THOUGHTFUL+ANALYSIS

This semester I have learned a great deal about technology in the classroom. Growing up in a technological world, it is inevitable that as a future teacher, I become familiar with the technology available for learners. Although some theories and applications I was already familiar with, others I had never even heard of and have yet to see take use in an actual classroom. One of the first things learned was that of a Blog. Following this, I learned to use all the different applications of Google and what it has to offer other than just a search engine. I also learned about video conferencing, podcasting, and the Standards Aligned System. After learning how to utilize some of these tools, it was obvious which complemented my strengths and weaknesses. However, I hope to bring each of these into my future classroom so I can offer their uses to my students. When Blogging was first introduced, I was already familiar with the concept. I had once started a personal Blog, but not for educational purposes. I never thought about using a Blog in the classroom because I always thought of a Blog as more of an online journal than as a classroom resource. When creating an educational blog, I noticed some of my strengths as an educator. First, I noticed that I generally give very clear and concise directions. When creating a Blog, it is important to create very clear directions so your students can follow along easily and successfully complete the assignment. However, when learning about Google Maps and Google Earth, I became aware of one of my greatest weaknesses: I do not present PowerPoints or OverHead lessons well. When presenting my lesson on Google Maps, I noticed that I stood behind the computer screen for a majority of the presentation. It is important for me to work on this if I plan on incorporating technology into my lessons. Although I feel video conferencing is a great resource to use, I felt that it was also an easy way for students to hide from participation. It is a very interactive tool, but is also easy for students to hide and stay quiet. I believe this tool will be helpful with some content, but would rely on this form of technology for most of my lessons. I also feel the same way about Podcasting. I think it can be a very fun and creative tool to enhance students’ learning; however, I would not rely on this tool. When creating my podcast, I really noticed my weakness with computer programs. Podcasting takes a lot of work for such a short idea. As a teacher, I would use this program for students to present information instead of as a way for the teacher to teach new information. The Standards Aligned System really made my weaknesses and strengths stand out. First, it was great to find out that this system enabled me to search for other professionals’ lesson online. When writing lessons, I always added standards in based on the words that described each standard. For four years, I never knew what each number and letter stood for. After finally learning what each meant, I now consider myself an excellent lesson plan writer because I can align each lesson with appropriate standards and I know what they actually mean. One of my biggest weaknesses this semester was that of evaluating lesson plans. After completing my first evaluation, it became obvious to me that I am not very good at it. Even though this takes practice, I feel this will always be a weakness for me. According to Dr. Bruce Perry, “technologies that benefit young children the greatest are those that are interactive and allow the child to develop their curiosity, problem solving and independent thinking skills,” (Perry). I always knew about the importance of incorporating technology into the classroom, but I was not always aware of everything it has to offer. Technology opens up new doors for learning, for both the teacher and the student. In the future, technology is going to be even more advanced than it is now. Today, students do not even have to go to school to obtain an education, everything can be offered through technology. Technology will play a huge role in the future. It is important for me to understand the technologies offered today because most devices are spiraled ideas off an old one. I think in the future, technology will become one of the biggest aspects in education. I believe schools will start to become reliant on it, and will pursue new ideas and theories to better the education system. If available in my classroom, I plan utilizing all of these technologies into my classroom. As mentioned earlier, I would use some more often than other, but all would serve as a meaningful purpose in the classroom. [|perry source]