Megan Crawford

Is technology taking away the way we learn and replacing it with faster but less beneficial

results?

Introduction

Many parents, teachers, and even students claim that today's society is lacking the proper

skills needed for learning because the phone does everything for them, they just go into class to

get the grade and not actually benefit from the teachings. The problem I want to address is in our

education system, where certain technologies are seen as a gateway from actual learning, many

claims that the old school style of teaching in classrooms is the best way. The argument can be

easily biased though considering generations before the millennial era didn’t have phones. I

wanted to know if this was really true or was it just an excuse for denial. With technologies like

the smart phone, google, and even apps that do problems for us, can we really still get the same

beneficial results from learning at such a fast pace or is it all just for the grade? During teachings

the phone can be a distraction causing students to not gain lecture material, during studying for

quizzes/test it gives the answers directly to you so memorizing it through writing or book is out

the window, and technology has even gone as far as to help prompt cheating.

The problem

The problem is an epidemic all across the world, as other countries have to make the

decision on if phones are the maker/breaker of today’s education system. In an article from New

York Times written by Rubin, A. J., & Peltier, E., some cities in France have banned phones to

help promote authentic learning, a quote that really stood out to me from education minister,

Jean-Michel Banquet. “If we want to prepare children in the 21st century, we must give them the
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tools of modernity: mastery of math, of general culture, the ability to flourish in social

relationships, a capacity to discuss with others, to understand and respect others and then very

strong digital skills.” Who basically is claiming that there needs to be a balance to survive today,

the older habits of teaching need to be shifted to balance the digital age.

Survey and interview Results

I decided to do an interview and a survey to grasp my own understandings on the issue.

Since I am a student at a university it’s quite easy to get responses and finding people to

interview. The first person I interviewed was a guy who was sitting in one of the coffee shops we

have on campus, his name was Josh, he had on typical student attire and was sitting around a

small brown table reading off his laptop and jolting notes into a notebook. When I asked him if I

could interview him for my U- Write class he looked at me confused but politely agreed. I started

off by asking him, “What age were you when you got your first smartphone and how old are you

now?” I could tell this question threw him off, but he told me his first phone was at the age of 13,

right as he started middle school and that he now is 20 years old. Smartphones have been an

essential to his everyday life for 7 years, and each year the technology just advances. I also asked

him how he connected his smart phone with his studies, and if it was a distraction for him or an

aid to how he learned. He smiled as he answered and claimed,” I’ve never really thought about it

honestly, but I guess I’d say that when I’m studying for an important test I like to look over the

notes I took in class, or make flashcards and my phone is really just a distraction, especially

when I’m trying to study.” he also made the point in one of my latter questions about the

beneficial results of a class that allowed technology that sometimes in class it can help when he

needs an answer right away or to take pictures of the notes if the slides are too fast.
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The other person I interviewed was my mom who has an outsider’s view of smartphones

since she grew up in the late 70’s and never had on, even now my mom is a woman who uses her

phone strictly for calls, so I figured her view would be very different from Josh’s. When asking

my mom when she got her first smartphone, she said 35, and when I asked her if she felt phones

were more beneficial to us actually learning she commented,” I feel like the time it takes you to

do an assignment is mind-blowing to the time I would have to take to do an assignment that

required reading and writing, but the amount of workload you have to do is insane to make up

for how fast and easy it is to do one assignment, that I always wonder how you actually take that

all in at once.” This made me question that maybe it’s the way society looks at phones and thinks

that more is better, and it’s really the approach we have to phones that makes them bad or

education systems viewing them as inefficient.

My survey gained a number of responses mostly through other fellow college students in

my class or roommates, and each question really focused on the effects smartphones had on them

in the classroom. In a group of students 18-22, 80% selected that their first phone was between

the ages 14-18, which is when most of us started High School, and most agreed that they bring

their phone to school every day. Three of my survey questions had very equal results and were

divided almost equally, When you are doing school work/homework do you use your phone to

help you on questions you don't know?, When honestly reviewing a topic for a test or quiz would

you say writing/ and readings help more than doing worksheets where you got answers from

your phone, or vice versa., In class is there a policy on phones? Majority chose the option that

indicated the phone is an essential tool in learning but no needed, and that most students

understand this. Most do study without their phone or try too at least, and if someone is

interested in a topic then the phone will never be their problem only a guide. One my most
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important questions was, after a class is finished do you feel knowledgeable about the topic or

like it was very forgettable? And 90% chose the option, “it really depends on the attention/

interest I have in the class.” I felt like this proved a really big point on the technology epidemic

theory. That having a phone isn’t distracting if you really love a topic, the interest and drive we

have for something is based off our own person feeling and are only distracted by what we want

to be distracted by.

Conclusion

Basically, stating that how well you do in a class factors on you and your interest. If you

are willing to pay attention and do the work and are interested in the topic then there isn’t a

problem with smartphones. Smartphones are an escape and can be a huge distraction, but the

connection wasn’t probably there in the first place, just like how doodling in a notebook an

escape from a boring class is.

The education system should focus more on creating individually personalized learning

experiences for students to maintain their interest, so that every class they take can be enjoyable

and worth learning, the phones are only a major issue in the people who don’t want to learn the

topic anyway, and yes there are some setbacks that you can still get a good grade without really

studying or doing the assignment because of search engines like google, but that’s also a play on

society teaching us the grade is important and education systems for timing everything, making

standardized test that are timed, and focused on one narrow pathway for every single student. In

ken Robinson’s Ted Talk he stated, “school systems haven’t changed since the 19th century,” and

I feel like that’s a really important note to keep in mind for why reactions to the technology

epidemic have been so divided. We have two generations trying to coerce into one way of doing

things instead of an even distribution.

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Sources

Robinson, K. (n.d.). Retrieved October 15, 2018, from

https://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity/transcript

Rubin, A. J., & Peltier, E. (2018, September 20). France Bans Smartphones in Schools

Through 9th Grade. Will It Help Students? Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/world/europe/france-smartphones-

schools.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/education&action=click&con

Is technology taking away the way we learn and replacing it with faster/less beneficial

results? (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1hCl2Kb2WN0MkKs63EyZqRgy4jE2djZkoSnmG1wnR2lo/edi
 Megan Crawford

Reflection:

I have throughout my elementary years used a lot of survey/gathering data information

among other classmates to start a chart or compare data at the end of class. This was my first

time however having to conduct interviews and create such a survey that was real, getting sent

out in email form to many people I didn’t know that well. The interview was fun and helped me

meet people since I talked to a random fellow student on his opinions, I feel like this will help

me a lot since I’m a communications major. I’ll need to learn how to interview and have open

conversation with random people to gather information for my stories one day. As always

writing the paper, and trying to cite sources, and have proper grammar is always a challenge and

very beneficial to my growth as a writer.