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.
3 comments:
I agree, I think instant messeging could be a great tool to be used in school. Most kids have instant messeging on their cell phones these days and I'm sure all of them will withing the next 5 years. Instant messegeing could be a quick way to teachers to contact their students in school.
I absolutely agree that instant messaging is a great methods for teachers to contact students. With instant messaging a student can get an answer to their question much more quickly and can follow it up with other questions must more effectively then email or then trying to call a teacher and being intimidated to do so. I have had teachers in the past get an aim and give it out and it turned out to be quite useful for questions that I didn't feel needed to be emailed but that it would be nice to know.
It sounds like school has been an overall positive influence on the way you think about technology for teaching - I'm glad to hear it, and also have to say that you may be in the minority.
I'm actually curious about your mention of instant messenger - I think it's one of the first times that a technology students use a lot in your personal lives has been brought up in the context of school. The comments in support of the idea I think drive home the notion that teachers using technologies that make sense to students - IM is a quick way to communicate, everyone uses it - can provide a way to connect with students' lives outside of school, which can be motivating and a positive thing. (I do have an IM account, btw, sarahclohnes, though I'm not on it as often as my students are. But you may be able to find me there during the day.)
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