.

Retrieved from https://www.educause.edu/research-and-publications/books/educating-

net-generation/using-technology-learning-tool-not-just-cool-new-thing

Norris, C., Hossain, A., & Soloway, E. (2011). Using smartphones as essential tools for learning:

A call to place schools on the right side of the 21st century. Educational Technology, 18-

25.

Ralph, P. (2017, August 25). Universities should ban PowerPoint - It makes students stupid and

professors boring. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.com/universities-should-

ban-powerpoint-it-makes-students-stupid-and-professors-boring-2015-6
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Wang, C. (n.d.). Innovating the Classroom: How Technology Can be Used Effectively in Your

Child's School. Retrieved from https://www.noodle.com/articles/how-to-use-technology-

in-the-classroom-effectively-2015