Green Blog-Shanika

I usually tend to speak about technology that would help the type of students that I work with. Which are students that have visual impairments. There is a lot of technology for those that have vision as oppose to those without. I like to feel like I have a voice for them. Like I said in my techobiography I would like to create something for them that would improve independency in their lives. For example, Jaws is a program that blind student use that speaks to them. Some students understand the voice command and some don’t. I would like to create a clearer more recognizable voice so that students can cruise the internet without getting lost by the sound of Jaw’s voice. My attitude towards creating adaptive ways of learning for them increases when I see them achieve it on their own. There are so many great usages of technology and there are some inappropriate ways of using the technology in the classroom. I think that not engaging yourself as a teacher with your students are inappropriate uses of technology. Anything that you are trying to teach the class you should be doing as well. Some teachers will lecture the class and tell them what do as opposed to modeling the technology with the student.The similarities I have with my technobiography and classroom technology is finding ways to create independent living skills for the visual impaired. The classroom and the homework given to them should be in their medium of learning. They should never be given homework in print if they can’t read the print, and vice versa for Braille. A lot of times visual impaired teachers do not have the equipment in the classrooms to give that student what he/ she needs to be successful. I always say that a student who isn’t blind should not be given homework in Braille so why does a student who is visual impaired some home with homework in print?

green group post

Throughout my lifetime all the technology have experienced I feel has made me realize what is good and bad technology. Especially in college I have really seen some teachers misuse technology. I have seen what is appropriate and what is inappropriate, like you cannot teach an entire lesson with a power point; as I said in my technology in the classroom blog you need to do different activities in the classroom. You do not have one type of learner; you have many different levels of students especially in the special ed department where I will be teaching. Also you need to think about a child’s attention spend, yes we know we cannot teach all interesting information but we need to try and find the most interesting way to teach it, to keep a child interacting with the lesson. If we just have them hosted in front of a computer all day every day how do we expect them to learn?
There are some similarities between my two post in the way that, I didn’t use computers all my education career and I don’t think my students or your students should either. For example you go into a grocery store with a certain amount of money you leave your calculator, you paper and pen at home, so how are you going to keep track of the total? You need to use metal math that cannot be taught by sitting at a computer. Our students need to learn some things without a computer, whether its math, science, etc. I mean yes dissecting things was sometimes gross by I think doing that, looking under a microscope helped me understand things a lot better then on a computer. Yes a computer view and a real live view are both visual ways of figuring the info out but as I said before you have to have different ways of teaching and different ways the students can learn so they can make it though this tough ol' world.

green group - appropriate/inappropriate tech in classroom

I think technology can have good and bad uses in the classroom. As far as technology being a positive aspect in the classroom I believe it must be able to be access at all students when necessary to use. While leaving room and time for the teacher to instruct the class. I like the use of developed power points that use different multimedia to explain and emphasize notes. I have had teachers use power points effectively while others do not and they will just stand their and read off their slides. That is why I feel using that technology a teacher should take time to take a step back to explain and discuss the information see if the students comprehend. I don’t know even maybe challenge them and see if their listening or if you lost them listening to your own voice.
I also feel most students rely heavily on grammar and spell check which do not perform a very thorough job. I know I personally lack grammar and language skills because it was never emphasize to me and more and more people rely on these programs. My younger brother can barely write but has no problems typing on a computer.
I feel it is great to have technology at your fingertips and be able to use it in the classrooms. But teachers need to make sure their students are really learning the information and not just looking at it or hearing it. The real question is do they comprehend the lesson when use present it while adopting the technologies you use to teach them?

green group - appropriate/inappropriate tech in classroom

The only technology that I've every really come across in the classroom are your basic presentation material; Powerpoint and Word. Lately I've dealt with Blackboard to retrieve assignments. I think those programs are beneficial in the classroom, but there should be limitations. I've noticed many people, students and teachers alike, don't really know the proper way to use Powerpoint. Putting too much info. on slides and just reading directly from them is just boring. I can't speak for other students, but I know I tune out. So while that's a great classroom tool, it's ineffective if used the wrong way.

That's really all I've come across in my own classroom settings, except maybe in this class. While I agree that technology can be a benefit in the classroom, I also feel like it can be a deterrent. Having everyone sitting in front of their own computer is definitely a distraction. I've noticed people just can't keep themselves from messing around on them, even when we are supposed to be listening or participating. If students in a college classroom can't concentrate fully with a PC in front of them, how can we expect students in a K through 12 setting to? Sometimes technology in the classroom can be more distracting than helpful, which I feel complicates the learning process even further.

Green Blog Group

I guess you could say that there is some similarity between my view on appropriate and inappropriate use of technology in the classroom based on my personal experience with technology. Due to the fact that technology and I are not on the best of terms it does in some way influence how I would potentially use technology in the classroom.

My personal technological experience is relatively mediocre so I feel that I would not use technology extensively in the classroom. This also has to do with the subject matter I plan on teaching, which is the social sciences. Even from my personal experience as a student there was not an extensive use of technology in my classrooms. This I think is not detrimental to the educational process.

In my case I feel that if I am not well versed in the using of technology then I should not use it in the classroom because if (and when) it malfunctions it will only detract from the lesson. Overall, technology for me will most likely be used in a basic sense in the classroom to make sure that my lessons are not being detracted from.

However, I will also work to stay up with technology as much as possible to ensure that the kids I teach will have some way to relate to me. When the need arises I will learn new technologies and also integrate them into the classroom where approriate. I feel that my philosophy on technology in the classroom greatly reflects my personal use of technology and how I feel it should be used in the classroom.

Blue Group

I think that my early exposure to technology and growing up in the silicon valley where my teachers had access to good technology has effected my view on technology in the classroom and the potentials i can see it having to create a great class. I think that I probably have a larger dislike of in class essay's that need to be handwritten because I have always had computers in the classrooms so most teachers didn't have us hand write things. Because I had fine mooter skill problems as a child it is easier for me to use a computer then to make a teacher or myself try to understand my handwriting. I believe that every person is going to have a dirrect connection between their experances as a student useing technology in the classroom and how they will feel about it as a teacher. There are deffidently similaritues between my posts because I had mostly good experances with technology in the classroom as a students so I am mostly opptimistic about using technology in the classroom as a teacher. I am however slightly leery of powerpoint because I have seen powerpoint used incorectly and infact harm a class that a teacher is teacher.

blue group

Growing up I had nothing but good experiences with technology, both in and out of the classroom. Because of that, I think that is why I seem to lean more towards the use of technology in the classroom. I think technology is a great tool for learning in and out of school and teachers are just beginning to scratch the service of appropriate uses of technology in the classroom to help their students learn. Good uses of technology in the classroom is anything that enables the student to learn while using technology. Yes, there will always be students who manipulate the technology to create a distraction and that will be something to worry about. However, in my opinion there will be distractions with just about any kind of technology used in the classroom. That doesn't mean we shouldn't use it because like I said before technology is a great learning tool.

There are similiarites between my techno bio post and my classroom tech post. In both posts programs used in the classroom such as powerpoint and word are mentioned because they helped me learn, especially powerpoint. I can't think of one history class I've taken in high school or college where powerpoint wasn't used. It helps the student stay up with the lecture and retain the information. Technology in the classroom is an important tool for teachers to learn how to use and hopefully the technology we see today in the classroom is just the beginning.

Blue Group

Coming up in school and using the technology there and having some technology at home has helped shaped my views of what ways technology can be used appropriately in the classroom. By having a television in my home when I was growing up showed me that it could be used for fun, but that it could also be used to learn through different educational shows for kids that were on during the day. Through having it in the classroom, it gave myself and the rest of the students a chance to learn in a different way by seeing material that pertained to the lecture at hand and gave us a new way to learn.
The chance to learn how to use a computer in school came from a good teacher who taught us how to play the math games and type so that it could be used as a valuable resources later in my education by using it to type papers. Later on teachers taught me how to use the Internet as well as power point a few more resources for school work. When I finally got the Internet at my house I expanded what I was taught in school and advanced my research abilities with it.
In my techno biography as well as my technology in the classroom post I described using computer programs such as Power Point to make slide shows for class and other events. Also, the use of the Internet for research was mentioned in both posts.
In my post about technology in the classroom, I didn't mention the use of instant messaging which could be appropriate in school if it is used to further tutor students when a meeting time is unable to be ironed out.

