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.