The Benefits of Technology in the Classroom

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Posting presentations using audio is a great benefit to the classroom. This form of technology allows teachers to post their lectures online, explain concepts and ideas that students don’t understand, and allows students to access the classroom from anywhere. In the video The Flipped Classroom teacher Aran Sams explained how he “Changed the way content is delivered” in his classroom. He described how he posts his lessons, using audio and video, online for his students to access at home and then uses class time to do activities and let the lesson really sink in. This not only saves class time but also allows more time for students to understand the material.

This allows so much potential for learning but also raises questions such as is something lost in this way of teaching? And, would if the student doesn’t have access to a computer at home? Don McMillan believes that PowerPoint is not a valuable learning tool for children. In his presentation How PowerPoint is Killing Education he presents ways in which people overuse and abuse PowerPoint, such as writing down every word they are going to say, and using too many visual images/graphs.

Despite what Don McMillan believes, students can benefit from online learning and from using PowerPoint presentations. Students must learn how to use these forms of learning correctly, such as only putting key words on their slides. Online learning presents another platform for students who are struggling and it provides a way for students to repeat what the teacher is saying. It is not only a beneficial tool for teachers but for students as well.

 

Back to School Night

Technology in the classroom has many benefits. Technology connects students to the classroom, aides students in preparing for the future, and helps parents stay informed. In the district that I researched many of the teachers had a teacher web site that students could access from anywhere. The websites held information regarding homework and studying tools. If a student didn’t write down an assignment they could look on the teacher web site and find the assignment there. The teacher was giving the student resources to stay on top of their schoolwork. Technology is not only a resource for forgotten homework, it is also a learning tool. Technology in the classroom helps students see a lesson from different angles. For example, the activity in my presentation uses a power-point presentation, and research to tie technology into a group activity. Students are able to do in depth research using credible sources on the internet. Technology in the classroom is also a great tool for parents. Teachers are able to stay in contact with parents through email, and some schools even allow parents to access student grades and attendance through the school web cite. In my classroom I intend to keep my students informed on school assignments using technology, help my students gain practice using technology in presentations and assignments, and stay in touch with parents using email and my teacher web site.

The technology I used this week, embedding a presentation is also a great teaching tool. It is both an interactive and visual tool where students can easily access a video or presentation. This would be a great asset to a teacher web site or during a lesson. GoogleDocs is also a great teaching tool in that you can access a presentation from anywhere, whereas with a PowerPoint presentation you must save it on a zip drive, or bring in your computer.

Technology Activity

Grade	Content Statement	CPI#	CPI
12	Knowledge and understanding of human, cultural, and societal values are fundamental when designing technology systems and products in the global society.	8.2.12.C.3	Evaluate the positive and negative impacts in a design by providing a digital overview of a chosen product and suggest potential modifications to address the negative impacts.

Above is the Technology standard for strand C: Technology Citizenship, Ethics, and Society. The content area I am studying is English. An activity that could fulfill this CPI is an evaluation of the positive and negative impacts of different models of e-books. The students would break off into four groups and collaboratively create both a power point and an oral presentation which looks into the positive and negative aspects of the current e-book models. Each group will choose a different e-book model (the Kindle, Nook, Sony Reader, and the Ipad) and discuss the positive and negative aspects of it, the impact it has on society, and potential modifications that can be made. Each presentation will be approximately 15 minutes and each group member must speak. From this activity students are expected to know and be aware of the different models of e-books, the pros and cons of owning and reading from an e-book, and what an e-book says about the impact of technology in the world of literacy.  

NJ World Class Standards: Technology

The New Jersey Department of Education mandates a series of teaching standards for educators. Each content area has their own set of standards. Today I will be looking at the standards for Technology and how they affect the school, district, and myself as a future educator.

