Education is undoubtably one of the many aspects of life and culture that is directly affected by the rapid progressions of technology. Not only does it affect the ways in which we learn and understand the world around us but in turn, how we teach and evolve as educators.
Integrating technology into the classroom is not something I envisioned when I first decided I wanted to be a teacher. When I went to elementary school we were one of the first schools in the county to have desktops put into our library (or "computer lab" as that area was called). I think there were maybe 8 of them. Our login names were assigned as the first three letters of our first name and the first three letters of our last name - I remember because I was not looking forward to the other seven kids in the lab at the time, realizing that my login was "mad hog" (my stress subsided when my friend Pete Bratt saw the look on my face and assured me his was worse). Anyways, I was young but already inspired to be a teacher in the future at that point so as far as I could tell, that would be the extent of technology in schools.
As time went on and dial-up turned into high-speed, desktops turned into laptops and
flip-phones turned into touch-screen, my considerations of technology in schools began to evolve but still not at the rate that my understanding of its importance is changing now.
Technology offers so many opportunities for knowledge, development and growth of students. As we have learned in our Media Literacy class, it can offer personalized trajectories based on learning style and pace but it can also offer teachers a modern tool for assessment! It is engaging and interactive. It is immediate and unlimited. It allows creativity and communication to flourish. It generates new knowledge and exposes the rest to be used and built on. The possibilities are endless. If used safely and properly it is arguably one of the greatest assets to a classroom and it is no longer restricted to the library or lab; it is everywhere.
Integrating technology into the classroom is not something I envisioned when I first decided I wanted to be a teacher. When I went to elementary school we were one of the first schools in the county to have desktops put into our library (or "computer lab" as that area was called). I think there were maybe 8 of them. Our login names were assigned as the first three letters of our first name and the first three letters of our last name - I remember because I was not looking forward to the other seven kids in the lab at the time, realizing that my login was "mad hog" (my stress subsided when my friend Pete Bratt saw the look on my face and assured me his was worse). Anyways, I was young but already inspired to be a teacher in the future at that point so as far as I could tell, that would be the extent of technology in schools.
As time went on and dial-up turned into high-speed, desktops turned into laptops and
flip-phones turned into touch-screen, my considerations of technology in schools began to evolve but still not at the rate that my understanding of its importance is changing now.
Technology offers so many opportunities for knowledge, development and growth of students. As we have learned in our Media Literacy class, it can offer personalized trajectories based on learning style and pace but it can also offer teachers a modern tool for assessment! It is engaging and interactive. It is immediate and unlimited. It allows creativity and communication to flourish. It generates new knowledge and exposes the rest to be used and built on. The possibilities are endless. If used safely and properly it is arguably one of the greatest assets to a classroom and it is no longer restricted to the library or lab; it is everywhere.