Lay 1

Sarah Lay
English 106
Brittany Biesiada
March 25, 2015
Replacing Teachers with Technology
Technology has become a major part of everyday life. People use it to check on social
media and to look up videos on YouTube. Kids in high school use it to get look up the definition
of a certain word or to do research on a topic for project they need to do. Technology is also used
in most businesses. Hospitals use many different types of technology, for instance they use
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines, computers, and an X-ray generator. Schools also
use different types of technology, such as computers, iPads, and different educational websites,
like Quizlet, YouTube, and Diigo. Technology should be in the classroom but should not replace
actual teachers because teachers are the key to the students education.
A major issue in the education world is whether to replace teachers with online courses.
According to Bill Goodwyn, Technology doesnt teach. Teachers teach. Colleges and some
high schools have online courses, but if you ask the students they never learn as much as the
students who took the course with a real teacher (Bergstrand and Savage 294). Students tend to
do better in a normal classroom, because they have peer interaction while the people taking
online courses do not get that opportunity. Not having peer interaction might not seem like that
big of issue to some people, but to others its a major issue. Having peers helps you learn a lot
more about what is being taught, especially from the questions they asked; which you might not
have even thought of (Kirtman 110). While technology should be incorporated into the
classroom, it shouldnt be replacing the actual teachers.

Lay 2
The teachers understanding of the technology is one reason why some teachers do not
incorporate it into their lessons. According to Becker, Technology is clearly becoming a
valuable and well-functioning instructional tool, but only if teachers are comfortable and skilled
in using it (29). A significant challenge that educators face is not knowing how to wield them
(instructional tools) effectively with students (Armstrong 41). Teachers should be skilled enough
with the technology they are using so they can help their students expand their knowledge over
it. Alice Armstrong believes that teachers need to have training to learn how to use the
technology being asked to use (41). However she has different ideas on how the training should
happen than Gregory Clark Sr. and Jesse Zagarell do. Armstrong thinks that the district should be
the one to provide the faculty with the training, because they are the ones who are asking them to
use it (41). On the other hand, Clark, Sr. and Zagarell say that the teachers are prompted to seek
technological training on their own time and at their own expense (136). Many teachers dont
have the money to pay for the training that is needed though, so they collaborate with teachers
that are savvier in the use of technology (Jones).
Teachers need to become familiar with the technology so they can successfully
incorporate it into their classroom and lesson plans. With the proper training, teachers will be
able to successfully help their students expand their knowledge over the use of different types of
technology. Without effective training they will continue to use the same methods of teaching
that they have always used, which is chalkboards, pencils, and paper (Clark Sr. and Zaragall
138).Chalkboards are still helpful when learning certain subjects, but for the students to be really
involved teachers should be incorporating interactive whiteboards into their lessons. The
interactive whiteboard is able to enrich student learning experience and it has high interactivity,
which helps get everybody involved by using it (Yang, Wang, and Kao 313). Teachers need to

Lay 3
improve their understanding of the knowledge being asked of them to use so they can help
expand their students knowledge of the technology. With the help of the technology in the
classroom students can spread their research from the outdated textbooks that they use (Hower).
Students can use online Encyclopedias, such as Britannica and Fact Monster to get information
that is more current than the information that is printed in the textbooks that have been in print
for many of years. Technology can also be useful in the teachers role. There are many
applications on an iPad that a teacher can use in the classroom and in any lesson that they can
create. Socrative, for example is an application that lets the teacher poll the student, see what
they already know, or see what the students learned from the lesson that was just taught (Hower
17). Teachers need to know how use all of the technological tools available to them.
Technology also has some disadvantages to being in the classroom; such as not knowing
how to use the piece of technology, teachers have to worry about what is being searched, and it is
harmful for students to look at the screen for so long. If students are allowed to bring their own
device in to school, then teachers have to worry about what they are searching (Whitford 17).
Schools that issue out devices to the students can put restrictions on what the students can search
on the internet, but if you allow students to bring in their own devices then you do not have the
restrictions on the internet so you have to worry about what the students are looking up. Another
disadvantage you face if the school lets you bring your own device in is if they have a newer,
more advance piece of technology which you dont know how to use (Whitford 17). They could
have a problem with the device which you might not be able to help them with, because you are
not caught up with the latest pieces of technology (Whitford 17). If schools allow students to
bring in their own devices, then they should put restrictions on what types and models can be
brought in; for instance if the rest of the class is using a iPad 2, then other students should not be

Lay 4
allowed to bring in an iPad Air. A major disadvantage to having technology in the classroom is
that students will spend almost the entire school day looking at the screen. Looking at electronic
screens for too long can cause you eye fatigue and insomnia (Nagata).Technology has
disadvantages to being in the classroom, but it still should be incorporated.
Many different technological tools can and should be used in classrooms by both the
teachers and the students. For this to happen though, teachers need to learn how to use the
technology, so they can use it in their lessons and so they can teach their students how to use it.
The teachers need to learn how use it because technology has many advantages for both the
teachers and the students. Teachers are the key to the success of the students education; not the
technology being used. They need to have a teacher in the classroom to get the opportunity to ask
questions if they need to. They also need a teacher in the classroom to expand their knowledge
both from the teacher and the other students. Technology needs to be incorporated into the
classroom, but it should not replace the actual teachers.

Lay 5
Works Cited
Armstrong, Alice. Technology in the Classroom: Its Not a Matter of If, but when and
how. Education Digest 79.5 (2014): 39-46. EBSCOhost. Web. 6 Mar. 2015.
Becker, Henry Jay. Findings from the Teaching, Learning, and Computing Survey: Is Larry
Cuban Right? School Technology Leadership Conference of the Council of Chief State
School Officers (2000): 1-29.DOAJ Directory of Open Access Jounrals. Web. 6 Mar.
2015.
Bergstrand, Kelly and Scott V. Savage. The Chalkboard versus the Avatar: Comparing the
Effectiveness of Online and In-class Courses. Teaching Sociology 41.3 (2013): 294-306.
SAGE. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
Clark Sr., Gregory, and Jesse Zagarell. Technology in the Classroom: Teachers and
Technology: A Technological Divide. Childhood Education 88.2 (2012): 136-139.
Taylor & Francis Journals. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Goodwyn, Bill. Technology Doesnt Teach, Teachers Teach. Huffington Post 06 September
2012. Web. 5 Mar. 2015.
Hower, Aileen and Tom Whitford. To BYOD or not to BYOD? Two teachers examine the pros
and cons of welcoming student-owned technology into the classroom. Reading Today
32.4 (2015): 16-17. EBSCOhost. Web. 06 Mar. 2015.
Jones, Andrew. A Review of the Research Literature on Barriers to the Uptake of ICT by
Teachers. British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta) (2004):
2-24 Web. 07 Mar. 2015

Lay 6
Kirtman, Lisa. Online Versus In-Class Courses: An Examination of Differences in Learning
Outcomes. Issues in Teacher Education. 18.2 (2009): 103-116.EBSCOhost. Web. 6 Mar.
2015.
Nagata, Kazuaki. Specs fight eye damage from gadget screens. Japan Times (2012).
EBSCOhost. Web. 6 Mar. 2015
Yang, Kai-Ti, Tzu-Hua Wang, and Ying-Chen Kao. How an interactive whiteboard impacts a
traditional classroom. Education as Change 16.2 (2012): 313-322. EBSCOhost. Web. 6
Mar. 2015.