This is my second semester in pursuit of my MSEd at St. John's. I was a mathematics undergrad here at the University. I have met great peers along the way. I had always been way into numbers and I had always preferred taking exams that contained few words as possible; substituted by numbers of course.
One of my earliest memories had taken place during the fourth grade in elementary school. After being taught with notebooks and chalkboards for a bit now, my class had been selected for a Promethean ActivBoard trial. Which, they had taken a week to install, so the class was relocated to the conference room. I do recall being amazed with a remote tablet, an innovative pen, the slideshow presentations, and more importantly, the ActivVotes. Basically, our teacher created multiple-choice questions pertaining to the subject, in which we'd answer in a poll-style format. It was very fun and I do remember looking forward to those every day.
It is important that a teacher keeps up with the technological advances of the world. They should not lag behind. Different generations of students will come through to a single classroom. In turn, they are more accustomed to the new innovations in the world. Consequently, they could only successfully learn through the gadgets that they are accustomed to using every single day. A 21st century teacher should incorporate modern technology with tools and resources available that can engage students in their lessons. They can also help students outside of the classroom as well.
What I can work on is my willingness to adapt to any type of change, which should not be an issue, but you never know. Also, I do remember when ActivBoards were installed in my elementary school, my teacher had to be approved and had sat down for training sessions prior. The students require as much as the teacher requires from the students. Meaning, if a teacher has worked with the technology available inside of the classroom, then how could it be expected of the students to study and complete homework every day.
Feel free to comment below. How would you describe technology's role in Education? What was your experience in the classroom like? Where do we draw the fine line of sticking to what's worked and adapting to new tech and software?
ReplyDeleteI think technology plays a huge role in education, I am not sure whether that is a good or bad thing but as 21st century teachers it is something we need to embrace. I remember being in sixth grade when SmartBoards started coming into school and we were all fascinated. As a kindergarten teacher I still see that same fascination with my students, they are in a new environment filled with technology. Anything I do on the SmartBoard is the coolest thing to them and that makes me so excited! The only problem I have with technology in the classroom is, something you are most likely aware of, it is not always reliable. As a teacher it is important to always have a backup plan just in case your SmartBoard decides to take a little break for the day!
DeletePersonally I see technology in the classroom as a tool to facilitate engagement in the classroom. While technology doesn't replace the skills needed for a teacher to reach students and actively pass on knowledge to students, there are a great number of tools that technology provides to help maximize how many students a teacher is able to reach. For me, technology was integrated in my middle-school and high-school years, however very few teachers were able to really effectively utilize the technology to engage students, and basically just used the smartboards as a better replacement for overhead projectors for displaying slide shows. In terms of where we draw the line i personally feel that the line should be drawn based on skills learned, we should definitely incorporate technology into teaching but also make sure that older skills like using pen and paper and physical books are passed on as they serve their purpose.
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