How would you incorporate technology in your
classroom? How much technology is too much? Is it okay to let students have
their phones out when they are in class? As the time goes by there's more and
more technology. Most students have a smart phone which is quite distracting,
but it can also aid them in their everyday learning. The only problem here is
how do we as teachers incorporate this technology in a way that aids more than
it distracts. Also how do we incorporate every student?
We are in the era of technology. Every year
there's a new phone with new apps. Every year new technology enters our
classroom, we as teachers need to keep up with the new technology. It’s not
only about the books and the handouts now. You can teach your students using
video clips, movies, songs, and even social media. Technology serves teachers
as visual aids. Technology not only keeps our students engaged but it's also
information at their finger tips. As much as we all love technology and all of
its wonders, technology can also help our students not learn. How easy is it to
be on your phone looking up a work and somehow end up on Facebook? Technology can
be very distracting to our students.
My CT uses technology in her classroom. She uses
video clips when they start a unit to help the students understand concepts
such as point of view, or how important it is to be acquainted with your
teachers and counselors. She also uses this cool thing called "Reminder
101" which is a free website from which the teacher can email or text students
reminders. She just sends out a message about important work that is due and
all of the students get the same message. She also allows them to use their
phones during class in case they need to look up any words or listen to music
when they are doing independent work or reading.
In Building
Adolescents Literacy in Today's English Classrooms Randy Bomer explains why
it is very important that we teach our students these skills 21st century
technology skills, he states that "literacy is most importantly expanding
in online environments". Technology is constantly changing and we need to
learn to adapt to it not only as teachers but also as students. Even though most students have a smart phone
there are a select few that don’t. How would you include those students that don’t
have a phone? They wouldn’t be able to receive all of the reminders. They may
not have a phone or they may not have internet at home to view the email. Also
what kind of technology would you incorporate in your classroom in order to
teach them these 21st century technology skills? Most schools don’t have a lot
of technology available. Most schools share a laptop cart which is on high
demand by every teacher in the building.
References
Bomer, Randy. Building Adolescent Literacy
in Today's English Classrooms. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2011. Print.
Gaby,
ReplyDeleteI think we are all wondering what kinds and how much technology to effectively incorporate into our future classrooms. I think that in my classroom, cell phones, i-pads, tablets will be allowed at only specific times and only for group activities. I can almost guarantee that there will likely be enough students with their own technology to split up for group work, but there likely won’t be enough for everyone to work on their own. Also, having accountability in a group with specific requirements to fulfill will allow students to use technology but understand that they must stay focused during the activity.
I am pretty sure that will never allow mp3/mp4 players in my classroom for music. I plan to provide the option of quiet music (instrumental only) for work time if the students request it. It will be an all or nothing situation by vote. I think that is pretty fair. I think that I am already jaded a bit on the use of personal music player because I am a parent who has raised three teenagers. I have noticed that as the listening devices are inserted, there is often no room for attention to instructions. They are so tuned into the music that they don’t even hear me when I am standing right next to them. That probably sounds a bit pessimistic, and it probably is. Not all students will be like my children, and it should be whatever works best for the class as a whole.
However, technology in general can be added to almost every lesson if we would like to put forth the effort of creating those opportunities and there is enough time to produce it. In fact, many technology based lessons take less time to implement than a lecture, they are much more fun and they often provide a much deeper understanding. Even if the technology is not digital, we can teach our students the processes of technology use through other activities. Story boards, writing a movie script or song, creating a collage, or performing a mock interview are all technology based lesson activities and assessments. Many classrooms have smart boards that can also be utilized to allow students to engage with the technology too. They can create, edit, or analyze word documents together, look up information as a class or take turns in groups during a stationed activity lab, and even post and publish their own video blogs or other types of media. I plan to use this often in my future classroom if I am lucky enough to be provided with one.
Great post Gabby! It made me think a lot about what I would like to do in my own classroom some day.
Megan