Blue group

I believe that my experiences with technology in and out the classroom has shaped my views on the use of technology as an instructional aid. With time consatnly changing I think that it is very important to intergrate technology in the classroon, I guess the question that I have is when do we draw the line? My technobiography and my views of technology in the classroom are very similar and both reflect a positive outlook. In fact in both prompts I implemented the use of computers and their benefits to me as well as my peers. Growing up the computer was always a critical tool used by teachers to allow us to utilize technology while learning at the same time. As a future teacher I plan to use the computer as a critical learning tool. As stated in my use of technology in the classroom, through use of computers we were able to complete assignments, interactive labs, and keep track of our grades. In the future I predict that every classroom will have a computer as well as projectors. I can appreciate the use of projectors to display power points, I feel that this method enables the student to take better notes and visualize what is being said to them. As far as the use of cellphones or mp3 players,and even extensive web search should be prohibited. With the text messaging craze and obsessions with ipods I believe that students will become highly distracted and lose their sight of focus. Without an extensive lesson plan to use with the internet I believe that teachers will find their students on inappropiate websites, and not completing the assignment. As a future educator I can appreciate the use of technology but I strongly support a line being drawn. Technology has advanced education so I believe that I should keep up and maintain a positive attitude about it the subject. As stated in my technobiography and my personal experiences with technology I recommend it to all schools to intergrate technology, it's for the advancements of our potential students.

Blue Blog Group

Through my experiences with technology, there are many uses that are suitable in the classroom and many other uses that aren't. The computer is a valuable source of technology in the classroom. Microsoft Word, Power Point, and Excel are useful tools on the computer in which students can use for writing a paper, having a presentation made, etc. The Internet is also useful as well for researching and communications; however, it can be a dangerous tool on the computer with spams and malicious viruses and websites. Overall, the computer is definitely appropriate and beneficial to be used by students working on their school studies, which is I felt when I wrote my technobiography and my thoughts of technology use in classrooms.

Also, I feel that the usage of clickers are effective in classrooms. All of the students in a classroom can get interactive and participatory in answering questions related to the lecture. For example, I have my own clicker in which I use for my physics class in answering questions. The program that is used for the clickers are for the professors to know if the students do understand. It is a great tool to in the class and I think more classrooms should have it, even in classes of middle school and high school.

I believe that having music by providing a radio or a television set for teachers is an option. It is essential for visual and auditory learners to grasp the teacher's lecture through watching a clip or even while working on classwork, students can concentrate better through listening to music. I wouldn't personally mind either listening to music or watching a movie. Technology in classrooms should be used the students' attention in order for them to succeed in the class. Hence, I believe students have an option to bring their MP3s or their IPods with some guidelines on when to use them.

There are other sources of technology which I consider inappropriate. There isn't any need to have cell phones, cameras, or anything that causes distractions in the classroom. Cell phones should be used only for an emergency, which should be the only purpose for a cell phone to be necessary in a classroom, not for lecture purposes. I feel that cameras are inappropriate as well; many students waste time taking pictures in the classroom, which I have experienced in the past. I believe it's a waste of time and they won't get anything out of using cameras. However, only when the proctor asks them they need it to post one online, then it's acceptable. Furthermore, technology used today has been benefiting students in their learning. More restrictions and other accessibilities can be made, but based on my own experiences, technology that I have used has helped me in my classes.

Red Blog Group

Honestly I think that technology in the classroom should be used with caution.  Yes all of the ideas that we put on the Inspiration web are good ideas and could probably work in theory, but in reality and a classroom setting, I doubt they would work every time.  You really have to tailor your teaching style to your kids, which also includes what technology you use.  I personally like the traditional classroom and as I stated in my technobiography.  I really enjoy the "old school" feel to teaching a class; maybe that is the History major in me, but thats how I feel.  I would use the powerpoint presentations in my lectures and I do like the Inspiration software to connect different areas or events in history, but thats about it.

This post is not very different from the technobio and my last post about technology because it is what I believe is the right way for me to teach in my classroom.  I understand that in this class we are going to be learning how to use new technology and that is great, but honestly I wont be using a lot of the technology we have talked about; its just not my style.  In other classrooms I am all for the use of technology.  I think that using it the right way should happen, but I do not think that it should be forced on students.

I do think that there are some similarities in my technobiography and how I view technology being used in the classroom. When I was in school we did not have much of the technology that kids have today. Until high school I never did research on the internet, created power point presentations, or even typed papers. I think because of that, I feel like, in a way, kids should still be expected to do things the way I did them. I also think my continuing run in with teachers who use technology will make me think twice before I use it in my own classroom.
But then again, I can see the benifits from using technology. I think it can allow for more creativity and better learning, but only if used in the right way. I think it's so cool how kids can take virtual field trips, or research thousands of journals in a split second. But I also think something is lost. I had to thumb through tons of books to do my research, now kids google and their done. There is I think a loss of discipline, I guess, in having to take out time to do book research.
And things like power point, they are so misused! Makes me wonder if I will ever use them in my classroom. I feel like teacher use and abuse things like power point so much their value is lost. They also seem to like to use it like some excuse, like "Yeah, I use technology." But sorry, when that's all you use, and you just read from it, that's not using technology.
I think there can be great gains by using technology in the classroom. I know I benifit from using technology in my everyday life, so there has to be some benifits to using it in the classroom. I think what we need to figure out in the secret formula of technology perfections. Just the right amount is great, but use too much, and I think we will do more harm than good.

Red Group

When I look back at my technobiography, and think back to my career as a student I can only feel limited by what technology had to offer me. When taking classes that offered technology as a main component I always fell behind because I did not have the technology at home like other students did. It made me feel dumb. In school we often used videos, Powerpoint, or Publisher to supplement lessons once I made the transition to public school. Public school offered more to me when using computers. Teacher and librarians were always around to help when we had questions with software. Teachers, knowing not all students had access to these programs at home made all of the projects classwork assignments. You always had the option to take it home, but usually everything was finished in the school's computer lab.

Video was most likely the best material we were able to use. In 9th grade we got to watch video's on Shakespearean English and slang. We got to compare literature to visual interpretations. We had Beowulf narrated to us, and were able to watch Macbeth staged while following along in the text. We also got to create a video soap opera as our response to the Civil War in American history. Even in college, my professor was able to show us video clips of accurate stagings of Greek drama, masks and stage position all accurate to when the plays were first staged. Video clips were probably the most effective way of SUPPLEMENTING my education.

I all caps supplementing for a reason. Because that's all I think technology should be, a supplement and tool to make the teacher's point get across to a broad range of students.Power point lectures only bore students and allow them to tune out because all the information has been put down for them. 

Oh yeah. Read a book.

As an English teacher, its acceptable for me to say that. Maybe it's old fashioned with the rise of new media, or maybe I'm just strange. The smell of the pages of a book is such a strong experiance to me. I want my students to appreciate the roots of the literature that they have to read. Modern translations, visual interpretations, and audio readings can only help them. But it shouldn't take the place of the text. By looking at the text, it's easier to teach literary devices and to interpret them. You'll also get in in the proper context, not an edited for television version adapted by so and so on such and such's novel. It's not a bad thing to hold the canon sacred.

While I enjoy all the technology I have, I believe it is not always appropriate in the school setting. A student with no learning disabilites does not need to take notes on a laptop while a child with dyslexia would. Technology is situationally appropriate. Maybe there should be a technology class. It would teach students how to use the technology they have in the school setting. Like how to use Word to type papers, and Powerpoint for projects. There could be lessons on how to use the internet properly when researching. Classes on online safety. Students can explore graphic design and movie making. Instead of setting up the whole lesson reward system that i was faced with that only caused distractions. This class could help students use technology professionally. Maybe then, teachers will feel more comfortable using technology when they know students won't abuse it.

