C+Lentz+-Into-Practice+Paper

Charlie Lentz 534 Educational Technology Theory Into Practice Paper Scan tests, #2 pencils, Encyclopedia Britannica’s and overhead projectors have been replaced by ENOs, wikis and other technological advances that have changed the modern day classroom. Teachers are now using technology to enhance the learning experience. By utilizing technology correctly teachers have the ability to create a learning environment that today’s student can better relate. Teachers have endless lesson plans at their fingertips. Using web pages like teachertube, ted.com, itunesU and discovery education, teacher can gather information from around the world relevant to the issues they are discussing in the classroom. I can’t stop thinking about the comment Wendy made the first day of class about how students were “powering down” when they were entering the classroom. In order to keep students engaged we need to utilize the same things they utilize each day, cell phones, computers and other media forms. I plan on utilizing technology in my classroom, but in moderation. I believe both students and teachers can benefit from it. But, students still need to be able to communicate through conversation, asking questions and group discussions. I believe these talents can be lost when utilizing technology to often. Students might have more confidence expressing themselves through the use of computers, but they also need to be able to express themselves confidently during face to face conversations. When I was in school technology was used as a reward for good behavior and grades. Now, it is used because we need to keep students engaged in order to get maximum effort out of them. A major issue involving technology in the class room is affordability. Most school districts are dealing with budget cuts resulting in teacher layoffs and the elimination of after school activities. Will there be money available for expensive items like computerized white boards and computer labs or will this all have to be purchased through private donations? If you are lucky enough to have state of the art technology in your classroom, now you have to learn how to use it. Training both teachers and students can be very expensive. It would be nice to have students work on things like class Wikis from home. This way the only computer you would need, is one for the teacher. But, not all students have computers at home to use. So you are essentially at the mercy of the school district when it comes to having technology in your classroom. If your school does provide computers and other technology, now you have to get the okay to use them. We discussed several different networking pages and other advancements that would be very useful in the classroom, but schools are not allowing them. For instance, at Ben’s school, City View, Facebook and Twitter are not accessible for students and teachers. He was showing us great ways he utilizes these to gather information and then he told us his school has made the decision not to allow his students to use them. I was very surprised by this. Considering Ben teaches at a magnet school in Minneapolis I thought they would be open to trying new ideas in order to enhance the learning experience for their student. We also learned how to utilize cell phone to get feedback from students. Ben showed us how to create poll allowing students to text their answers. He then utilized this information to gage their understanding of what he was trying to teach. This also allowed students to express exactly how they were feeling, without the embarrassment of raising their hand and telling him in front of the class. The only problem with this is most schools ban cell phone usage in the building. One of the main obstacles that stand in the way of schools allowing us to utilize technology is trusting our students. Are students able to handle the opportunity to use the technology provided to them the right way? Will they stay on task and work on the assignments that they are given, or will they use this as an opportunity to surf inappropriate websites? If we allow them to use their cell phones in class will they start texting friends in other classes disrupting their ability to learn? After hearing that 1 in 5 students admit to “sexting” at some point in their lives, I’m not sure students are ready to have these things at their fingertips. This could turn into a bigger distraction than attraction for schools. You would have to set ground rules day one. Anyone that uses technology for the wrong things or breaks the rules that are set would then ruin it for everyone else. Our students need to understand that having these things to use is a reward, and if used incorrectly they will be taken away. It is important for teacher to know how to utilize these tools in their classroom to keep our student engaged. As teacher we preach being life-long learners. So by not staying on top of the newest forms of technology, we are not being fair to our students. Five years from now, all of the things we learned about the past 4 weeks, may no longer be in existence. It is our job to stay on top of the changes that occur. I am going to continue taking classes and asking questions so I can be prepared to use the latest advancements, giving me credibility with my students. I hope to utilize all of the forms of technology we learned about in class. I feel they will be very beneficial to me and my students. I would love to utilize Facebook and Twitter to gather information from fellow teachers throughout the world. I believe that using technology in the classroom, I will better prepare my students for the future. They will be able to learn about and use the latest technology, which will prepare them for the real world. These things are being used and we need to allow our students to use them to learn. In doing so, we can help them become life-long learners. They will learn to utilize computers for the correct purposes, such as research and development, not as social networking tools.