I'm not sure if these trends were written 1-6 on purpose, but I completely agree that the number one biggest trend in technology is that it is available "whenever and wherever." I know as students, we take advantage of this come the first week of class: "Oh, this class has a Power Point online... I don't need to go to class." I'd like to take a moment and realize what this means.
In conjunction with the arguments in this report, that one simple phrase means that your mindset is that "well, I'm getting the information, aren't I?" Well, yes you are getting the information off of the Power Point, but you are replacing the professor's ability to relay that information with raw knowledge. You can Google just about anything in today's society, so why bother even going to school? All you could ever want to know is on the internet? Why bother going to class when the Power Point is online?
When we forgo the face to face professor/student interactions, we lose the mentorship that coincides with a teaching environment. The role of an educator is to find the best methods to convey their knowledge of a subject to the student. It is fantastic when that knowledge is supported and reinforced by technology, but to replace the teaching environment by a computer screen (I think) degrades the role of the educator.
Jessica, I completely agree with your stance on technology and classes. From the reading I did not reap the same thoughts, but I appreciate your additional input. There is definitely added insight from an expert in what ever area they are teaching. Isn't that the whole point of school, to be knowledgable on whichever subject we choose? Universities would not exist if we didn't use professors to teach. College is a whole chapter of our lives, and going to class and learning through various types and styles of teaching, is part of it.
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