Red Group: Influences on Good/Bad Uses of Technology

After reviewing my post about technology in the classroom, I think there are many positive, or appropriate, uses of technology in the classroom. However, there are some bad, or inappropriate, uses of technology in the classroom as well. Technology is useful in the classroom because it provides additional sources of learning for students. Technology, such as laptops, the internet, powerpoint presentations, blackboard, etc, helps to enhance students' learning environment by making useful resources more readily available to aid and enrich the learning process. For example, as mentioned  in my previous post, blackboard helped me become more organized and prepared for class, in addition to providing supplemental information to make the subject matter more clear and to provoke more thought and discussion about various topics. Another example of an appropriate use of technology is the use of powerpoint presentations by students and professors. Powerpoint presentations are useful because they help visual learners by giving the professors the option to teach students with videos and/or pictures. Students can also give presentations in a more organized way. 

Despite the appropriate uses of technology, there are also some inappropriate uses of technology. Technology gives students the option of conducting research via the internet, and, although this contributes to the learning process, it opens the door to plagiarism by allowing students to copy the work of someone else's without truly learning the information. Laptops can also be very useful in the classroom, but it is often easy for students to misuse their laptops during class time. For example, instead of taking notes on his/her laptop, a student may choose to surf the web or chat with friends using instant messenger or Facebook. Lastly, spell check can cause students to overlook grammatical errors and lead to less proof reading and more reliance on the actual word processor. 

My reaction to the technology integration scenario was mainly influenced by professors and the classroom. It was influenced by professors because in college I was introduced to blackboard and powerpoint and was given the option of taking my laptop to class. From classroom experiences, I learned that blackboard and powerpoint were positive uses of technology. On the other hand, I learned that laptops could sometimes be distracting during class and hinder the learning process. Also, from personal experiences I have learned that plagiarizing can be easy to do and it is often easy to rely on spell check too much.  

Red Group - Appropriate/Inappropriate Uses of Technology

I truly believe that my attitudes about and experiences with technology in my life have shaped what I consider to be appropriate/inappropriate uses of technology in the classroom. As mentioned in my classroom blog, I have had many run-ins with inappropriate use of technology in the classroom. For me, repetitive misuse of technology makes me not only inclined not to use it in my academic and personal life, but it also makes me weary of using it in my own classroom. For example, based on my own experiences, I believe that PowerPoint is not used in an appropriate manner in the classroom nine times out of ten. Typically, I see PowerPoint being used as a replacement for the teacher. The teacher will display a PowerPoint presentation and then will either just read directly from the notes or just tell the students to write down the information and leave it at that. I never want my personal experiences to take anything away from my students, but I cannot help to think that there will be moments where I will not want to incorporate a particular piece of technology into the lesson because I remember the inappropriate use of the technology when I was in school.

As I stated in my technobiography, I grew up without the luxury of watching television or movies all day. It was instilled in me at a young age that you cannot get anything productive out of sitting in front of a television all day. This mindset stayed with me as I grew older and I always felt uncomfortable watching television or a movie in the classroom because I never felt that it was appropriate to incorporate such technology into a learning environment. I feel very reluctant even now to incorporate television and movies into my own classroom even though I do believe that it can have potential benefits because I just cannot shake that mindset that was instilled in me at such an early age. I really think that my upbringing has and will continue to shape the way in which I view the integration of technology into the classroom. My unique upbringing is such an important part of who I have become today and it can only be expected that some of my upbringing will correlate into how I use technology in my classroom.

I certainly think that there are appropriate ways to integrate different pieces of technology into the classroom, but we as teachers need to recognize how to incorporate this technology in a way that enhances the students' learning. I think that spellcheck and laptops and PowerPoint are all terrific programs that tremendously have the ability to do good in the classroom. There are, however, always going to be pitfalls in every piece of technology. Spellcheck is a great way for students to correct their grammatical errors, but students do not realize that they need to go back and check their work because spellcheck will not detect every single mistake. Laptops allow students to take the learning from the computer lab right to the classroom. Laptops allow students to explore so many different aspects of the world. There is the concern, however, that students will use the laptops in a way that is not appropriate. Students can access websites that are not conducive to the classroom environment and they can easily get off-task. PowerPoint is a great way for students, especially visual learners, to take in information, but very often, teachers try to use PowerPoint as a replacement for actual teaching. It is so easy for teachers to incorporate technology into the curriculum, but it becomes very easy for that technology to be used in an inappropriate manner. I think that for any teacher, their own personal experiences with technology will influence how they incorporate technology into the curriculum for their students.

Classroom Technology Integration

In 10th grade I went to the computer lab with my World Civilizations class. I had to do a research assignment on a historical topic of our choice. I chose Louis XIV. We had to find reputable websites online and reference them as sources. Once we gathered all our research we had to make a PowerPoint presentation or write a paper. The schools computers certainly were not fast, but they were sufficient to get the job done. The teacher had to devote some time to keeping order and helping the kids that had less experience with computers.
This is an effective application of technology because kids learn to make presentations and papers which are skills they will use in the future. They also learn how to use the Internet as a source of information and reference it in a bibliography. This would also help the kids learn to use computers and type.
The technology catered to the students preferences because if they preferred to not do a presentation, they could write a paper. This application allowed kids to accrue experience with computers, while studying a historical topic in depth.

Technology in the Classroom

Since we live in a technological society that is only increasing in its use of technology, I believe that the use of technology in the classroom is not only worthwhile, but needed. Not everyone has a computer in their home and teaching students how to use a computer or other technology (e-readings, web videos, etc.) is a useful tool.
Using a powerpoint slide show can help emphasize the teacher's lesson plans or using a web page that has math games, language arts games can help build skills needed in those subject areas.
As someone who uses the internet for various life needs such as online banking, shopping, communicating, research, directions and trip planning, it would be helpful to teach these added skills in the classroom. By teaching students to use Word, they already have a skill that can be used in the workforce. By teaching how to find internet sites can spurn added research into an area of interest or give the struggling student tutorials by having them play games based on a subject area.
If a teacher has a web page, parents can check on assignments due, upcoming tests and easily communicate concerns with the teacher rather than play phone tag. Technology in the classroom is not only useful, but required in this day and age.

Technology in the classroom is a very important learning tool that should be used to the advantage of both the teacher and the students to learn easier. There were many times that technology was used to help me learn. One of these times was when my first teacher used a power point presentation with videos feeds and with music and pictures. The subject being taught was Introduction to Computers. Basically it was a class needed to first get your Associates Degree. It was on the second week and we were learning the beginning of computers and how they evolved to the way they are today. Each slide had pictures, data, and videos to help me understand more about computers. If the teacher just put up an outline on the overhead and just briefly talked about the subject I really do not think I would have even stayed awake. The other students all enjoyed it as well as when I looked around the classroom each student was awake and paying attention. I believe that this was a great way to integrate technology into the classroom because it definetely got me interested. Also in this same class the teacher did have a blog and made each student write a blog post of what they learned from the beginning of the computer age and then what the computer is like in present and what we think the computer will be like in the future.
So this was a very goo way for the teacher to integrate technology into the classroom to better the learning environment and make a subject such as basis of computers actually seem interesting to each student in the class and then have each student discuss likes/dislikes and then predictions.

Technology in the Classroom

When technology is used in the classroom it can be either a positive or a negative.  The positive side of it would have to be that students these days need a fast paced learning environment to compliment their fast paced lives.  So when technology is used to keep the class moving and it keeps the information flowing at a high rate that the students are used to, then in my eyes you have used technology in the classroom to its full potential.  On the other hand, I think that technology takes away the "old school" aspect of actually working to find the answer.  The internet and other information retrieval tools can get you the answer within seconds and all a student has to do is either copy and paste it to their work or just copy the answer down.  What happened to actually looking for an answer and learning the topic instead of just skimming the text for the answer and throwing it into your work?

I do like the idea of using powerpoint presentations.  I had a professor at a community college that used this technology and it helped everyone in the classroom.  She had a powerpoint presentation for each lecture and gave us the complete presentation stapled together so we could follow along and notes where we thought appropriate.  The only catch was that only the people that attended class that day got every piece of information; the students who skipped or missed class did not get everything that was involved with that topic or lecture.  So she used technology to her full advantage.  She still had that old school feel by making students come to class and use their books and follow along with what was happening in class, while also using the technology in the appropriate way.

Technology In The Classroom

Technology is in its most natural form when being used for leisure or as a gateway to producibility. Technology in the classroom has become a valuable tool that is, however, often misused or overused. Instead of asking students to complete an assignment on a computer, where they are free to roam cyber-space when the teacher is not looking, ask them each to document how they used this resource in completing the assignment as well. This allows the student to confront the resourcefulness of the computer/internet and respect its capabilities as well as completing the assigned task.

