point/counterpoint
6 Learning & Leading with Technology | August 2010
Yes Technology has tremendous potential to make students smarter, but in most schools
we are crippling the technology in ways that hold
students back. Is moving from blackboard to
whiteboard to interactive whiteboard really progress if nothing changes but the writing surface?
Probably not. Is a word processor different from
writing by hand, or just easier? Technology is a
tool, not a solution.
In many schools, we avoid the “teachable mo-
ment” in technology. We institute filters and walled
gardens around the Internet and pretend to keep
students safe, although all we are protecting them
from is thinking and learning
how to evaluate sources. We
lock out Nings, wikis, blogs,
and discussion forums, and
end up preventing students
from being presented with
new ideas and taking part
in wider discussions in the
process. And no instant mes-
saging or e-mail in schools,
because they might get dis-
Alfred Thompson
No
Technology is one of the most pow-
erful tools in our schools today for developing
critical-thinking skills.
Stop to think for a minute what critical thinking
actually refers to. Critical thinking is the ability to
carefully evaluate and think about the information
presented to us. Technology—specifically the Internet—allows students to look beyond the four walls
of the classroom. This means that they no longer
see the teacher as the sole source of information.
Students are learning to be highly critical of the
information they consume, and they even analyze,
fact-check, and challenge the information the class-
room teacher provides, which is a significant shift
toward critical thinking.
Helen Crompton
In addition to becoming
better consumers of information, students are now able
to use new technologies to
become the producers and
editors of information as
well. Just letting them know
that their work will be posted
on the Internet can produce
significantly different results
