Red Group- Technology in the classroom!

I've never really thought about applying the technology we use everyday to the classroom. A lot of the technologies we use in our everyday lives, we can not assume that everyone can afford them. The technology devices that are out today are rather expensive. If you made it mandatory to use a cell phone, i-pod, video games, and etc. to use in a classroom, I think a lot of students would not be able to purchase them. I also don't think that the school would be able to purchase all these technologies for every student in the school. I really don't think that these technologies are something you can learn over night, most people (I know myself) would have to take it home and fool around with it a bit. I've had a cell phone for several years and I still don't know how to use every program and thats not to mention that technology is expanding everyday. With that being said, the kids who can't not afford these different technologies will not be as advanced and familiar with the different devices. So the students that can afford these different technologies have a bit of an advantage over the kids who can't. In my opinion, that is not fair to everyone. 

I don't think using the technology that we use everyday is useful in the classroom at all. The reason I feel so strongly about that is it could be a distraction. If the class were suppose to look up youtube video, how do you know they are doing the actual assignment. They may be looking up videos for personal enjoyment. The whole idea of using cell phones is not very realistic because most of the students would be texting their friends instead of doing what they are suppose to be doing. It is very easy to get distracted and go off task in a regular classroom setting without all of these technologies and would be much more easier if we could use cell phones, youtube, and i-pods. I think most kids would probably be listening to music on there i-pod, rather than doing the required assignment. I think that the technology that we use in the classrooms now are very efficient and gets the job done. I think that using technologies that are more controlled is the better way to go, for example; different softwares, wiki's,and blackboard.

Red Group

OK, I'm going to get on my soapbox here. I do not think it's fair for us as educators to assume that all children have access to the technology that we as college students are privileged to have mostly handed to us. I can say from personal example that i only received a cell phone out of necessity and not till i was 14. My iPod and other luxury devices I purchased myself with money I had earned on my own.

Especially in today's economically harsh world, will all parents have the ability to provide these luxury items (cell phones, iPods, computers, internet) to their children?  Or is it the responsibility of the public school system to provide these technological advantages for all it's students. The same school systems that sometimes struggle to provide enough books for its students. It's just not practical in today's society. There will always be a divide between the have's and have not's.

As an educator, I wouldn't like to see this technology made mandatory in my lesson plans. By taking that aspect away, children who don't have that particular technology aren't singled out. I'm going to rely on personal experience again. At one point, my sister, due to health related circumstances could not attend regular school. Instead she attended online courses through a program called Home & Hospital which brought instruction to students through chat rooms. Unfortunately these were not her regular teachers. These lessons ensured she was up to par with her peers when she returned the following term. Instead of severing ties with a student, I would record my lessons and upload them as Podcasts on a class website. This way students who might be out of the class for extended periods of time can stay caught up and some students can use it as a study aid if they don't take accurate notes. The rest of the site could contain downloadable worksheets, and possibly a class forum where students can ask each other for help.

Using Everyday Technology

I guess I never think about using everyday technology in the classroom. I never used these things as a student (until college that is) so I guess it seems weird to me to use them in the classroom. And many of these things I didn't have or didn't even come out until I was in the later part of high school, so they seems so seperated from my younger school days. Where as now kids grew up having cell phone, using Wiki, reading blogs, having an iPod, etc. I guess in many ways I kinda want to keep learning the same way that I am familiar with. I'm fine with using computers and power point and such, but iPods and cell phones just aren't something I think of using when it comes to classroom technology.

I think that these pieces of technology could be, in fact, very useful in reaching todays kids. They are so use to these things and love them, and would probably love to get to use them in learning. But I also think problems would arise. If you allow cell phones in class, how do you know that students aren't texting their friend's and doing the assignment instead. Or can you be sure that your students are listening to the podcast and not the lastest and greatest from the Jonas Brothers? I could see where some kids would be happy they get to listen to their iPod for homework. But there would be others who would say that it's an iPod and no way are they using their iPod for homework.

I think I would be far more comfortable having kids blog or keep a class Wiki before I used things like cell phones or iPods in class. These are things that kids are familiar with but yet are not personal items. I think that there would be less missuse with these things as well. But over time I think if I saw more teachers using them, and reaching their students with them, I would be more comfortable using them. Right now, it's kinda uncharted territory.