A number of teachers can often overuse technology in the classroom. These instructors instead let the computer take on their role as leader of the class. Even if their students feel comfortable with this shifting of power because of their gravitation towards technology, it must not occur. It is a dangerous path that can be realized only through the overuse of technology.

iPods for music classes
Touch screen Blackboards for various classrooms
A computer lab for computer technology-based courses

All appropriate uses of technology that can do wonders for the student as well as the teacher and their proscribed lesson plan.

Classroom Tech.

Technology has become a large part of the classroom. I can't think of many classes I've taken at Towson where the professor did not use some type of technology as a visual aid. I am a history major and in almost all my classes the professor would have a powerpoint slideshow ready to go along with his or her lecture for the day. Having this tool helped me learn better because I could see what the teacher was talking about rather than just hear it. Seeing the lecture on the board made it easier for me to remember the information. The other students in the class felt the same way. I can also remember having a history class where the teacher did not use a powerpoint to aid the lecture and I remember my classmates complaining. That just goes to show how big technology has become in the classroom. Students are use to it and expect it.

I believe that using technology like powerpoint to help aid lectures is a very useful tool. It improves learning and becomes a guide for the students during a lecture. It also helps visual learners remember the information better. Overall it is a great way to integrate technology into the classroom and should be used by teachers in any subject, not just history.

My Technobiography

I become facinated with Technology over the past 5 years. I knew that it was something that I wanted to be apart of for a very long time especially when i started to work with a special group of children. I work with kids who are blind and some are even disabled. One of my students asked me a very important question one day, she said "Ms Shanika is technology a need or a want" It was very hard for me to answer that question right away. It puzzled me and I had to really think hard. For some blind kids their technology is indeed basic a necessity. I know when we think of needs we think of water and other things that we need for basic survival. For the visually impaired technology is how they survive. If they don't have there braille writers or other assistive technologies they are unable to do basic things such as read and learn. To me that is a need for them not a want. I guess you can be the judge yourself.

All I know is that the visially impaired have a harder time doing basic things like grocery shopping or finding the right store that they need. I want to be apart of making software or equipment that allows them to be just as independent as a person with vision. Imagine going into a store and having to shop with the lights off with no way of knowing what is what. Well, this is how they have to shop. Nothing is brailled,nor is it auditory for them to hear. It should be a way that the world should be adapted so that independent student who are blind can walk into a grocery store and shop without having to solicit helt. Believe it or not some of them do not want the help. However, they have to ask for the help because there is no technology for them to shop independently. To develop a technology for the blind is my passion and I hope to see advanced technology for them in the near future.

Technology in the Classroom

I think that technology in the classroom can be very effective if you used in the correct way, however if it is used improperly I believe it can infact be a hinderance to the classroom. The most popular use of technology in a classroom from my experience is power point. Power point is just like every other technology is an aid and supplement for the class but it can't replace the teacher. For example if a teacher relies only on a power point and only reads from it, that is not an effective use of technology because it is not helping students to just have them copy from the slides, however if the teacher decides to put two of three key terms on a slide so that the students can see the main points and then take notes of the elaboration that the teacher says on each term they have to use their own words to take notes and should therefor be more effective.

This is true for all technology. If a teacher uses technology to supplement and engage the students it can be helpful. A very effective thing I have seen teachers do is to show a tv show or a clip from a tv show that is popular with the students to explain what they are talking about. For example I have seen teachers show things from the simpsions and southpark for use in science, history or political science classes. This was effective because the students actually want to watch it and then having a discusion afterwards on what was actually true from what we saw on tv is way more engaging then just listening to a teacher talk at you.

Technology in the Sociology Classroom

Sociology was one of the classes I took the first semester I returned to college after a 10 year hiatus. My sociology professor at CCBC-Essex was very big on integrating technology into the classroom. She also taught online, so she integrated WebCt/Blackboard into all of her face to face classes as well. She did not "lecture" very often. She preferred to set up panel discussions and let us choose sides to debate a current sociological issue. While I had trouble finding my voice in class at first to express my opinions, I had no trouble doing so in the required WebCt discussions.
We were assigned alot of group work in this class. After the Professor presented the first 5 chapters in the textbook, student groups had to work together to present the following 10 chapters in groups of 5. We had to make it interesting and engage our classmates. My group incorporated video clips from the "Godfather" and "Varsity Blues" to demonstrate ascribed status roles.
For our final project, the groups had to present a social issue. My group tackled Arranged Marriages in India. With the help of You-Tube, instead of blandly listing the facets of the wedding ceremony itself, we showed a video clip featuring dancing, music, and cultural traditions. We recorded an interview and showed it to the class. We presented the facts and figures through powerpoint instead of monotonously speaking. Using technology actually made it easier to work as a group, since we kept in touch through Blackboard, posting our information gathered.
While this was really my first experience creating PowerPoint presentations, I quickly learned how engaging they can be versus writing on a chalkboard.

Technology in the Classroom

Technology is emerging in classrooms as a necessity and should be treated as such. Through the use of technology, course material can be easier to understand and can be made available to students at anytime and anywhere in the world. In my experience as a student, when a teacher would use a slide show to put notes on a screen they were easier to read and the notes could be gone back too at any point in class. Another advantage of a teacher using these is they could post them online where I would be able to access them at home to make studying easier. Also, through using emails, teachers have been able to give me access to articles and files. This gives students access to material that they can print out and use prior to class instead of waiting to give a handout in class. This also gives teachers the opportunity to give students access to decisions they make on course work and new material that they decide on using. Using new technology and finding new ways to use current technology is a challenge teachers have to embrace to help raise the level of the education that their students receive.

Classroom & Technology use

Throughout my primary and secondary years of education technology was used to a certain extent. Including the use of projectors, movies, typing papers, and going to the school lab to find resources on the internet. Other then that we would listen to the instructor.

The article points out how advances in technology that can be applied to an educational setting may take away from learning as kids more and more can use technology to cut corners. Since they have all these technologies at their fingertips.

The article points out how in japan students go through many grades before even being allowed to use a computer. while American students rely on computers more so.

When thinking about this topic I look at my baby brother he's has had access to a computer since he was born. He can type and use the internet ut since he has always had these resources his hand writing skills never developed. This has penalized him because in school writing is essential because not everyone has a computer and it is required to write to express answers at his grade level.

So if technology go as fars to become maybe the next perfect spell and grammar checker are you learning or has some computer already done the learning for you. I think between learning and technology lines must be defined so kid do not become dependent on the technology that was suppose to aid them in learning.

Views on classroom technology use

I feel technology is something that must be used in order to help every student understand the assignment. Think about it there is not just one type of student out there; there are visual learners, audio learners, kinesthetic learners, etc. So you cannot just stand in front of a class and talk and talk and talk. You need to incorporate different learning objects, not all technology but you need to have some in there. Why? Because look at how many kids out there use technology these days and think about it did you like learning things the same way everyday? Probably not because in my opinion that is really boring. Another reason it should be used in the classrooms is because most places have it at their finger tips why not use it?
Well back in the day we used technology to learn things just like we need to do today. When I was in elementary school we used “Distant Learning.” Distant Learning enables you to talk to people in another school anywhere in the world. After connecting the machine you see them and hear them as if they were right in front of you, it is like a web cam.
My fifth grade year we used this technology to talk to students in Texas. I was attending a summer enrichment class where we were learning about space and all the planets. After learning about space, the planets, and their surroundings we did a distant learning lesson. It was actually pretty cool because they were in the NASA building where astronauts came and talked to us as well. We showed the students and the astronauts the projects we did and some of us even did presentations. The children in NASA showed us different things they used to help them learn about space also.
It helped me understand what I was learning as I am a visual and audio learner. I have a hard time of learning things from someone who just lectures the information to me or by just reading a book. I thought it was a pretty nifty thing as I never did it before and it was before I ever new about web cams. I also think this helped many learn new facts and actually made the information that may not be interesting to everyone actually interesting. The lesson helped the information really come to life.

