Has technology decreased the achievement in face-to-face classes, causing the hybrid and online classes to look more successful in studies?
Technology is a useful source within a classroom, extending the resources beyond a single university. The use of technology is inevitable, and in recent years, technology has been implemented into the environment of a face-to-face classroom, even going as far to hold entire classes or half of a class online. A study measuring the use of personal technological devices (PTD's) was conducted among 120 undergraduate students at a large metropolitan university using a self-reporting online survey. The time spent on the PTD's related and unrelated to the course material in which the lecture was touching on was recorded, as well as the basic demographics of the subjects including sex, age, level of undergraduate, and GPA. Findings indicated that 77.5% of students used PTD's for non-course related material during class such as email, texting, and social media. Studies show, according to this source, from a 2013 study, 90% of undergraduate students owned a laptop, 75% owned a smartphone, and 30% owned a tablet. So, almost every student owned a PTD. In the face-to-face classroom, PTD can be used for education related purposes such as note-taking, looking up information, access to course materials, etc. but it can also be seen as a distraction. The Deficient Self-Regulation Theory suggests that use of PTD's in the classroom unrelated to course work are due to a previous characteristic causing lack of self-control (8). Another theory introduced in this dissertation is the Media System Dependency Theory (MSD). The levels of DSR, MSD, and PTD dependency were studied correlating to student use of PTD's in the classroom. In a meta-analysis, the expected increase of intelligence since the introduction of technology in the classroom has not faltered due to the subjective use of the technology and how students choose to implement it in their learning environments (28). The use of PTD's shows success in the class had a negative relationship with laptop use (32). 42% of students multi-task in the classroom without being able to self-identify these own practices (29). Professors are not well-trained in how to successfully get students to use their technology only for intellectual benefit. During class, over 70% of students spent half the class on non-academic activities (34). No evidence was collected showing overall increases in student achievement because some students excel with the use of technology, and some students let their distractions get the best of them. An issue that is prominent in the classroom is multi-tasking.
So, my question as I searched through the source is, are PTD's and the use of technology in face-to-face classrooms worth the possibility of distractions? With the implementation of technology in the university system, are online and hybrid classes a better choice because they allow students to not be penalized for their distractions? Most online and hybrid classes are accessible at all hours of the day. All information is present, so if a student gets distracted, they have the opportunity to go back and relearn the material on their own time. Professors have steadily integrated technology into the coursework during face-to-face class to keep students on task, and for out-of-class work. The use of clickers has become popular among college courses, making students pay attention for the class period. Students must overcome the distraction of their PTD's if they want to be rewarded with a good grade in the class. While note-taking, all temptation is in front of them as they see notifications from their social media accounts or texts from friends pop up across the screen. I think the reason online and hybrid classes are so successful is because it allows students to get distracted, as distraction is inevitable for some students, without penalties. They can go back and learn the material with no ramifications, besides a greater amount of time spent on an assignment. If universities are going to spend this much on technology, increases in student ability need to become more visible. I do think that technology is good in higher education, but professors and universities need to find new ways to use technology to keep students on task.
In Naghneh's dissertation, I questioned his results that there was higher achievement in the online classroom and hybrid classroom because the subjects were graduate students. Graduate students are all clearly motivated, but undergraduate students may have both motivated and non-motivated students in the mix. More motivated students may be able to focus more on their classwork because of their determination. I do not, however, question the higher student achievement in hybrid classes and online classes now that I have read Currie. Naghneh gives credit to traditional face-to-face classes for teaching students interaction with other students, being one of the only benefits to a traditional classroom. Curie would negate this claim, as multitasking and the use of technology have decreased the interaction that used to be seen in the traditional classroom. Students don't interact with each other, but with their friends on social media. The professor doesn't interact with the students except through a clicker question and their voice, which could easily be portrayed through an online class as well. Currie's dissertation, the use of technology in classrooms is now almost as significant as in online classes, so the benefits of the traditional classroom are all being lost within the technology. Both Currie and Naghneh see the decrease of achievement in the classroom with technology. What these sources failed to take into consideration is the different generation in which students have been brought up. What might be some factors in our youth that have caused us to be easily distracted in the classroom with technology? I think that the fact that we were the first generation to use technology as it is today in the form of laptops and smartphones, unable to use technology freely until college, students take advantage of it without seeing any harm to their actions. Little studies have been done to warn college professors and train them on how to deal with the newness of technology.
New questions I have in my research are: What are professors doing to reduce student distraction in a traditional classroom? Are these new ideas effective? Are psychologists coming up with breakthroughs to end the media addiction in our generation? I have answers now to the reasons of higher achievement in the online and hybrid courses, and I will use those answers to find whether or not the traditional classes are steadily losing their value, possibly in the near future leading to the fall of the traditional university.
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