Technology+Beliefs+Summary

Ryan Judd Kylie Hoschouer Malsha Herath

Digital Learners by Mark Prensky – World traveler and lecturer. When Mark travels, he lectures to groups of school administrators and discusses his opinions on technology and moving towards a digital friendly future in the digital school system around the world. During his lectures, he asks the school to provide a random group of students to join him in a discussion while presenting to the administrators. While reading the article, Ryan thought that his extremist viewpoints come across as overbearing in his article.

"I pods I pads and smart boards" presents an elementary school in Vancouver which received a $25,000 donation to use these technologies in the classroom. The article mentions that the lesson plans can be hand crafted to the individual students. Students at this school are encouraged to use their cell phones in their education. There are apps that can be used for all ages and skill levels. The principal mentions that there is an app on the horizon that will allow the children to work on assignments from home, which would allow for more parental interaction with their children’s education. Kylie sees this as interesting but a little scary because of the possible loss of personal contact that is so important.

"Kindergarteners Explore Through Project Learns"- Auburn Early Education Center is an award-winning early education center where each classroom is equipped with interactive Smart Boards. In the video featured within the article, an educator is shown using a Smart Board to demonstrate the difference between the letter “b” and the letter “d”. The school uses technology in many ways to further each child and they focus on interactive learning. Students build cruise ships and airplanes out of paper, dress up as the various workers of the ship or plane to take a “trip” to Brazil where they learn about the country. Overall, Malsha likes the way that the school has been able to implement technology to enhance creativity.

As a group, we believe that technology in the classroom should be used to supplement rather than substitute educators.

Yes, I believe that technology should be used in classroom settings because of the way that children are gaining information is constantly changing. We, as teachers, cannot sit back and resist change. I believe that we must always be capable of and welcoming to presenting information in ways that the students can grasp concepts and find purpose and power in learning.
 * 1. Do you believe that computer technology should be used in the classroom? Why or why not?**

Benefits include allowing the students to learn in a more interactive way. We know that everyone learns differently, and with the newest touch technology available, information is literally at yours and your student's fingertips. There are also many games and interactive learning tools which are constantly improving for student's use.
 * 2. What are the benefits of using computer technology in the classroom?**

What happens when our school systems are completely dependent upon electronics and we have a power outage, or any sort of technical difficulty? I also am afraid that not only as students and teachers, but as a collective human people, we are losing personal touch and connection with one another when we rely so completely upon electronic communication.
 * 3. What are the drawbacks of using computer technology in the classroom?**

Personally, I feel behind the times and not as technologically savy as many of my younger siblings and/or kids in general! While I want to be up to date and aware of how students are relating to each other, there are many new devices that I am completely lost as to how they are used.
 * 4. What are your own personal barriers to using technology in the classroom?**

I need to not be afraid of learning new forms of technology! A personal goal for this semester is to become comfortable with (and hopefully enjoy) using all of the different medians which we learn. For example, I don't know much about blogging, tweeting, etc. I am excited to learn! I want to become a the kind of teacher who is always excited to learn new things and to never be left behind!
 * 5. What are two goals that you could work toward this semester to overcome those barriers?**