Technology Interviews: Students' Perspectives on the Use of Technology within the Classroom

In an ideal setting, students using technology to communicate with others generally are in an active role rather than a passive, recipient role, because they are actively thinking about information and are making choices in ways usually not practiced in typical teacher-led instruction. Subsequently, the role of the student changes, because they perform authentic tasks, define their goals, make decisions, and evaluate their progress as they utilize technology during the teaching-learning exchange. The role of the teacher also changes. The teacher no longer is the center of instruction. The teacher in this event becomes a facilitator who sets project goals, provides curriculum guidelines and resources, and moves students toward desired learning outcomes. Ultimately, learning maintains the same purpose; preparing the learner to meet the desired outcome of the instruction. However, the roles of the learner and instructor change slightly.

Considering the thoughts above, three college-level students were interviewed to give their perspective on the use of technology within the classroom. Two of the students interviewed were males and one was a female. One of the male students was a senior majoring in Journalism and Mass Communication. The second male student was a sophomore majoring in Political Science. The other student was a freshman female majoring in Biology.

They all shared different opinions as it related to technology used during instruction. These students were asked three pertinent questions: 1. How often do your instructors use technology during instruction? 2. What is your opinion relative to how effectively technology is used within the classroom? 3. Do you believe technology should be used more or less during instruction?

The senior JOMC major was disappointed in the way teachers use technology within classrooms, especially considering that most classes are Smart Classrooms. In his perspective, the instructors do not use technology often during instruction. He stated that they barely use PowerPoint within their classes. He further stated that the teachers who use technology (PowerPoint) within the classroom are not very effective. He went on to say that some instructors discourage students from bringing laptops to class. He found this disturbing seeing the University gives students in the Honors Program free laptops for use within and outside of class. He suggests that instructors should increase the use of technology within the classroom, even if just basic usage.

The female freshman student had a different perspective relative to the use of technology within the classroom. She stated that most of her instructors lecture with PowerPoint presentations. She also stated that her Critical Writing professor require that they turn their assignments into http://www.turnitin.com/. That same instructor also used Web Assign on Blackboard to present assignments to his or her students. She stated that one instructor uses a clicker to take attendance in larger courses. She stated that she prefers that her instruction used a mixed-method mode of instruction, because she prefers that her instructors use “half-and-half” instruction. One thing she stated relative to instructors who use technology is that they reduce the number of slides that they use during PowerPoint presentations.

The third student interview, a male sophomore majoring in Political Science, stated that his instructors generally use traditional methods of instructions. He stated that technology is not used much during class instruction, but it is mostly required to complete assignments such as major research papers. He believes the reason this is the case is because the classrooms they used were not Smart Classrooms like those in the Journalism and Mass Communications building. Another reason he stated that teachers may not use technology probably is because his instructors are older instructors who may be uncomfortable using technology.