I love my Blackberry mobile phone – it’s my little connection to the larger world that can go anywhere with me. I also love my computer, as it holds all of my writing and thoughts. However, I know there are times when I need to move away from these things and truly communicate with others.
I teach a course called History Matters in college. My goals for the class include a deep discussion of historical subjects and ideas. Because I want students to fully study the material and discuss with each other in the classroom, I have a rule – no computers, iPads, phones, etc. When students were told my rule, some of them were not happy.
Most students think my reasons for this rule include negative experiences in the past when students made wrong use of technology. There’s a bit of truth to that. I’ve seldom had students make wrong use of technology in my classes; however, I have been e-mailed by students while they were in other teachers’ classrooms.
Some students think that I am anti-technology. There’s no truth in that at all. As I noted above, I love technology and try to keep up with it.
The real reason why I ask students to leave technology at the door is I think there are very few places in which we can have deep conversations. Interruptions (中断) by technology often break students’ thoughts and make them depend too much on outside information for ideas. I want students to dig deep in themselves for ideas. I want them to push each other to think differently and to make connections between the course material and the class discussion.
I have been teaching my history class in this way for many years and the evaluations (评价) show student satisfaction with the environment that I create. Students realize with deep conversation and difficult tasks, they learn at a deeper level – a level that helps them keep the course material beyond the classroom.
I am not saying that I won’t ever change my mind about technology use in my history class, but until I hear a really good reason for the change, I will continue my plan. A few hours of technology-free dialogue is just too sweet to give up.
小题1:The writer’s rule for his History Matters class is ____.
A．discussing historical ideas deeply
B．studying and discussing the materials
C．leaving technology out of the classroom
D．making right use of technology in class小题2:The word “negative” in Paragraph 3 means ____.
A．similar
B．unforgettable
C．special
D．unpleasant小题3:What can we infer from the passage?
A．Students make right use of technology in other teachers’ classes.
B．The classroom is one of the good places to have deep conversations.
C．The writer encourages students to agree with others after discussion.
D．Students are unhappy with the writer’s way of teaching history.小题4:The writer wants to tell us that ____.
A．technology has different influences in different classes in college
B．technology makes it difficult to have true communication in class
C．history classes can help students to develop their deep thinking
D．it is time for him to give up his teaching method in history class
