Unit 5-Technology in the Classroom

Technology is very important in the classroom today.  I can remember working on the old Apple computers back in middle school.  Technology has come so very far within the last ten to fifteen years.  It is amazing the areas of technology that students know today.  As teachers we need to work with our students in the area of technology, because I am sure our students will work with some sort of technology in their future careers.  We need to prepare them for the future!  The articles on technology brought up some very interesting points…

I believe that Alan November brings up some very well written points within the article, Four things ever student should learn…but not every school is teaching.  The first point which is brought up is empathy.  This is when people need to see the points of view of different people.  I believe this is very important in the world today, because we are all not going to think the same way at the same time.  By looking at other points of view we may see ideas that we did not even think of in the first place.  The next three points are good ideas to let students know about the internet.  It is internet safety that will hopefully keep them safe in the long run. The article states a couple of points that many adults today probably do not even know.  Many people may think that once something is deleted it is gone, but it can always be pulled back up.  Just like e-mails can always resurface.  Speaking of web searches there was a discussion on this topic recently, and I realized that the top links are sponsored links.  I always figured these were the best links to search, but now I know to carefully look through my choices.  I usually end up using a link that is further down the page now that I know this useful information. 

I believe that this is information is very important and should be taught to students when they first begin learning about the internet.  In guidance at the beginning of the school year our guidance counselor spoke with the kids about cell phones and the internet.  She reminded them to not post anything they would not mind their parents or others reading.  I think this point hit home to many of the kids.  For next year it would be an idea to not just use this as a one day lesson, but to expand on this area and teach a unit on internet safety.  There is so much out there and one day just not seem like much time!  Our kids need to be reminded that something as fun as the internet can also be very dangerous.  They need to know what is appropriate on the computer/internet and what they should stay away from while searching the web.

David Warlick describes the five areas of a personalized learning environment in the article Technology Transformed Learning Environments.  These five areas consists of learning that is fueled by questions, includes conversation, is responsive to the learner’s actions, shows a learner’s personal identity, and allows the learner to safely make mistakes.  One area of technology that we use at my elementary school is the Odyssey program.  The students are given activities and assignments based on curriculum and grade levels.  I have used the program as a whole group instruction.  These activities have been great in classroom discussions, which fuel the questions and hold a great classroom conversation.  The students are all able to participate within their own way and add answers and opinions into the discussion.  If mistakes are made within the lesson I let the students know that is okay, because we all learn from our mistakes!  When students work individually on the program Odyssey it will also support the five areas of a personalized learning environment.