Perils-Overview

Overview of Potential Drawbacks for Technology in Education
Drawbacks to using technology in education include, but are not limited to:
 * **Risks to the Learning Process:** Students need the support and direction of their teachers, too much of a reliance on computers could create a loss of school community and culture.
 * reduced exchanges with teachers
 * reduced interaction with peers
 * **Engaging Teachers:** How do we bring our teachers into the fold? Dias & Atkinson(2001) describe a five-stage evolution process by which a teacher passes from novice technology user to expert technology integrator. Those phases are //Entry, Adoption, Adaptation, Appropriation//, and //Invention//. Teachers are forced by work conditions and society to enter the first phase but the problem arises in moving through to the last. There is not enough support for this development in the current structure of schools
 * **Entry phase:** The teachers are primarily text-based. Here is where the majority of our teachers stand. They are apprehensive to the use of the computer, possibly due to constraints set by their work places. The adoption phase is where teachers actually begin to analyze their lessons. They begin to think about new ways to incorporate the computer into their teaching.
 * **Adaption phase**: This is more of an adjustment phase. Teachers begin to understand planning for integration and acquire more technical skills.
 * **Appropriation phase:** In this phase, teachers begin to understand the worth of technology and actually apply it. A teacher’s attitude towards technology changes in this phase.
 * **Invention phase:** This is the 'pinnacle' phase. Teachers experiment with new instructional patterns and begin to see knowledge more like something students must construct and less like something to be transferred.
 * **Cost:** A major factor that drives our society, and easily the largest contributor to an "I can't" attitude. Costs include the following subsets.
 * **Energy costs** make up a large segment of many school districts’ budgets and the use of computers tremendously affects the budget. According to [|__EPA__] estimates, the average powered workstation costs $37 a year to operate with 75% of its consumption coming from the monitor. With the addition of more computers into the classroom, comes an elevated cooling cost.
 * **Along with energy cost is the charge of keeping up with technology.** The average computer system is obsolete after 18 months. Not only systems but software can become outmoded in a short period of time. With countries competing against countries, schools need to be in a position to sustain and continue to move at the same pace as technology. In order for school districts to justify the added cost of more computers in the classroom, they must find more ways to utilize technology more effectively within the curriculum.
 * **Security:** For children this can be a reason technology is not allowed in the first place. Concerns about children giving away personal information that could compromise their families, there is an issue with blogs, forums and any other public 'chat' room that could attract predators.
 * Teens have particular issues with cyberbullying (teens being harassed by other teens or adults) while networking using websites such as [|__MySpace__] and [|__Facebook__] . There are answers to this dilemma, but everyone needs to follow them. Asking a teenager to remember all of these rules can prove to be a challenge. However, parents need to be involved to discuss sensible options with their children and to suggest ways to avoid this behavior. A website called [|__Working Mothers__] includes some of these tips.
 * **No privacy:** With the prominence of cameras in cell phones and easy video share sites, there is no longer any expectation of privacy as to what goes on in the classroom. Students are now posting humiliating videos of teachers being "pushed" by very questionable behavior. Discipline challenges now become more complicated as a result of video technology. Could the fear of being broadcasted on youtube be a reason to keep otherwise qualified instructors out of the classroom? [|__See link for examples and debate__].