Technology in the classroom...

Technology is very important to incorporate into your classroom, because it’s the new thing. Every child pretty much knows how to use computers, iPods, cell phones and other technological devices before then can even talk, okay but I might be pushing it, but I am pretty close. Technology is not just using computers, it can be so much more, including video camera, GPS, blogs, and smartboards. Students today do not want to learn the old fashion way, they want to learn through what they know best, and that is technology. Using technology in the classroom is a benefit. First of all, a teacher would grab the student’s attention right away. Also, who wants to learn through writing and lectures? Students want to learn through hands on experience and with the use of technology in the classroom this objective can be accomplished.
The benefit to a teacher is that technology can reach a variety of learners. Teachers can lecture with the smartboard, while also incorporating hands on activity into their lesson. Teachers can have students come up to the smartboard and perform tasks using the interactive board. Students can keep blogs on the computers on what they are learning in school, this way both teacher and parents can be involved with the student’s learning. Students can create online portfolios to showcase the different assignments they have been working on in class; these portfolios can also be used year to year. This way upcoming teachers can look at each student’s portfolio and the teacher can figure out the students strengths and weaknesses. Teachers can use programs such as excel to keep track of all of their students and their students grades. This program makes it easy to compare student’s progress and look and students grades over the year. Some of the challenges is that technology has its own mind. It can choose when it wants to work and when it does not. Also, it can be a challenge to figure out how some of the latest technology works and also some of the equipment can be expensive.
This class has taught me a lot about technology and different programs that I did not know. First, I had no idea about all the copyrighting laws and now I know the procedures I have to take and all the things I have to do when using someone’s work that I did not know before. Social bookmarking was also I great website I learned all about. Now I can save my favorite websites to the web and not just on my computer. Therefore, if I am somewhere without my computer I can always find the websites I need. I learned window’s movie maker. I always had this program on my computer and never wanted to use it because I did not know what I was getting myself into. After I used it in this class, It is a great tool and a great program to incorporate into my classroom. Children will have a great time creating short clips on what they have learned in class. Smartboard is a great tool to get the student’s attention. It provides great learning activities for the classroom, that will surely get your students attention. Overall the best thing I learned about this class is not be afraid of technology. Technology is your friend and is a great tool to use in the classroom .