AG+Theory+Into+Practice

Ashley Gorman EDUC 533/534 6/7/09

Theory Into Practice Paper

Incorporating technology is the classroom is very crucial and is encouraged for today’s teachers. Today, there is a wide variety of technology that we use in our everyday life from cell phones, computers, internet, GPS systems, IPods, etc. Information and communication has become much more accessible and instant for the everyday user. I enjoyed reading the articles in class that dealt with the effects of incorporating technology as a learning tool into the classroom. Overall, I think that students respond very positively to its role and how it can be used as a learning tool at school. Learning has changed dramatically over the past two decades and teaching styles need to adjust to the way students learn today, which is more hands on and interactive learning. After participating in this class, I have become much more aware of the websites and various tools that are available to the public. It’s my hope to use technology in many ways in my classroom and to encourage learning for my students. I think that students respond very positively to technology-use. As an instructor, you’re able to provide a functional tool for learning through demonstration that reaches diverse learners. This in return will allow students to reflect instantly and provide feedback on the topic at hand. Technology in the classroom can be so exciting and can help students recognize, organize, and represent knowledge. It can relate to any age level and can easily be taught and practiced daily. As a future educator and depending upon the age group I teach, I will encourage my students to become more familiar with technology, and the uses that the internet can provide for research and application. I will challenge my students to become more involved with their peers and interact, display and present their knowledge gained through interactive tools. Through all of this, I will have to become somewhat of an expert in various interactive tools so that I feel comfortable teaching and implementing programs in my classroom. I will also have to make sure that my students are protected and know the importance of privacy and posting and sharing. Incorporating technology as a learning tool will allow students to grow and become more interested in learning. As a teacher, if your teaching style is simply lecture and assessment based, you’re not gearing your instruction to various learning styles and effective practices. By encouraging and displaying technology use, students will become more excited about learning and reflection upon what they have learned. It will allow them to work at both and individual and group basis, and will allow them to take pride in their end result. After taking this class and seeing how many types of technology there are and the variety of applications and websites that are available to the general public, I become very excited to introduce and challenge myself to use them effectively in the classroom. I think that technology can be a main source for student learning, but at the same time, it’s important to balance basic skills (writing, verbal discussion, experiments, etc) into the classroom. Not every student in the classroom will enjoy using technology and as a teacher, you need to adjust and appreciate the different learning styles present. With technology and all the opportunities that Web 2.0 has brought, it’s critical to expose out students to computers and various ways of communication and learning. It’s our job as educators to display various uses for application and encourage our students to become more familiar and comfortable with learning in an interactive classroom. As educators, we are preparing our students for their future and want them to become successful and realize their true potential. By incorporating the use of technology for education purposes, it not only allows our students to learn various topics and subjects but encourages students to become more successful and prepared for the interactive world ahead of them.