Unplugged: Classroom Technology Use

In my opinion technology is very important to incorporate within the classroom. This day in age technology is constantly evolving, and we as future educators must adjust to the changes. I was fortunate enough to go to a brand new science and technology high school where we had the lastest technologies. Of course televisions, projectors, and computers were in every classroom. There was one particular class that we used technology alot and that was Genetics my senior year. The teacher enstilled in us that science was ever changing and is more and more incorporating new technology. Every Wednesday we had to do in interactive lab on the computer using a software. The labs showed interactive specimens and equipment that we could control by the click of a mouse. I believed that the use of computers to complete our labs was a great way to get the lesson across. We as students were able to work in groups, interact with each other and further strengthen our technological skills. Now that I am in college and I have to do hands on labs, I really appreciated the use of the computer. When we had questions we were able to pause our activity and ask for help, also we were able to replay instructions over and over again. I will always beleive that intergrating technology into education is one of the best things to do for our up and coming youth. Once we all get into the real world everyone will have a better understanding of technology.

Technology in the Classroom

I think technology can be useful in a classroom if used properly. But I think finding the line of using technology the right way and using the wrong way can be very fine. In high school, I didn't find that technology was used very much. Other than the occational video or power point presentation, nothing was really used. We were even still required to use mostly book sorces for research papers.
It wasn't until I reached college that I found teachers using it more. But even then I felt it was sparce. I've had quite a few teachers that used power point presentations for class, but most were poorly designed and the teachers didn't use them correctly. They often read straight from them and went to fast, expecting you to copy all the notes. Only one teacher to date has used power point correctly and that class is one of the best I've taken.
Other than teachers once in a while showing a video or asking use to go online and do a project or research in class, I found that for the most part, teachers seem to forget about technology. But for the most part I think I'm ok with that. I find often if teachers do use it, it's used the wrong way, and it just makes things worse. I rather a teacher not use technology than use it the wrong way.

Classroom Technology

Classroom technology is becoming more abundant each school year. I believe that this will help students become more prepared for the work place and their futures. I began to see the integration of technology during my high school years. Teachers became more frequent users of the schools' computer labs, the laptop carts, and smart boards. I was upset that once my high school acquired even more of these technologies I was graduating. Upon entering Towson University, I was prepared for lectures and hand written notes; as was common in my high school. I went through a technology shock when I entered my first semester classes. It seemed as if every professor I had was a user of some sort of technology I was not extremely familiar with.

Many of my professors used PowerPoint for our notes and then used blackboard to post those notes and other assignments on. This was my first experience with a website/blog site being integrated into my curriculum. One class specifically in my first semester as a freshman used various devices of technology; my physics lab used "clickers," blackboard, blogs, the internet, and PowerPoint everyday in some form. Each day we used a small remote, a "clicker" as we fondly referred to them, that was synced to sensors on the walls of the auditorium and we used them to check into the class attendance, take polls on opinions, to answer questions, and other interactive activities. Each student was assigned one and this enabled everyone to have a voice somehow in the class. Because of the large room we were in, the PowerPoint slides that held our notes were very helpful. The professor would use these to refer to as he lectured. He even placed hyper links on the pages of the PowerPoint that connected us to examples of what he was lecturing about. This enabled my peers and I to fully understand the physics of the objects in our lessons. This professor, like many of my other professors, used blackboard and would post these PowerPoint's so that we could refer back to them when we were completing our homework or when we were preparing for tests. We also had a weekly blog to discuss the in class activity with our specified groups. The professor did this so that we were able to have group insights on the subject being taught.

This was the largest example of classroom integration of technology that I have ever experienced. I believe that it prepared me for not only my future courses but gave me ideas about how I want to run my future classes as a teacher. I am impressed by technology and I wish that more of my professors would find ways to integrate it into their lessons. This professor used technology very well because he used it to involve every student and made sure that it helped us to further understand the subject. I, as well as my fellow students, thoroughly enjoyed this course because it was unlike many of our other lecture classes.

Technology in the Classroom

I think the use of technology in the classroom can be very effective. I personally feel like I learn more when different things are integrated into the class, other than the plain old lecture.

Throughout my academic career I rarely used technology in the classroom, but this all change when I entered college. In most of my courses have or are using some form of technology. Some have used technology more than others, but most have. I think one of my favorite tech experiences was in my Creative Writing class.

When I first signed up for the class I didn't think I would really like because it was not something I was interested in. It was the kind of class you take just because you need to. Anyway, we were assigned to write poems and short stories throughout the semester. We were expected to post our writings on the class page and have the other students read and critique them. At first I was a little afraid of doing this because I didn't want others to see my work, it was something I was uncomfortable with. After the first couple of classes I began to get used to it and I actually felt like posting our writings was a real benefit not only for us, but for the flow of the class as well. Since everyone would have already read the posted works, we could come in and start to talk about them. We didn't have to wait for everyone to read their work. Another assignment we had in the class was to make a digital story. I forget the actual program we used, whether it was movie maker or something like it, but I enjoyed the process. It was a form of technology that I had never used before. Because of all the technologies we used I learned a lot. The students in the class all seemed to benefit from the use of technology.

We basically helped to teach each other. We could contact the other students when we were having problems with the technology use. Our teacher was there to help us, but we really graded each other and commented on each others work. Without the use of the computer, I do not think we would have been able to do this.

I thought that this was a great way to integrate technology into the course. It was relied on heavily, but we also relied on human interaction. I think this was the right way to learn through the technology. I think that technology is a great source of learning, but I also think that it is necessary to have the human interaction. I think my learning in the course was dramatically improve because we had the tools necessary to complete the goals of the course.

Technology in the Classroom

I believe that the use of technology in the classroom is very helpful. I feel as if the internet and other sources of technology can help you in the class. The technology I personally found helpful in the classroom was powerpoint and blackboard. The first time I really encountered Powerpoint and blackboard was when I got to college. I was in Intro to special education here at Towson and we had to do powerpoint presentations very often. I found this to be such a good way of learning. By doing this, I feel as if I knew the material much better after each and every presentation. That technology helped me do better in that class. I really do think if we didn't do these powerpoint presentations then I probably wouldn't of done as well in the class. 

Another form of technology I found useful and helpful in the classroom is blackboard. I became familiar with blackboard at Towson in the class ISTC 201. I knew very little, almost nothing at all about blackboard. Once we started using blackboard in the classroom, the class ran much smoother. I found blackboard very helpful with regulating the class, knowing my assignments, and knowing where I stood in the class. Instead of reading off of a syllabus, everything you need to know plus more in on the web for you. 

I'm not the best or most knowledgeable about technology, but I do find certain technologies to be helpful in a classroom setting. In most cases it easier to keep up with the class and learn in different ways when you use technology. Using powerpoint and using blackboard has improved my learning a lot. 

technology in the classroom

I honestly think the only forms of computer technology that I've come across in the classroom are Powerpoint, and most recently Webct. Most of my teachers have used Powerpoint as a lecture tool.
My most recent classes have been American Sign Language classes at CCBC. CCBC has had all of their teachers taking computer education courses in order to create more use of technology in the classroom. I find this somewhat amusing for my ASL classes, though. I have had teachers use Powerpoint to cover points they were teaching, and also for exams. But honestly, that sort of technology is wasted in those types of classes. ASL classes are not lecture-type classes, they are (pardon the pun) hands-on learning classes. The only way to learn is to do. Having technology doesn't actually affect the learning by the students in those classes. As a matter of fact, I feel it may actually be more of a deterrent. ASL is, quite obviously, a very visual type of learning. Having something like Powerpoint actually takes away from the teacher by giving the students something else to focus on. In my opinion it seemed kind of wasteful to make these teachers learn about technology that really didn't apply to their curriculum. Was it really necessary?
Webct, on the other hand, is a fabulous application, but for those classes it wasn't used in the classroom setting. It was a way for students to check their grades and check on assignments that were due. Very helpful, yes, but not really used actually within the classroom.
So while technology is very helpful in many classroom settings, I can see that in some settings it's more troublesome than helpful.

