this artical was called: What is Your Favorite Ed Tech Tool? By: Paul Wurster
I really liked this article because it pretty much summed up most technology that can be used in the classroom. The main point of this article was to see what types of technology people think are the most important to have in your classroom. The options were: internet tools such as e-mail and search engines, general productivity tools such as word documents or power points, interactive whiteboards and projectors such as an Elmo, Web 2.0 Tools such as blogs or Facebook, or portable devices such as laptops and I-pods. When polled, the majority of people chose internet tools and resources. The overall feeling on this was that without these basic aspects the rest would not function correctly. We have come into an era where it is odd to imagine a classroom without internet access. I found this pretty funny because my mother is an elementary school teacher and she fought off technology for a long time before finally embracing it recently. The second highest group chosen was general productivity tools. This makes sense from an upper grade point of view, because without word documents or power points how would a teacher lecture? But even in the elementary grades these products are very useful. The other categories were all close for third because many people cannot dream of living without any of this technology. Pieces of each category all add up to make a classroom thrive.
I believe that I will be using much technology when I am a teacher. I really enjoy using the Elmo with my kids already because I feel like it gives them a sense of interaction. They are not just listening to my voice but also watching me demonstrate it or write it on my own paper. This also seems to help some children to follow directions because if they get behind they an just look to see what I have done on the projector. I believe that i-pods are also becoming more useful. I would like to add music to my everyday classroom life and I really like the idea of storing it in my I-pod so that I am ready to play it whenever I want. Dealing with many CD’s is a hassle. All of the items I learned about in this article will come in useful in my own classroom and will help my children to grasp the ideas at hand in any way they need to because it is very important to cater to all different types of learning styles.
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6 years ago
Technology as an education tool is very important, as you said. I agree with all that you have stated about in this era it is almost impossible for us as teachers to not use technology in our classrooms. Previously being a student I would have liked more technology, because it is more relevant and interesting. As you said technology is great at keeping students interacted and interested in learning!
ReplyDeleteI agree that technology is great for the classroom, but do you think there should be a limit? I agree with most of what you wrote, but if there is too much use if technology, wont the students soon get tired of it? The reason why they are intreseted now is because it is diffrent, it strays away from tradition, but will we soon live in a world where technology in classrooms are simpy a tradtition?
ReplyDeleteI liked that you read an article that talked about a wide variety of of technology tools and what their benefits are and how people ranked them in terms of importance. And I do agree that we all will be using a lot of technology and these types of tools in our classroom, but Carlisa's response made me think as well. We shouldn't be having too much technology inside our classroom because what if we lose that close bond that we have with students and other students have with their peers. It's kind of like video games, where you play them all day long and then you're kind of shut off from the rest of the world. We don't want that happening inside the classroom as well.
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