Finding a Happy Medium

          Using technology too often has the same effects as eating too much cake, it can make you tired, lazy, lethargic, sick, etc. And that is why technology, like any good thing, must always be used in moderation.

          Facebook can be a fantastic way to get students to connect and easily complete group assignments. On top of that, its group feature can be a good way to start up a class page where students can easily discuss questions on assignments and post pictures of notes for classmates that may have been absent that day. Chat and online functions can also allow students to easily see who is online at any given point and have a one on one chat session on specific questions they may have. On the other hand, Facebook is also open to many other functions that may distract students and prevent them from completing work on time and may aid students who wish to cheat of each other’s homework or on tests and quizzes.

          Tumblr is a great site for quickly and easily sharing images. In an art class you can set up a Tumblr and use it to link students to artists that are relevant to the current class. Students can, then, compare and contrast styles and also have a reference at any time. Students can also make their own Tumblrs to get their work into the public space and keep track of artists they like through their likes and favorites. On the other hand, with Tumblr’s endless scroll functionality, students can waste hours and hours scrolling through picture after picture with no end.

          Twitter and a class blog work in similar ways. Using Twitter students can get reminders, via text message, about homework problems, tests and quizzes, and important class updates through twitter. While a class blog will always give them a reference in case anything was forgotten. But Twitter is also distracting and with its endless scroll functionality students can also scroll through tweet after tweet for hours on end. Also, students may no longer see the need in writing down homework in class and if there are any problems with the service than they may simply not do the homework since they do not know what was assigned.

          Youtube can be used to show instructional videos, upload demonstrations, and give step by step instructions to students who may not have paid attention in class. And through Youtube’s comment section students can post specific questions that can be addressed in another video. But this too can be easily distracting and on top of that students may use the videos as an excuse to not pay attention in class.

          These are just a few examples of websites, but the same methods can be applied to phones, cameras, projectors, etc and it always boils down to the fact that technology can help us, but it can also hurt us. We cannot be afraid of using technology, but we also should not be afraid to not use it. Sometimes an extravagant website may help, and sometimes a white board and a marker may get the same job done. It is our responsibility as teachers to determine what technology is truly necessary and to what degree we should apply it.