Technology Use in the Classroom

My personal experience with technology classroom is not very diverse. From elementary school throughout high school, the only technology that was really used were computers, the Internet, Microsoft Powerpoint/Office, and the occassional LCD projector. My least fondest memory of using technology in the classroom was in my senior year of high school. I was taking Allied Health III and IV, which were both part of my Allied Health major (my high school required that all students have a major that lasted for the last three years of school). I had the same teacher for both classes and the classes were scheduled back-to-back with one another. My teacher liked to give us projects once a week, in which we had to give a PowerPoint presentation every Friday on a current event article that related to our lesson for the week. My teacher gave the instructions that the PowerPoints were not to have anny graphics or audio or anything fancy. The actual PowerPoint had to be completely bare with the exception of the information you included. We did these PowerPoints every week up until graduation week. We would always put the PowerPoint presentations together on Thursday afternoon. We would be given two, ninety minute periods to complete our presentations.

First of all, I think this was an inappropriate way to present current event articles. I think that it would have been more acceptable for the students to give a regular oral presentation of the article and to submit a written copy of the summary. Secondly, nobody was able to enjoy doing the PowerPoints because we were not able to put any of our own creativity into it. Our teacher had us complete PowerPoint presentations every week because he said that he did not enjoy grading papers and it was easier for him to just write down a grade for our presentations. The manner in which he incorporated technology into the classroom was completely inappropriate.

I think that technology definitely does have a place in the classroom, but only if it is going to be used in an appropriate manner. Teachers need to realize that there is a time and a place for everything and certain technologies need to be incorporated into the lesson at appropriate times. Being a student myself, I know that I hate when a teacher bombards students with the same routine over and over again. Acitivties such as projects typically are created to stimulate the creativity of the students. If a teacher always puts the same restrictions on what the student cannot use for technology in their projects, students are going to become very disengaged from the classroom. It is important for students to be able to use a variety of technology in the classroom to learn and help to express their creativity and ideas. In my opinion, both as a student and a future teacher, technology should not be meant to reduce the amount of work that the teacher has to do. Technology should and can be used in a way that enhances learning. I think that many teachers misuse technology in the classroom because they have the notion that technology is supposed to replace teaching. I think that technology should be used in the classroom, but only in such a way that students can really pull something from it and never feel that any piece of technology is too over or underused.

My Opinion on Technology in the classroom

There have not been many classes where I can remember technology ever helping me learn. As an elementary school student, I attended a Catholic school that offered one computer lab of 30 computers to the entire school population. We even had a once weekly class in the lab. Subject matter changing as you got older. Younger kids would play games, 3-5th grade learned proper typing technique, and the middle school used it for word processing. As far as I can remember we were told to use a specific program and then pretty much left to sink or swim for the next 45 minutes.

Is this an effective method? Not unless you wanted to separate the technologically savvy kids from their peers in the early 90's.  When we learned to type we used the program "Mavis  Beacon teaches Typing". The class started with a diagnostic provided by the program and then we progressed to typing lessons. Some of my classmates progressed very rapidly, completing the program after 4 class sessions, then they got to play games while the rest of us still struggled with proper hand placement. This distracted us from our work because we just wanted to play a game too.

This situation was totally aggravating. While the reward for completing our work was great. Students who struggled with the typing program only got distracted when their neighbor started playing a game. The teacher let the program do all the work and sat behind his desk reading a paper. This class really divided the students who got to use a computer at home from those of us who had minimal exposure to it. I feel like I taught myself to type, and manipulate the programs placed in front of me. 

Technology Use In Classrooms

I believe that the use of technology in classrooms is needed to a certain extent. The technology that a teacher provides is useful if students are able to learn and gain knowledge from the class. Nowadays, there have been multiple classes all over thousands of campuses that have computers, which I believe is useful. Computers in classes can be used for research through the internet. Also, they can be used to write papers, make documents, create web designs, etc. These different uses can be essential for students as they pursue what they want to do in the future to make work easier. Besides using technology for personal values, students are able to communicate with other people, especially with people in their class, giving each other resourceful information or assistance. Such examples of communication are the Wiki, Blackboard, and other websites that have blogs or different sources of communication. Teachers can provide and use computers for these purposes as well.

Through computers, teachers are able to provide instruction visually. They are able to set up a lesson plan through power point. They are able to use power point to guide them in their lectures by writing down the main ideas of what they're representing, even adding a few pictures for students to be able to grasp the teachers' purposes of their lectures. Most of my classes that I have taken at Towson had power point used, usually when students had to present any certain topic. Besides computers, I believe there should be some music involved. I believe to make various classes more interesting and provide a better learning environment, teachers should provide a music system, whether it's from an I-pod connected to a computer or a radio, which students can listen to so they won't have to stress out from what they're learning. Overall, I believe the computer is the best source of technology to use in a classroom.

Classroom Technology Use

I believe using technology in the classroom is a very good idea because our society is becoming more and more technologically dependent. I can confidently make this statement as I lay on my couch watching my high speed cable, typing on my mac via my high speed internet connection. I'm sure that our ancestors could not have imagined the casual uses we have found for technology.

My example of technology being used in the classroom is not advanced but the use really helped me to understand the subject matter. I was in my Psychology I classroom in High School and we had just learned about psychological disorders. The disorders being discussed were Schizophrenia and Dissociative Identity Disorder. Our teacher was having trouble explaining the differences (because they are two completely different disorders); and the class was having trouble trying to follow his explanations. Instead of spending (wasting) our time and his on explanations; he instead found a movie that clearly depicts one of the disorders. We watched "A Beautiful Mind" starring Russell Crowe as John Nash.

Though this example of technology in the classroom is basic, it was very effective. The entire class understood the differences at the end of the movie, and also it gave us a good 3 class periods of no learning. Afterwards we discussed the movie as a class and ran through the displays of schizophrenia the main character had.

Technobiography

I was born during a time when one computer would take up an entire room. During high school in the late 70's, early 80's computers becames smaller, but I did not have any interest in them.The only thing I did do that was technology based was play video games. This was the era of Atari, post-Pong and pre-Nintendo. Usually I played my video games at the arcade in the mall. My favorites were Galaga, Centipede, Pac Man and Pole Position. Yeah, that was archaeic, wasn't it.I didn't get interested in computers until I started working as an administrative assistant at Procter & Gamble. There I learned how to use WordPerfect and Lotus and then learned Word and Excel. I bought my first computer in 1999 and loved having internet access. From there I went to a laptop, although I still use my desktop. I own a cell phone, but don't text. I now use a digital camera versus the 35mm camera. Since I love movies, I can use a DVD player/recorder. I recently moved back to Baltimore from Tucson, Arizona where I had DirecTv and a DVR. I miss my DVR.I don't have an IPod as of yet, but want to get one. It's so much easier than using CD's, which I buy for one or two songs and that's it. I eventually want to learn how to text and learn more technology because I don't want to be behind in the times.In an Education class, I did a paper on having laptops in the classroom. I agree with this because it gives the kids who do not have computers at home a chance to learn computers skills. Students can submit homework online or save it to their hard drive, so there won't be anymore excuses that I forgot my homework or the dog ate it. This will also give parents more involvement because they can check assignments, test grades and email the teacher.I think I've come a long way from being in a classroom that did not have computers to using a computers and being for having computers in the classroom

Technobiography

Growing up my introduction to technology was very gradual. When I was young I experienced the vhs versions of all the childhood fantasies on our one television. It was around my middle school years that I was able to experience a computer in my own home; other than my brief encounters in the school computer lab I had yet to be a user of such a device. I created a screen name and I became a frequent user of my family's computer. At this same time my younger brother recieved our first video game system for his birthday and he coveted his Playstation; therefore, I was not allowed to use it. But, over time I began to find ways to play alongside him. Technology seemed to appear all at once at this time, because soon after our televison recieved a cable hook up and then my parents purchased cell phones. I knew then that I could not wait until I had my own as well.

It was not until I was 16 years old that I recieved my own cell phone, my parents had made a family rule that that was the age when we were responsible enough to recieve such a device. During my teen years i enjoyed the technology of aim, email, cds, my car, and the radio. I had yet to aquire my own television, ipod, or computer. The computer that my family has still uses dial up because of the location of my home being so far out in the woods.

Once I graduated from high school it seemed as if technology flooded my life. I recieved my first ipod, my own pc, and i eventually bought my own flat screen television. With this technology came independence and responsibility that had befallen me with my entrance into the university lifestyle. To me highspeed internet is a luxury and it pains me to go home to the dial up of the family computer. I would not say that I am a technology genius, but I am a frequent user and I appreciate each piece of technology that I own and come into contact with.

