Which strategies are most effective for teaching and learning with technology?

As far as teaching technology I think the best way for teachers to learn is to use it, and use it often. But for students a kind of show and tell is the best way because that is the easiest way to learn technology in a classroom setting. But one thing that everyone must understand is that to learn technology, to really learn it, you must use it, if you learn how to use something and then never do it then you lose that information and can never really be comfortable use whatever technology you just tried to learn. But speaking of the technology revolution in our schools and learning and teaching. I think that we must teach all of our administrators and teachers about this new technology and how to integrate that technology in the classroom. If we do this I think that this revolution will be better accepted across the country and it will happen faster. But if we continue to let technology scare us and scare the older teachers in the schools systems we will never be able to integrate technology into our schools. Or it will take years for us to be able to integrate something that should only take one or two years. I also think it is important for all teacher and student for that matter to petition the government to adequately fund our school system so that we can get this technology. Because, for me as a student who always went to public schools, I am tired of our country priding itself on our education and then turning around and cutting school funding, it make no sense, because we are then jipping the generation that come after us. Teacher should not have to do more with less, because to get this technology into the class rooms and to give our kids the best education we can, in takes money, and that is the key to winning this type of revolution in the classroom. Before the end of the year I think that we should discuss this in the classroom because I its something we will all have to deal with, and I think that it is an important issue for every teacher and student in the country. I would also, if possible, like to see us write a letter to the governor or maybe one of our Senators about the funding issue as well. I don’t know, I just think that this is a great topic for class that will would really like to spend some time on, to get other peoples perspective.

But so far I’ve learnt so much and am excited to start integrating technology into my classroom and really start coming up with my own ideas and new ideas on how to use technology in my classroom. The only thing that I would like to see

How can you effectively integrate technology into your teaching and learning?

For me personally I am going to try to use technology in my classroom as much as possible. I will not have any handouts or study guides on paper, they will all be online on a wiki, however I would make exceptions for those who have no computer at home. I would also us blogging to hand in all papers and to write journal entry about the material being taught. But once again we have to make exceptions. Its really something I want to do, this way my student will have to be organized and will not have to deal with all that paper. Not to mention it will also keep me organized as a teacher, which is one of the most important parts of the classroom. I will also use Google earth a lot in my classroom, I think that Google earth could make my two subjects really connect and would be really exciting for my students. In Geography I would use it to look at the earth and its uniqueness, all of the great landmarks of the earth like the grand canyon, or Mount Saint Helens, and for history I would bring my students to the place that we are studying so that my students can actually see what we are studying instead of having to imagine it. I will also use the smart board extensively if I get one in my classroom. Talking to my sister this week, she told me that they just got two of them and she is really excited about, although the older teachers of course are skeptical of the new technology. But if I get one I will use it a lot in class because I think it is a great tool. Lastly I will make use of PowerPoint when ever I can because they are simple and kids don’t have to take notes, instead they can really pay attention to the information, and I can post them online instead of them taking notes while trying to also absorb the information.

Why might it be important for students to learn with technology?

When I first came to school to become a teacher I was of the opinion that technology in the classroom was a waste of money and time. I don’t really remember why I thought this way but I guess I thought that the only way that a teacher could use technology in the classroom was in a science class. I probably though this because I had teachers that felt this way and so therefore never got a chance to experience how students can us technology in the classroom everyday. But after take this class for three weeks, and it only took three weeks I’ve become excited about using technology and think we should use it whenever we can. Because in today’s modern world students can learn faster and absorb information better through the use of technology, if this is working for kids, then why go back to the past? Just like the laptop computers for kids, although I don’t necessarily agree about having laptops, I think that at least every desk in the school should have a computer. This way, teachers can really use technology in the classrooms. Besides this I think that teachers should use things like wiki’s and Google earth as much as they can just to get their kids interested and excited about the material. Because as everyone knows, if we are excited about material then we as individuals will always not only enjoy learning the material, but we will be able to learn and understand that material at a higher understanding. If technology can help us teacher in our line of work then it is important that we go all out and really integrate the classrooms. However, we cant go to far, by saying we should integrate the entire class room into the technology world we should not replace the teacher. Now, I’m not just saying this because I would be out of a job, but because I don’t think that we can replace the human aspect of learning completely, we should use technology as a tool, not to completely teach our children. Lastly there is one thing that I would love to add to this and that is about Blogging. I love the blog aspect of technology because I think it is an easy way for student to hand in work. This also allows students to save money and to not have to go through the hassle of using all that paper. Doing this will help our students become better organized because they don’t have to deal with all that paper; but, most importantly blogging and the use of wiki’s could eliminate the use of all paper in schools saving millions of dollars in the schools systems. This could then be put towards books or more after school activities. The only thing that can come from using and integrating more and more technology is good things, and I’m very excited to be one of the first generation to go out to the schools and start the revolution. A s for this stuff, by the end of the course I would really like to be able to have a class discussion on how using blogs and wikis could improve the classroom, I know we’ve done one but I wish we could go deeper into the topic. I would also like to maybe have our class sit down and teach people from mount Blue about the use of blogs and wikis and maybe try to get them to be the first school to adopt this idea and really embrace it.

Wiki

Well, alright, I really like the whole practicum wiki that was done for a project, I think that every practicum class should do that. The one and most important reason why I really like the website is becouse we can blow off steam about work, teachers, and really each other I think that its a good idea. I also really like how we could have reminders about hw on that website, thats one thing that I think should be added to it by the designers so that none of us will never, ever forget about hw or anything like that ever again. :) Overall, I really like this website and I think it can really be a good resource for our practicum class. As for being able to use wikis in my own class room i do plan to be able to use one. I really want to use the wiki so i can keep in touch with my students, about any information that they need to know or what they want me to know, i would do this by having one of those discussion boards on the wiki. I would also like to use the wiki for class assignment ss and so i can post document for my student on the website. These document for me would range from simple links that i want my students to look at, or handouts that they will need, or also article that i will pout on the wiki for them to read. I think the wikis are an important step to eliminating paper in the schools, and basically forcing our students to become organized. Idk i just really like the idea of wikis being used in the classroom, and i intend to use them in my history class.