Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Rethinking My View on Technology in the Classroom

Over the past few years I have experienced a severe learning curve when it comes to technology. To put it mildly, I am not the most savvy when it comes to manipulating technology and have been hesitant, or I should say, stubbornly against incorporating it into my life. In my last job, I worked with a couple of technology-obsessed Generation Yers, who really gave me a crash course on incorporating different technologies into my daily work routine for efficiently, productivity, and ease. And though I still need breaks from technology throughout my day, and don’t keep on the latest trends, the use of technology has made significant advances in my work day. I feel like it can do the same thing for schools.

Reading Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology has been very interesting because I feel like any resistance there is to avoiding or criticizing the use of technology in schools only does students, teachers, and our culture a disservice. I understand that schools take a long time to adapt to new technologies, and even longer to incorporate new ideas or methods into their curriculums, but the proper use of technology will only help to enhance the learning process so that it becomes more interesting to students, easier for teachers, and benefits our society as a whole.

It’s somewhat sad to me that the critics of technology in the classroom against the idea of individualized learning and believe that technology is distracting. Through the articles we have read so far in class, it’s evident that today’s students crave a more individualized or student-centric atmosphere where they can have some control of their learning process. Using technology in the classroom can offer students a deeper learning experience—allowing them to explore new situations through simulations, gain instant feedback, and share knowledge.

At the beginning of this course, I was the first one against the idea of using technology in the classroom for fear that it would remove students from experiencing the real world around them—but after my classroom observations and our readings, I have come to understand that technology is a necessary tool for the engaging and advancement of students in the classroom. Technology can expose students to the world around them, explore their creativity, and challenge them in ways that are beyond a teacher’s capabilities.


Photo credit: Apple website




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