In all honestly, I've learned more in this class than I thought I would. I felt like I was quite advanced, technologically, when I walked into the classroom. I've been online since I was 15, I met my husband online, he works for Dell, we are on our computers for large portions of the day/night. I never once thought that I was in need of a class to teach me about technology.
I was wrong.
I've learned so many new tools that will help me teach that I wrote a paper for my other graduate course on how important it is to integrate technology into the classroom. I firmly believe that if teachers are unwilling to embrace technology in order to engage their students then they should find another profession. Technology isn't going away and hopefully neither are our students. With the implementation of cyber school and online classes through higher education it's imperative that we, as teachers, bring technology into our classrooms. The only way to keep kids coming into the classroom is to let them stay plugged in.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think kids need to be texting throughout class, or answering phone calls, or even checking their facebooks. I do think that kids should have access to tablets, mp3 players, desktop computers, and any other device that will allow them to use technology for educational purposes. Students are already online, why not make some of their Internet time productive time?
I could easily post my research paper for EDU 521 here, in response to the question "Why is it important for all teachers to integrate technology into the lessons they teach, regardless the age of the students?" However, that is over 10 pages long, just as a point of reference, and might bore you, my dear reader.
I'll give a brief overview...
---Two major issues: Cost. Digital Immigrant Teachers.
- Cost is easy, but time consuming. There are grants out there, easy to find, but they take some work. Also, if you can't get the grant then you need to ... improvise. You can take old computers and put in new memory, a wireless conversion, maybe buy a new monitor. These computers don't have to be pretty, they have to be functional.
- Digital Immigrant teachers is a little tougher to change. Some teachers, the ones that didn't grow up with technology might find learning new things daunting (sarcastically I'd have to say that if they don't want to learn new things, they shouldn't ask their students to learn either... but I digress). This can be easily solved by offering professional development courses...easy but, again time consuming.
---The Benefits:
- More engaged students means less behavioral problems. Students that are more engaged do better in school, they are interested.
- Better communication between teacher and student. Email, Skype.
- Ease of access to lectures or lesson plans. Teachers can record a podcast of their lectures and put in the class wiki-page and from there absent students can listen to the lecture, take their own notes, and be better prepared for upcoming assessment.
- Varied forms of assessment. Google Docs, Blogging, Webquests, PowerPoint, Animoto.
- Three words: Virtual Field Trips. take kids that can't afford to go to Washington DC or Williamsburg or the Corning Museum of Glass, to those places...online.
The benefits totally outweigh the costs. It's insanity to NOT implement technology into a classroom. That is my not so professional opinion, take it for what it's worth (hopefully an A...in this class)