My Techno-biography.

My relationship with technology largely consists of me using it for my entertainment or as a tool. Technology never really has fascinated me or caught my interest. While that is so, I do believe that a computer is probably the most useful tool I have. I use it for schoolwork, entertainment and communication. Sometimes all three at once. I listen to music, while typing a paper, and chatting with my friends on Aim.

As a kid I played a lot of video games. I enjoyed the games, but never really cared about how the system worked. Nonetheless playing those games did make me at least familiar with types of technology in general.

I didn't get home access to the Internet until I was in 10th grade. It was just dial up too. I used the Internet all the time at my friends houses but once I got it at home, I became much more familiar with it. It certainly made everything a lot easier.

I took a programming class in High School and hated every minute of it. I found it immensely boring and that was just small fry programming too. That is when I realized that computers were not the way to go. I did learn how to type correctly in keyboarding though.

Other types of technology I use now include my Ipod, my cell phone, televisions, radios, digital cameras, video cameras and the like. I also use Powerpoint, Excel, Word and all in my schoolwork. I think that not knowing how to use these kinds of technology is a real handicap in today's society.

Technobiography

Technology for me is basically almost all of life. Ever since I was a yound kid (Around 7) I had video games up to present day (20 years old). I started with the Sega Genesis because my dad would play it occasionally. It was basic compared to what we have today but back then it was a great deal. Including the Sega Genesis I used to always go over to my Grandmothers house and she would have the game pong for the old computers. This was as basic as video games would get but it was fun. I then got into playing Nintendo 64 which came out with Playstation 1(which I owned) But since I liked the 64 better I would always be at my friends house playing it. Then I was able to move up to the Playstation 2 and then the xbox. Then things got complicated and I kept the Playstation 2 but sold the xbox so I could purchase the xbox 360. The xbox 360 is awesome because I am able to play music on it through the internet and I am able to play games against people from all over the world. I then got the Nintendo Wii which everyone needs because it is simple to play and it is fun for all ages.

That is technology through video games I also have made it through technology of computers. When my family used to have dial-up internet and everyone had AOL we had one center desktop that each family member would use (4). Then my mom had another son and once he was getting older we moved to high speed internet through comcast. And when I graduated from High School every member of the family got their own laptop. Then we had to get the wireless internet to give a big enough cloud of internet for us to use through each room with no wiring. I use my laptop frequently to update my ipods, for me to check my mail, for me to play new music through youtube.com, for me to check facebook, for me to pay bills, for me to check my bank account information, and for me to shop.

Technology in the world today gives people the oppurtunity to be more effiecent. In the world presently there is a major shift from people doing one thing at a time during the 20th century, to basically doing nothing but multitasking in the 21st century. People are able to talk on their bluetooth while picking up kids carpooling kids to soccer practice through GPS, listening to music, and letting the kids watch a movie in the backseat of the car. All of this through technology

techno-biography

I guess my first real brush with technology was in elementary school. I still remember the computer lab and playing math games with alligators and apples on those old green-screen Macs. God, that was big time technology back then. We didn't use computers or major technology outside of television for much else during my childhood. Basically that was it until Nintendo came out. Wow, that was really big time! It's hysterical to me now, looking at these amazing graphics on the Playstation 3 and remembering the crappy Nintendo and Sega graphics that were around when I was a kid. We thought that was pretty amazing back then, though! I keep thinking, how much more can they improve on this stuff, really? Then they do!

I didn't really use computers for school work until the end of high school, and even then it was really for only typing papers. I did take a Data Processing class, where basically we learned how to draw circles and squares with code. High school kids now would probably die with laughter if they saw the pathetic things we had to do. I never used the internet for research. I remember writing my senior thesis, looking everything up in big dusty books in the library for hours. Do they still make high school students use books for their senior thesis, I wonder? I mean, yeah, it's been over a decade since I graduated (omg!), but did they change protocol that much? Can students write their whole thesis with digital support only?

It's so funny to me looking back now. The internet, and computers in general are such an integral part of my life, and I'm low end of the technology knowledge spectrum! I can't believe this movement started really only within the past 10 to 15 years. My five year old is learning how to use computers in her state-of-the-art lab at school right now. I'm running full-tilt to keep up with technology, and she will more than likely exceed my knowledge within the next two-to-three years. Scary thought, actually. Also scary is how dependent we are on technology today. If my Blackberry stops working properly, I start to freak out. How did everyone function before all of this? It hasn't been that long ago, but I already forget...

Techno-biography

Unfortunately for me technology has always been a part of my life, and I say unfortunately for a very specific reason. Although I have always had access and been relatively adapt at using technology, technology seems to not approve of me using it.

As far back as I can remember I have been the most un-lucky person with technology. Without fail something will always go wrong. I know the saying that the machine is only as smart as the user, but I disagree because for the most part I know how to navigate through technology but for some reason roadblocks always get in my way.

When I was still in grade school my dad let me begin to use his mac from college. This poor machine was still in working condition and was the worst machine ever to teach me about technology. I was a proficient typer by the time my elementary school decided it would be beneficial for its students to take a typing course every year. I was even alright at playing one of the best computer games ever invented "Oregon Trail". But whenever it comes to anything more than just recreational fun on anything technological its as if the technology gods get a kick out of messing with me.

I can't tell you the number of times that my computer has mysteriously shut down,kicked me off, or refused to boot up when it came time for school. Included in that is losing of homework assignments that were saved on, off and in hard copy. And this this doesn't just apply to computers. Cellphones have been known to die randomly around me; DVD players mysteriously do not work (VCRs as well); and on more than one occassion my car has refused to have me as its driver.

Honestly though I love technology. It enhances our lives and makes it possible for us to communicate rapidly, and share our ideas on the web and in print in quantities our ancestors could not have imagined. My only wish is that technology would show me the same love as it shows the rest of the world. Honestly I'm not that bad.

technobiography

In elementary school, the most exciting day of the month was when the class got to go down to the library and play games on the computer. This was my first experience with computers. We could either play games which included our vocabulary or games with furthered our math skills. My whole class was more interested learning on that day than any other.

High school was a different story. I took photography classes where we learned how to manipulate photos on the computer using PhotoShop. I don't remember anything, but i was taught it. Also, for our English classes, students were encouraged to bring personal laptops. My town was of the higher middle class so many people could afford this. Those who couldn't were provided laptops through the school that could be signed out for over night use. The laptops were used to write papers and e-mail them to our teachers. We submitted our research papers over the Internet on a site that would check for plagiarism. Typing papers took the place of writing them out. This saved time but it was a big change. In math classes, just the teacher had a computer. However, the calculator that you were required to have hooked into the TV. Our teacher would present his calculator screen to the class on the television so that all could follow along. That seemed to be very helpful because it was easy to get lost in Pre-Calc.

Even though I was shown how to use many different things on the computer, I never really grasped any of it. I can work e-mail, Facebook, and I know how to websurf. Other then that, I seem to be slower and get confused. Sad, I know.

Upon entering middle school I got my first cell phone. In the beginning I used it as nothing more then a phone. I would make and receive calls. I now am never apart from my cell phone. The one I own now has e-mail capabilities along with a music downlaoder. I am always texting and even using it over making a call. I guess that shows how technology does change in your life. My cell phone is attached to me.

Technobio - Nick Gill

As far back as I can remember technology has been a big part of my life. The first peice of technology I can actually remember using frequently was nintendo. It was if the nintendo controller was attached to my hand. Video games were definatly my inroduction to technology.

As I got older I would always beg my parents to get me the newest gaming console that was out at the time. After putting up a little fight that would always give in. Because of that I always had the newest technology in the gaming world available to me. I also can remember playing games on apple computers when I was in grade school (3rd, 4th, 5th, grade). My first introduction to the internet came around 7th grade I think. I remember spending ours on AOL talking to my friends on instant messenger and exploring the internet.

As I got into highschool technology became an even bigger part of my life. My freshman year of highschool I took my first computer class. It was a typing class that tought me how to use the microsoft word application. I would go onto to take other application courses such as powerpoint and excel. Throughout highschool I would always find time to fit video games in between my busy schedule of school, soccer, and social life. I can remember a number of times going as far as faking sick so I could stay home from school and play the newest football game (madden) for playstation 2 all day. Throughout highschool I learned the value of finding information on the internet that I could use for my schoolwork. I also got my first cell phone in highshool which I remember not using much at first but now I can't imagine going a day without it.

