"The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people."

This, my friends. Is technology. It's a video entitled "cooties" and it's hilarious.

Technology is a very powerful tool in the classroom, but a lot of teachers abuse that. I remember in elementary school, we would watch Reading Rainbow instead of actually reading the book. That was something we did once a week. For real. The teacher spent that time grading papers or something else just as ridiculous. Instead of actually reading us the stories in the show, she would have the show read the stories to us. Instead of actually teaching us something, teachers expect a computer program or a television show to do it. Teachers rely on technology to do all the work and leave nothing for the teacher to do.

Technology is an amazing tool, when used in the right way. When technology is used in the wrong way, it become nothing more than a time filler. Movies and television shows are amazing resources for teachers, but a movie can't be expected to teach a child everything they need to know, and a movie won't hold a child's attention for that long, which is why they're always talking! If you just put moving pictures in front of a child with nothing meaningful behind it, they'll get bored. You can't expect a child to learn everything from technology. Now, some children are very visual learners a something like that is a great way for the children to get a grasp on the content, but teachers need to do the majority of the work.

I think a big problem is that teachers don't know how to make good transitions or link different materials together, so they have the computer or the television do it for them. I mean, what better way to link reading and math than to get a computer game that has them both? See. Teachers get concerned with how to handle their class and mixing curriculum and content areas, so they put it on technology. It's become a scape goat.

As a teacher, I won't rely on technology to do everything. I believe that teacher involvement is way more important. A teacher isn't involved with a computer or a television, but a teacher can be involved with active learning, or with any number of other things. Teaching isn't just about making sure the students understand the content, although that's huge. Teaching is built of different life skills, social skills, content knowledge, and basic technology. Technology should be a friend to the classroom, nit a hindrance or a growth-stunter. Technology should be a friend and not a foe.

*the quote in the title is by Karl Marx*