Technology has become an integral part of our society. A major part of this society is our education. The standards set for technology (which is listed as a content area right next to English, Math, and Science) cover grades P-12 and are broken up into subcategories such as Resources for a Technological World, Research and Information Fluency, Research and Information Literacy etc. The information under these subcategories are guidelines for the material that the students should be learning and the teachers should be instructing. Implementing a technological standard communicates to both the district and the schools within that district that the students must have access to computers and computer software. It also implies that the teachers must have the proper technological training to teach students how to create PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, and explore the Internet. The principal of Chatham High School located in Chatham, NJ explained, “You can’t expect the learner of today to be engrossed by someone who speaks in a monotone voice with a piece of chalk in their hand.” The student of the 21^st century demands more from their education and the teachers, schools, and school districts of the 21^st century must provide this for them.

As a future teacher of the 21^st century I hope to encompass the ability to teach from a technological standpoint. After this class I anticipate to develop my teaching methods both with and without technology. I realize that technology is an important part of a student’s life, but it doesn’t have to be their whole life. The science teacher in the video clip, Integration of 21^st Century Skills: Hydrology provided a great example in which students could learn the effects of erosion from the outside environment, computer software, and a real life in-class model. Technology wasn’t his only teaching method, but a part of an overall whole of his lesson on erosion.

When I job search and interview I want to be a part of a school that includes technology into their teaching curriculum. I also want to ensure that I am able to provide students with a proper grasp on technology through activities and presentations.

The Barnegat School District

The most important aspect of a school website is its ability to appeal to both parents and current and prospective students. The Barnegat Township School District web page provides this appeal. Parents are able to click through the web page to find out information on upcoming events, PTA meetings, and athletic events. They also provide something called Parent University, a program which educates parents on child development topics through a series of workshops.

The Barnegat Township School District web page also supplies information for its students. From bullying to New Jersey college visits Barnegat High School ensures that their students are supplied with the right resources. Branching away from the High School web site each teacher has a separate page as well which outlines the objectives of the course and provides the homework for the upcoming year.

One of the most beneficial resources on the Barnegat web site is their bullying tab. It is important for students to feel supported by their school, especially when they are put in a situation such as bullying. When a student is bullied they often feel as though they have no place to turn, so it is important to provide an outlet for their hurt and frustration. Barnegat’s bullying tap offers bullying testimonials, steps to peer mediation, and an outline to the schools anti-bullying program.

 

Technology: To Nook or Not to Nook

Technology has always been an avid part of my life. As with many young children my background in technology is rooted in video games. In my elementary to middle school years I was often found in my basement playing Nintendo, in high school I graduated to The Sims, and in college I made the transition to entertain myself through watching YouTube videos. Growing up with two older sisters using the internet was similar to entering a battlefield. You couldn’t be on the computer for too long in case someone important was calling, and if you picked up the phone in the middle of an important AOL chat session, boy were you in trouble.

Upon entering college my knowledge of technology expanded. I learned how to navigate and implement Fairfield University’s library database to support my papers and presentations. Having this as a resource gave me a sense of power. I no longer had to search in piles of books for support, I merely had to type a few words into a search box.

Although technology has had a positive impact on my life there are still elements of technology that I cannot adjust to. This can all be summed up in two words: The Nook. I received The Nook, an electronic book database where you can purchase and store all of your books, as a Christmas gift this past December and it is still sitting in its packaging on my desk. Every time I think of opening it I feel as though I am betraying the paperback novels that have always been so good and loyal to me. Eventually I know I will give in but for now I still can’t part with the sensory elements of reading a paperback novel; the crease in the spine when it has been read and re-read, the touch of the pages, and most of all, the smell. These are all things that the Nook, no matter how handy, will never achieve.

Technology is a growing part of students’ lives both in and out of the classroom, from this course I hope to gain better knowledge of technology and how to incorporate it in my own classroom. The article Four Takes on Technology states the positive effects of technology, “Using digitized documents in the classroom encourages critical thinking and promotes information literacy skills. A textbook might allude to multiple interpretations of an event, but a typical document-based inquiry assignment engages the student in a more proactive way.” Adding technology in the classroom allows a student to connect with a material in a more hands-on way.  It lets them feel included in the lesson, leading them to feel empowered in what they learn and how they learn it. As stated in the video Learning to Change-Changing to Learn, “It’s the death of education, but the dawn of learning.”