Technology can be a disservice at times

We live in a wonderful age where technology allows us to find information instantly. 

Here at BYU-Idaho we have been blessed — or cursed, depending on who you talk to — with I-Learn. I-Learn is great because teachers don’t need to grade stacks and stacks of papers. 

If they do print something off, they always have that document stored online. 

It is very convenient. It is easy for students to submit assignments online, and it is also very easy for teachers to show examples of assignments.

Obviously there are some technical problems that occur with I-Learn, but my specific issue right now isn’t with I-Learn — it’s with students.

Here is the issue: some students want every little detail put on I-Learn so they can refer to it every two seconds to make sure their assignment meets every criterion. 

When there is one little detail missing, their complaint to the teacher is that it wasn’t on I-Learn, even if that detail was explained in class. 

Students don’t want to take notes. They want to glaze over what the teacher is saying in class and then expect everything to be on I-Learn. 

This is a cop-out. We rely too much on technology and use it as an excuse every time something goes wrong. I know some students that will lie and say that I-Learn wasn’t working so they can turn their assignment in late. 

Unfortunately for the teachers, they don’t really have a way to verify their students’ claims. They have two choices: accept the late assignment and trust the student or give them a zero. 

It’s a tough situation that they have to deal with. 

I am a teacher’s assistant for a class, so I know how I-Learn works and how difficult it can be.

Students have an active role in learning, so if you don’t understand something, you have the responsibility to research and learn. 

It cannot and should not be just the teachers’ responsibility. Last time I checked, you, not your teachers, were here to get an education. 

I am not taking blame off teachers for not correctly explaining assignments, because that does happen. I am simply saying that if teachers didn’t have to worry about technology, it would be a lot easier. 

They could just explain the assignment in class, and then the students would turn the assignment in on time.

It’s a pretty simple system if you ask me, and technology is making it more complicated. 

I-Learn should be used to submit assignments, not explain them. 

Let’s go back to the “old” days where the students were responsible for writing down their assignments instead of relying on technology.