Technology in my Classroom
When looking back on my experiences in education and the different types of students and communities I have taught in, I cannot believe how time has flown. When I look to the future, I see many roads my career in education can take. I see myself working in education, but whether it is in a classroom, museum, or one-on-one with children, I am not sure what path to travel. I do know, however, that I will be teaching and learning at the same time.
Since I began teaching, my goals have not changed. I still want to inspire students to love learning through reading, science, and hands on activities. I want to help others experience the wonders of learning something for the first time. Throughout my master’s program, I have been introduced to many different ways of teaching. Most of these teaching methods involved technology. In my future, it is clear that technology will play a big roll and stroll with me down whichever path I choose to peruse in my career.
Two of the classes I took over the course of my Master’s Degree forced me to jump out of my comfort zone and plunge head first into the deep end of technology. Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology (TE 831) taught me how to use iMovie to create a video that helped me teach my students about cathedrals and give them sufficient background knowledge before we visited Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral. This video also helped my students make connections to the movie and literature we were reading. It was fun to see each student recognize a part of the cathedral we and hear them use the vocabulary learned in the video. In this class, I was challenged to take a lesson I was going to teach and repurpose it with by adding some new form of technology. This turned out to be fun!
Since I began teaching, my goals have not changed. I still want to inspire students to love learning through reading, science, and hands on activities. I want to help others experience the wonders of learning something for the first time. Throughout my master’s program, I have been introduced to many different ways of teaching. Most of these teaching methods involved technology. In my future, it is clear that technology will play a big roll and stroll with me down whichever path I choose to peruse in my career.
Two of the classes I took over the course of my Master’s Degree forced me to jump out of my comfort zone and plunge head first into the deep end of technology. Teaching School Subject Matter with Technology (TE 831) taught me how to use iMovie to create a video that helped me teach my students about cathedrals and give them sufficient background knowledge before we visited Washington D.C.’s National Cathedral. This video also helped my students make connections to the movie and literature we were reading. It was fun to see each student recognize a part of the cathedral we and hear them use the vocabulary learned in the video. In this class, I was challenged to take a lesson I was going to teach and repurpose it with by adding some new form of technology. This turned out to be fun!
Throughout this class and CEP 800, Psychology of Learning in School and Other Setting, I learned that the children I will teach will be “digital natives” and that I am a “digital immigrant.” I have learned about technology, as it has become a larger and larger part of our world. My students are growing up with technology. As a teacher, I am going to have to learn my student’s language in order to engage, connect, and teach effectively.
This brings up another topic I explored throughout ED 800 (Educational Inquiry). How much technology should be allowed in schools? We want our students to be on the cutting edge of technology, but isn’t it still important that they know how to use a book? Some schools allow too much technology and others think it is wise to exclude technology completely. I understand both of these view points. It is important for students to know how to use technology in a safe environment, on the other hand we do live in a digital society and most children can get enough exposure to technology at home.
No matter what type of school one prefers, it is foolish to think that technology and the Internet are not changing the way we look at education and the way we think. In the book The Shallows, Nicolas Carr talks about technology through the ages. Each time we gain a new piece of technology, we loose something else. Loss is a part of gain. I think it is a balancing act and as a teacher thinking about my future it is a challenge that I accept. My future classrooms will be technology friendly, but they will be filled with books and other resources to ensure a well-rounded education. In conclusion, the goals for my future in education have not changed. They just involve more technology than I originally planned.
This brings up another topic I explored throughout ED 800 (Educational Inquiry). How much technology should be allowed in schools? We want our students to be on the cutting edge of technology, but isn’t it still important that they know how to use a book? Some schools allow too much technology and others think it is wise to exclude technology completely. I understand both of these view points. It is important for students to know how to use technology in a safe environment, on the other hand we do live in a digital society and most children can get enough exposure to technology at home.
No matter what type of school one prefers, it is foolish to think that technology and the Internet are not changing the way we look at education and the way we think. In the book The Shallows, Nicolas Carr talks about technology through the ages. Each time we gain a new piece of technology, we loose something else. Loss is a part of gain. I think it is a balancing act and as a teacher thinking about my future it is a challenge that I accept. My future classrooms will be technology friendly, but they will be filled with books and other resources to ensure a well-rounded education. In conclusion, the goals for my future in education have not changed. They just involve more technology than I originally planned.