What is the value of on-task behavior in the classroom? How has technology affected the ability to keep students on task? How should teachers regulate the use of technology to prevent classroom management issues? On-task behavior is very important in the classroom. According to Jones & Jones (2010), on-task behavior should be magnified more so than off-task behavior.“Although we often fall into the trap of believing that critical remarks will improve students’ behaviors, research suggests that the opposite is true.
(Jones & Jones, 2010, p. 75). Technology has affected the ability to keep students on task in both negative ways and positive ways. It has affected the ability to keep students on task negatively with the distraction of personal smart phones that divert students from their school work and activities. In many of the classes that I have observed over the last school year, students were on their cell phones watching YouTube videos or checking their Facebook pages.
Some teachers allowed students to have their cell phones out if they finished all of their school work and others had a zero tolerance policy for cell phones in the classroom. Technology has affected the ability to keep students on task in a positive way by using different methods to grasp students’ attention; PowerPoint presentations that can be visually stimulating, educational video clips as well, and personal devices that allow students to respond to multiple choice questions during class discussions.Teachers should regulate the use of technology to prevent classroom management issues by having a zero tolerance policy for cell phones. I believe that cell phones are more of a hindrance in the classroom and students are too distracted by text messages and Facebook updates. Technology can be used to prevent classroom management issues by engaging students in lessons that integrate technology like the examples I have previously listed.
Websites like FunBrain. om have interactive and instructive activities, books, and comic strips for students of all ages that can be fun and educational at the same time. Smart Boards are also great resources; these are interactive whiteboards that allow students and teachers to touch and maneuver things on the whiteboard. These are great for students because it makes the learning process fun and interactive. These are great for teachers because they are able to save the information for future lesson plans.
