Technology can be a wonderful thing. I do not by any means calls myself technology literate. I do however can do a little and make do. I can find my way around using it in the classroom. I feel that we are being pushed to use it to a higher level each year. Never would I have thought that I would be posting lesson plans much less my class data to a BLOG. I find it pretty interesting how this can be done in a matter of minutes.
I teach kindergarten right now and find it amazing how even the little ones get excited about the technology they are allowed to use and how it can enhance their education. When I taught middle schoolers I loved to learn more about how to encorporate technology in the classroom. I feel that this made the lessons and the learning a lot more exciting. The kids were more involved also.
The widely recognized gap between access to and use of computers in schools begs the question why computers are not used more in classrooms(Zhao, Pugh, Sheldon, 2002). I feel that in the school system we have access to a myraid of technology that we can intigrate into our lessons in our classrooms. I do think that we need to be trained more on how to use them. For example, I have an interwrite that I have never been trained to use it but see the wonderful things my coworkers use it for and would love to incorporate it in my lessons. Also we have several ELMOS in our building and have seen them used by have no clue as to how to even turn it on. I know if I asked someone could take a few minutes to show me but we are so loaded with "other" things that time is precious to all.
In the end, technology is a GREAT thing and in the world of children being learned about it at such a young age can be very helpful and could open our eyes to many more things than even a decade ago.
References
Zhao, Y., Pugh, K., Sheldon, S. (2002). Conditions for classroom technology innovations. Teachers College Record, 104(3), 482-515.
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