The how and the why of many questions go together very nicely. In my previous blog post I discussed how I plan to use technology in the classroom. For today, I will discuss why I think that I would want my classroom to function in this way. For my how I discussed SMART boards, iPads, laptops, and various different web 2.0 tools and apps that I would like to implement into my elementary classroom. The why of this is really just as straight forward – technology is a part of our lives, and it will always be a part of our lives. Technology has been developed, improved, advanced, improved again… and this cycle continues. Why are people so concerned with creating these new devices and applications? Because they are improving human capabilities. Technology allows us to do things is all aspects of our lives that we would not otherwise we able to do. The 200 words I just typed have taken me about 5 minutes to type into the computer – and that includes stopping to check my iPhone once or twice. Without a computer I would’ve had to hand write this out, and because I have attended university in the age of laptops I can’t actually tell you how long that would have taken me (it’s been a while since I hand wrote a paper). Anyways, the point I am trying to make is that technology has been created to improve our lives, and there is no reason why technology would not improve the overall function of a classroom if used appropriately.
In my previous post I discussed the four functions technology will have in my classroom: inquiry, collaboration, curriculum and fun. I do not need a theory to prove fun…. fun is just fun. Children love fun, teachers love fun, iPad games are fun, computer games are fun… and we all love anything that can make learning fun. But what we do need to look at is can technology improve the inquiry process, or collaborative work and can it enhance the curriculum. According to an article by elearn magazine, “if technology is used as a teaching and learning tool, tied to curricular goals and assessment and embedded within strong instructional techniques, it can promote better instruction and greater student collaboration, enhancing student learning” (Burns, 2010). So, case and point. Technology allows students to work together and collaborate their thinking through various apps or web 2.0 tools, as well as through using things like the SMART board as a class for whole-group learning. If teachers are able to find applications or ways to use the technology in a way that directly relates to the learning goals and curriculum them instruction becomes more engaging and creative and students will be more willing participants. The only topic that this article did not touch on was the development of inquiry and researching skills through technology.
I was able to find another article by EdTechReview that listed four ways that technology improves education. Of these four there were two that stood out to me because they included ways of using technology that I have considered for my classroom. The first was that technology allows both teachers and students to collaborate and share their ideas and resources, and the seconds was that students can develop valuable research skills younger than ever before (Saxena, 2013). According to this article “[t]echnology gives students immediate access to an abundance of quality information which leads to learning at much quicker rates than before” (Saxena, 2013). Students literally have the world at their fingertips through the internet—my only issue with this is that students will need to be taught how to be critical and careful of what they come across on the internet at a very young age. As a teacher I know that I will implement research and inquiry into my classroom, and that students will have access to the internet to do these things, but I also know that before I introduce lots of technology into my classroom I will need to develop a few good lessons on internet safety, being critical of content, and on the rules of using technology in my classroom.
References
Burns, M. (2010, September). How to Help Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom. ELearn Magazine. http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=1865476.
Saxena, S. (2013, October 8). Using Technology in Education: Does It Improve Anything? EdTechReview. http://edtechreview.in/news/681-technology-in-education.
In my previous post I discussed the four functions technology will have in my classroom: inquiry, collaboration, curriculum and fun. I do not need a theory to prove fun…. fun is just fun. Children love fun, teachers love fun, iPad games are fun, computer games are fun… and we all love anything that can make learning fun. But what we do need to look at is can technology improve the inquiry process, or collaborative work and can it enhance the curriculum. According to an article by elearn magazine, “if technology is used as a teaching and learning tool, tied to curricular goals and assessment and embedded within strong instructional techniques, it can promote better instruction and greater student collaboration, enhancing student learning” (Burns, 2010). So, case and point. Technology allows students to work together and collaborate their thinking through various apps or web 2.0 tools, as well as through using things like the SMART board as a class for whole-group learning. If teachers are able to find applications or ways to use the technology in a way that directly relates to the learning goals and curriculum them instruction becomes more engaging and creative and students will be more willing participants. The only topic that this article did not touch on was the development of inquiry and researching skills through technology.
I was able to find another article by EdTechReview that listed four ways that technology improves education. Of these four there were two that stood out to me because they included ways of using technology that I have considered for my classroom. The first was that technology allows both teachers and students to collaborate and share their ideas and resources, and the seconds was that students can develop valuable research skills younger than ever before (Saxena, 2013). According to this article “[t]echnology gives students immediate access to an abundance of quality information which leads to learning at much quicker rates than before” (Saxena, 2013). Students literally have the world at their fingertips through the internet—my only issue with this is that students will need to be taught how to be critical and careful of what they come across on the internet at a very young age. As a teacher I know that I will implement research and inquiry into my classroom, and that students will have access to the internet to do these things, but I also know that before I introduce lots of technology into my classroom I will need to develop a few good lessons on internet safety, being critical of content, and on the rules of using technology in my classroom.
References
Burns, M. (2010, September). How to Help Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom. ELearn Magazine. http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=1865476.
Saxena, S. (2013, October 8). Using Technology in Education: Does It Improve Anything? EdTechReview. http://edtechreview.in/news/681-technology-in-education.