To be honest, when I signed up for this whole teaching adventure using technology wasn't even a thought that crossed my mind. Very simply, I thought technology would just be throwing images up on a projector, showing a movie or two, and that's about it. While working on my Tech in My Placement survey I was enlightened to what opportunities technology can provide and I can hopefully use some of these tools to help my students. This survey really got me thinking about what pieces of technology will be available and I'm beginning to think about how I will essentially put the pieces together to incorporate technology into my lessons.
One lesson learned from this survey helped me understand what a lack of technology can do to a classroom and also helped me start to think of contingency plans in the event that technology doesn't want to cooperate. From my time at my placement we've had a few occasions where the internet wasn't working or the computers were operating so slow that the students couldn't get any work done. This is where I think it would be extremely handy to know what technology is available at my school in the event that my first plan doesn't work. Hopefully I can have a second computer lab or a lesson I can easily exchange with my lesson to make sure that we are still productive without the technology that I had originally planned on using.
Another limitation that I began to think about was the actual hardware available for students to use. I'm not just speaking of computers, but also items like camcorders or audio recorders. I have some ideas for projects that my students could work on that would require recording devices. This Tech survey has caused me to take a hard look at what may be possible. I may have to rely on my student's technology to get the project done, which I don't have a problem with, but it adds another element of how I should plan for a project. Here I think it will be a great idea to have the students fill out a form at the beginning of the school year to make sure that they have access to certain types of technology, such as using a cell phone to record video. Essentially I see the process as figuring out what my lesson is, what technology I have available to me within my school and with my students, and then putting the pieces together. Let's hope it works!
holly,
ReplyDeleteI could not agree with you more about your first statement. I also was under the assumption that technology only hinders the students, but from what I have seen, it can greatly enhance the learning environment. What do you think are things that you will always use in your classroom versus things you know that you will not? I am still trying to figure out exactly how I want to use technology in my classroom so any advice from you would be great.
Holly, I appreciate the flexibility you're displaying, and understanding that technology can help a lot but also doesn't always work the way we want! I've had to learn similar lessons in my placement, and am learning from your ideas of how to utilize my students' own technology to pursue some different projects. Gauging my students technological proficiencies as well as their available resources will be key as you stated!
ReplyDeleteHolly, similar to you, when I first entered this program I did not really think of how much technology existed that could be used in the classroom. As it turns out, a plethora of it exists, but we will not always be able to use these in our classrooms. I think surveying your students to find out what they have access to or knowledge about is a wonderful way to start thinking about what kinds of activities you could assign them. What could you do if only a handful of students did not have access to any type of device that does recording?
ReplyDeleteHolly , let me be the third person to agree with you on your first statement. Growing up I did not really have much technology in the classroom. I think this was due to the lack of resources of the school district I attended. I also had very traditional teachers in the sense that they were very lecture oriented and little to no inquiry based learning. I recall that cell phones were pretty much banned in the school until after school where you could use it to call your parents. This might have set me up for the surprise when I first walked into this course, technology can be used in so many wonderful ways! Sometimes it might not be our friend, like at our placement were the computers take up to 10 minutes to load! Time is wasted and students get less time to get their work done. My mentor teacher has implemented a rule that students are to be working on classwork as the computers load (maybe something to consider?) Also, on an update from the school district I attended growing up, they have expanded their technology. Each student (K-12) has received and iPad and the school buses now have wireless. These changes (although might have some problems) are a stepping stone towards reducing the disadvantages the students in that school district have (this school district is one of the most disadvantaged school districts.) Even President Obama singled out the efforts that the CVUSD is doing towards helping students and technology work together. (Link to video: http://youtu.be/8ZYREEdzhQ8 )
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