Red Group - Integration of Everyday Technology

I think that I tend to not think of everyday pieces of technology (cell phones, blogs, video games, etc...) when asked to incorporate technology because I have never personally used any of these technologies in my own classroom experience. I have never had a teacher that incorporated cell phones and wikis into the lesson plan. Many of the teachers that I had in high school and at the college level were older and barely enjoyed using the computer/Internet to complete work. There was no way that they were going to try to understand how to use iPods and wikis to integrate them into the lesson plan. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I think that it is very comfortable and easy for us as future teachers to rely heavily on what our own teachers did. They were and still are our models of what we consider good and bad teachers and we tend to want to pick up the habits of the teachers that we believe are "good" at their job. Because even the teachers that I considered to be great did not use these particular technologies, I guess I just assume that they cannot be integrated into the classroom. I also think that some people may be hesitant to use technologies such as iPods and cell phones in the classroom because we are always being harped on to not use these technologies in class. Students are so used to hearing "Keep all electronic devices away until the end of class or until the end of the day" that I think many of them just assume that there cannot be an academic advantage to using them in the classroom when they go onto becoming teachers themselves.

I generally believe that the technology we use in our everyday lives can be successfully incorporated into the curriculum. In an increasingly electronic and technology-driven world, I think that it would be almost foolish of us as teachers to not take advantage of the opportunities that are right in front of us. I can fully understand where some teachers may be critical of using such technologies as cell phones, iPods, and social networking sites because there will always be students that use these technologies in an appropriate manner for the lesson. I just think that the possibilities are endless in how teachers can integrate this technology into the curriculum. I think that many students, myself included, often become bored with constantly using Microsoft Word/PowerPoint or the Internet at its most basic level to facilitate learning. So many children today are enthralled in their cell phones and video games that we, as teachers, should take advantage of. We should show our students that they can use these technologies to advance their learning. I think that many students would enjoy the learning process so much more if they could use technology that interests them. I think that it would be quite amazing to show students that the iPod they rely on for music can be used to download podcasts and YouTube can be used to find videos that relate to a given subject or topic. I believe in the philosophy that you can't knock something until you try it and I think that its worthwhile to see where these pieces of technology could take our students in terms of their learning.

yellow group blog post

I feel that when one uses technology in the classroom, they must be ready to use it fully and correctly. During my second course in physics that I took here at Towson, my professor used many of the same technological devices that my first professor had used. But in my eyes, he used them inappropriately. He used PowerPoint to give us notes and examples of the subject he was teaching. While this was helpful, he disregarded our need to copy down the notes he provided on the slides and moved too quickly. He went so fast that I was unable to fully copy down the notes he thought he provided us and he disregarded our requests to slow down. While this professor provided a technological resource in the classroom, he did not use it correctly. I felt that PowerPoint is a great way to allow your students to have notes on the subject being taught and still lecture so that visual and auditory learners are able to benefit from the lecture. In this instance however, the professor did not allow the visual learners to fully understand what was being taught.
As I said in my technobiography, it wasn't until I came to Towson did I have a full exposure to technology in the classroom. Once I took more and more classes with technology being used to teach the students, I saw how vital it is to teaching. When used correctly it helps all types of learners and students to understand the material. At first I was wary of technology and couldn't understand how to use many devices. Over time and with the help of my peers I have become a more frequent user of technology and I will implement it into my own classroom one day. This differs from my technobiography, because at first I was scared and intimidated by technology. Now I feel more comfortable and have adapted to this prevalent way of teaching.

