ISU Professor Questions Role of Technology in Classroom
By Mary Stegmeir, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, Iowa
Apr. 26–CEDAR FALLS — If you want to get Michael Bugeja riled up, ask the Iowa State University professor about the school’s collection of “clickers.”
Many lecturers at ISU use the devices in hopes of increasing class participation and better monitoring student understanding. With accompanying software, professors can flash a multiple-choice question on a projector screen and get an instantaneous progress report as students key in their answers.
Pretty nifty — but is it necessary?
Bugeja thinks not.
“We have 9,000 clickers on campus,” he sputtered during a speech at UNI Thursday. “And why? Because somebody went to a conference and got something for free.”
During his hour-long talk, the director of ISU’s Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication railed against the infusion of technology in the classroom. Incorporating digital programs, such as Second Life, Facebook and Twitter, into college curriculum cheapens the educational value of a university degree, he said. And worse yet, students ultimately end up footing the bill for the high tech gadgets through increases in tuition and fees.
“Soon we will have to choose between the professor and the processor because taxpayers cannot afford both,” said Bugeja, who challenged University of Northern Iowa leaders to review the school’s technology budget.
Although Bugeja focused his comments on college classrooms, Cedar Falls Superintendent David Stoakes said the speech also could be applied to K-12 education.
“You never want technology just for the sake of having technology,” he said. “Plus, there’s a lot of extra costs that go along with it, like extra bandwidth or (staff) training.”
Technology has a place in schools, Stoakes qualified, “but it needs to fit in with what we’re already doing.”
UNI senior A.J. Platt said he didn’t think tech tools were distracting in the classroom, but questioned the impact digitalization has had on society.
“On one hand, technology helps people relate on more-neutral grounds,” said the communications studies major. “But on the other hand, it can really let you turn off to the world.”
Contact Mary Stegmeir
at (319) 291-1482 or
mary.stegmeir@wcfcourier.com.
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