Adolescent Montessori Students’ Attitudes toward the Influence of Technology on their Individual Community Relationships
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Date
2017-11-13Author
Lund, Lauren
Advisor(s)
Miller, Michael
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Show full item recordAbstract
Technology is growing rapidly in education. While many students enjoy using
technology on their own, there is a constant push for using technology in the classroom.
This study was designed to examine adolescent beliefs regarding technology in a
Montessori classroom community. Students were asked to report their initial beliefs in
regards to technology use in the classroom. They were then presented with a variety of
fictional and nonfictional texts that portrayed technology in communities in which they
were able to participate in open-ended question based discussions that aimed to
discover if technology helps or hinders communities. After the discussions, students
were asked again about their beliefs of technology use in the classroom. Student
surveys, student responses to written questions, recorded seminars, and teacher
observations were collected as evidence. Results showed that students were able to
acknowledge how technology can be helpful and rewarding when used correctly, but
were also aware that technology can be a distraction from learning and could have a
negative impact on relationships within a community. However, the students’ ability to
formally give reasoning to the benefits and disadvantages of technology became
stronger and more clear after the four Socratic seminars. In addition to students’
competence in supporting their formal opinions, this adolescent Montessori classroom
became a stronger community due to their responsibility in contributing to one another’s
learning.