My Views on Classroom Technology

I think my experiences with technology have caused me to look forward to the possibilities of utilizing technology in my future classroom. My elementary, middle, and high school experiences with technology (or lack thereof) lead me to believe the earlier students use technology in the classroom, the better. I really don’t see technology as detrimental as long as it is being used properly. I remember an extremely bright student that I went to middle school with being yelled at incessantly about his poor handwriting. No matter how well he wrote, some teachers would rip up his work. On a few occasions, I volunteered to transcribe his final draft as he read it aloud. I think now what a blessing a computer would have been for him. While it’s often blamed on laziness, I believe some students truly do have poor fine motor coordination that keeps neat handwriting (especially cursive) out of reach.
Students today have grown up in a ‘wired’ world and are adept at retrieving information from online sources and sharing their thoughts with online communities. This can only enhance the Language Arts classroom. I think there are many appropriate uses of technology in my subject area. Writing a paper can begin with using Inspiration to brainstorm. Drafts can be typed, proofread and polished with word processing programs. Students can peer edit each other’s papers on computers. Student presentations in class can be accompanied by PowerPoint. The teacher or a student can videotape speeches for constructive criticism. Modern day video interpretations of Shakespeare’s plays can be watched to compare to the original. Digital storytelling can be used for creative writing. Thumb drives can be used for students to easily transfer their work from school to home and back.
An inappropriate use of technology of would be cutting and pasting papers found online. To avoid this problem, I think it would be more efficient to have students turn papers in electronically rather than hard copy so that I could utilize an anti-plagiarism program such as TurnItIn.com to verify originality. I am not sure if this is yet possible in all schools.

Yellow Group - Jenna

I definetly think that my experiences with technology have had an impact on my views on technology in the classroom. I have had classes where technology was used and my view was positive, but I have also experienced teachers who did not use technology appropriately. When it wasn't used in a good way, it made me think it may not have a place in the classroom. Maybe we should wait until technology can be used appropriately consistanty before we include it in the classroom, is what I found myself thinking during the negative experiences.
When a teacher uses a form of technolgy, like PowerPoint, in a bad way, it can make me become discouraged with technology use in the classroom. When a teacher does this, I just want to run. I find it boring and not very inventive. Because I have seen teachers use technology in this way, it makes me want to use technology in the classroom in a better way than they did.
I find that teachers who use technology in a bad way often inspire me. They inspire me to use technology in a way that actually helps the students to learn. When a teacher uses technology in a good way, it shows me ways that I can use technology in the classroom.
All in all, I think that my experiences with technology have helped me come to the conclusion that as long as we can use it appropriately technology should have a pressence in our classrooms.
In both my technobio and my classroom post it is obvious that I have experienced technology throughout my life, but not everyone is given this opportunity. We need to keep this in mind when it comes to using technology in the classroom. In some school systems the students do not the same access as others do. As teachers we will need to find ways to work around this. We will need to learn and adapt to the environment, as well as using what we have available.
The differences between the two would include the fact that I have had bad experiences with technology throughout my education, but it has not influenced my thoughts on it, in the long run. Yes, when I was going through those experiences I was wanting to give up on technology completely, but I didn't. I have always come back to the fact that technology can be used in the classroom, if done right. The differences between my experiences have helped me to see that students need to be exposed to different forms of technology, and I will have to do what it takes to make sure they experience it in the best way possible.

Green Group

My experiences with technology deeply affect my opinions on the application of technology in the classroom. My experiences as a student color my perceptions more than anything else. For instance, I find that PowerPoint being used to help organize my notes, and highlighting the points of things, is a very appropriate use of technology and greatly helps in my learning. However when an instructor uses PowerPoint as the lecture itself it is hard to follow and pay attention, merely because I could read exactly what he is saying. This is an inappropriate application of PowerPoint. Another example is that I learn really well on my own so I find that research projects which encourage using the internet to find reputable websites for research, referencing them, and writing a paper or making a presentation to be an effective application of technology. Both my technobiography and my post about technology integration both involve me using the internet as a tool for information. I believe that technology could also be used to encourage creativity in students. Like giving them a project involving pictures or other types of media.

I consider myself to be an average joe when it comes to computers. I didn't have access to the internet till about 10th grade. I learned how to use it fast but only after a period of computer stupidity. The fact that all students don't have the same amount of experience with computers is important to keep in mind as an educator. Everything should be user friendly.

Simply put I find that if the technology actually aids in the learning of the student, and isn't used as a crutch for the educator to lean on, then it is an appropriate application of technology. It should develop skills in the usage of technology, as well as aid in the learning of the subject matter.