When we become teachers with our own classrooms we will be teaching the generation where technology has been most prominent in a child's life. According to the text, 85% of 5-17 year olds know how to use and navigate a computer. Growing up I was not exposed to much use of technology in my classrooms. In elementary school our blackboards were not covered up by smart boards and our televisions were wheeled in on giant carts. We had computer class where we learned basic programs but after my student teaching experience my eyes really opened up to all the new innovative use of technology in the classroom. At first I was not too keen on the idea of having so much technology come into play in the classroom. Before I learned more about it I thought it was used as an easy way out of a proper lesson. Chapter one really opened my eyes to even more possibilities on how technology can be used and it is certainly starting to grow on me.
The section of chapter one that I thought was really helpful to determine if technology is acceptable were the six key questions a teacher should answer to see if that integration is appropriate. I especially liked this because I feel that sometimes teachers throw in technology because it is the easy thing to do but what should be evaluated before doing so is if the use of technology will have ample success for your students and the lesson. Reading this section made me think of a personal experience I had as a student observer. The teacher I was observing was teaching a math lesson using an interactive math program on the computer. She did not know how to set up her projector to project the program on her smart board so instead had the class huddle around her tiny desk computer. Standing where the last row of students sat it was clear that they were not fully engaged and could barely hear and see what was going on. Instead of this I believe the teacher should have taught the material manually instead of resorting to technology since it was not an idea learning situation for the majority of students. Also in chapter one they mentioned that the use of technology builds professionalism and I completely agree. When students graduate they are expected to know how to use and maneuver around many programs and forms of technology. If students do not have access to such at home it is imperative that they are properly exposed to them in the classroom. This is the generation where being technologically savvy is not just an advantage in our students future workplaces but it is completely expected.
Two Questions:
1. Was your opinion of integrating technology so much into the classroom always a positive one? Why or why not?
2. What are some ways you would incorporate technology into your classrooms?
Hey Alexa,
ReplyDeleteI agree that we will have to deal with the students who have already mastered the use of technological devices. I believe as educators we have to refrain from depending on technology to much, instead we should use technology as an assistance when it comes to teaching. There are some lessons that require students to visual and requires them to see first hand how things were in the past, technology comes into place where there are websites like you tube(which is blocked by the DOE). Since youtube is blocked by the DOE, i tend to use teacher tube at times inside of the classroom to model examples of how students have given group reports via video. I have had ups and downs when its come to integrating technology into the classroom. There have been times when students were actively engaged in a lesson on the water cycle, where i displayed a video of how it works. Then there have been times where I would play a read a loud from a website and students would easily be distracted by the smart board actually reading to them. I believe some students prefer to mix up technology in the classroom, while others are not to fond of it.