Throughout college I began to become more and more of a digital learner. I would have an extremely hard time doing a research paper or a project without the internet now. Mostly everything is there on the internet to find at my convienence. I still use instant messenger all the time, I text on my cell phone constantly, check facebook religiously, watch soccer games on the internet, use the internet for projects and papers, and still play video games whenever I can. Technology has gradually become a major part of my life and will continue to be for the rest of it.

Techno-biography

Technology plays a really big role in my life. I feel that technology helps me communicate and keep in touch with my friends and family. However, I'm not the best with technology. I'm good with my cell phone and okay with the computer, but I'd much rather use a disposable camera than a digital camera.Even my friends will say that I'm not the best with technology. In order for me to learn the lastest technolgy, I have someone show me how to do it and it takes me a little while to learn it. I know that some people could just teach themselves. Even though I'm not the best with technology it still plays a major role in my life. I think the best technology is probably the cell phone and the internet. I would not be able to survive without those two things.

techno-biography

Growing up in a little town that had more cows than people, technology took a while to play a factor in my life. In my house all we really had was a TV(without cable), a VCR and a phone. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time outside away from technology until one Christmas when the miracle of Nintendo graced my home. I still spent a lot of time outside, but the way I viewed technology started changing drastically.
When I got to second grade we started learning how to use computers. We had a typing class two days a week and later started playing games like "Spellevator" and "Math Blaster." Other than the basic typing function and helping me learn how to properly use fractions, computers still seemed more like something to do when you were bored than to actually have real life applications.
During middle school I was given the chance to use the Internet to search for topics relating to work that I had to do for classes. I also started using computers to predict what career path we might want to follow. No matter how inaccurate the surveys taken in those days might have been, it was still fun getting out of class to mess around on a computer. Obviously, the careers that we were predicted to have were a little off. I probably will not work in sports medicine or have a career in the snowboard industry, but learning that computers could be used for something other than typing and games helped me broaden my horizon on computers.
My family later gained Internet access and for the rest of middle school and through high school, computers became something that were practical and almost a necessary part of my everyday life. Between doing research for school, chatting with friends and downloading music, the Internet has helped me get connected with more people and get reconnected with some old friends.
From those humble beginnings in elementary school, I started to love computers and I have been using them ever since. The more advanced computers started to become, the more I messed around with them and learned about them. From the days of the big floppy disk to the modern flash drive, I have used computers for everything from writing a paper for school to making a slide show of my grandmothers life for her ninety-second birthday. Computers continue to play a huge roll in my life and will undoubtedly play a huge role in my career as a teacher,

Technobiography

For me technology wasn't always available when I was younger. My mother is a teacher and my father worked at Giant during the graveyard shift when I was little, so we really didn't have a whole lot of money flowing around to be "up to date" on the technology that was out. We had televisions in the house but that was about it. I remember when we first got our computer I had somewhat of an idea how to use it because if computer lab classes we had in grade school, but I really never had a true understanding of it. We only played games on it like Carmen San Diego and Math Blaster and Treasure Mountain. It took us forever to get the internet. It always seemed like I was 3 or 4 steps behind everyone in computers and game consoles and cell phones.

Now all I use is technology. I have an iPod, I own a Voyager (the Verizon form of the iPhone), I have a laptop...you name it, I have used it. My brother-in-law has his own computer repair business and he is the head of the tech department at Anne Arundel Medical Center. My parents still have no clue what they are doing on computers, while my 12 year old brother knows probably more than I do about computers now.

It is an amazing world we live in right now and its an exciting time to live. There are new things coming out daily from HD TV, to new advancements in gaming, to ridiculous cell phones that are getting smarter and smaller all of the time. The Internet keeps everyone connected...all the time and no one ever thinks anything different. I can still remember times before the Internet and though it was that long ago, it feels like forever because of how it is used today.

My Technobiography

Technology is both a burden and a blessing. My computer keeps me connected, tuned in, and it looks pretty darn snazzy if I might add. Sure my cell phone is nifty, but i rarely log any airtime instead I prefer to text.

Sadly my life on the Internet, which is most certainly my poison, has limited the people I interact with socially. When I want to talk, I'll wait till you log into AIM. What's the point in picking up the phone? It's too risky. You could be busy or sleeping....whatever you do in your spare time. With a messenger, it's a cake walk. I know if your available thanks to your online status.

I know it hasn't always been like this. As a kid I got to use the computer to play games, or learn typig skills. That was also back in the day when my neighbor got a walkman, and it was considered to be awesome. As I grew older, the computer was just a tool to type up papers or make powerpoints. Once I hit college it became my lifeline to the world. That's also when I branched out, I got the i-pod, it's various accessories, and stopped talking and started typing.

Technobiography

I first began using technology in the classroom at the age of eight while learning the basics in mathematics and grammar on the neon-green screen of a computer. Away from school, I never grew attached to computers or video games until I turned eleven. Since then, technology has faded in and out of my life. It has become instrumental in learning and socializing and functioning in the world. It also has become a nuisance and a burden that I avoid at any cost.

It amazes me how adept people have become with the many technology-driven devices being introduced within the short time we as humans have occupied Earth. With every new toy, game, phone or the like given to the public, the dedication and steadfastness people give to their investment and to learning and utilizing its capabilities proves to mimic the love given to a living, breathing organism.

I appreciate and support the ambition it takes to develop the ideas of a cell phone, video game or computer into a reality the world can choose to enjoy or loathe. I myself make evidence of this support by picking up my cell phone, checking my e-mail or nonchalantly browsing through my iPod. This appreciation and respect is wholesome, healthy and human, but rarely observed or conducted.

Technology is taken for granted but truly deserves to be. The rate in which we dispose and cultivate a new invention or modification is staggering. A desktop computer replaced by a laptop; a laptop replaced by a thinner, more portable device of the same capabilities. This compact version of a laptop is then usurped by an even smaller version and coupled with the internet/instant messenger/gps-including cell phone.

techno-biography

Technology did not start to really enter my life until about the time i was fifthteen. At that point my family had invested in the internet. Before that we had always had a computer but it did not serve much more purpose then typing and printing papers.

So when we got dial up internet I was relieved just to be able to just look up rescources for school even those it was time consuming and frustrating at times using dial up.

About a year ago my family invested in broadband internet which i was so relieved to get it allowed much less time period to get schoolwork done. And connected me to networks and forums for hobbies i have taken interest. Also, with Broadband i picked up playing MMO games where my friends i do not see very much I could talk to with headsets and enjoy a hobby with them. I love the internet: mapquest, facebook, forums, youtube, PVP.

I love technology i find it very conveinet. I have been through to ipods that have broken I refuse to buy a third one. I love the new iphone i think they are the most conveinent helpful gadget to be made lately. If they become affordable in the near future or another gadget capable I would love to get one.

This is about the extent of my life and technology just about the only thing I really use on a day to day basis is my desktop computer at home. It is not the most advance form of technology but it has severely improved my life with the abilities it has to offer.

Techno-biography

Our country is constantly evolving as well as technology that we use around us. I'm am now 19 years old going on 20 in a couple months, and as a child growing up I don't remember being so technologically dependent as I am now. Technology has helped shaped the way I learn and the way I interact with others. Now I can't possibly imagine life without the advancements of technology.
In elementary school technology was the last thing on my mind until I really needed it.I would have to say that it all started in middle school when the Internet became my best friend. As far as research and school projects that required a great deal of background information the Internet was the way to go. In eighth grade I received a cell phone, and back then getting a cell phone was for emergencies only. At age 13 I didn't really understand; I viewed the cell phone as a major advancement in technology that enabled me to communicate with people through out the day with out having to wait til I got home.
Now that I look back on high school I realize that technology played a pivotal role in my development. To be more specific the use of my cell phone and the Internet as stated above, by being able to research broad topics and text messaging my friends when we are no together. Another great advancement that benefited me well was the ipod, the ipod allowed me to have other options outside of the radio. As the future progresses so will technology as well as myself.