WEEKS 2: THREE QUESTIONS FOR CHAPTERS 1&2
1. The text talks about why people will use technology in the classroom and how. I personally will use technology in the classroom as a mere enhancer and not as the core part of the lesson learning method. Some technology that I would use would be the SmartBoard, videos, music, powerpoints, and online educational websites. How will you use technology in your classroom, and what specific technology will you use?
2. Chapter 1 states: "after age 11 nearly all children use the internet" and "daily internet use grows drastically from childhood to adolescent to teenage years." Do you believe that the use and amount of use of technology in the classroom depends on the age of the students? Is it better to use more technology with younger students, or older, or does it not matter?
3. The text states that: "In homes, 54 percent of white students use the computer, the figures fro African American students is (27 percent) and Hispanic students is (26 percent). These numbers show a huge difference in technological skill and use. How can you as a teacher, if you use technology, ensure that your students are using the technology at a fair advantage to everyone? How can the educator use technology to ensure everyone is able to understand it?
1. The text talks about why people will use technology in the classroom and how. I personally will use technology in the classroom as a mere enhancer and not as the core part of the lesson learning method. Some technology that I would use would be the SmartBoard, videos, music, powerpoints, and online educational websites. How will you use technology in your classroom, and what specific technology will you use?
2. Chapter 1 states: "after age 11 nearly all children use the internet" and "daily internet use grows drastically from childhood to adolescent to teenage years." Do you believe that the use and amount of use of technology in the classroom depends on the age of the students? Is it better to use more technology with younger students, or older, or does it not matter?
3. The text states that: "In homes, 54 percent of white students use the computer, the figures fro African American students is (27 percent) and Hispanic students is (26 percent). These numbers show a huge difference in technological skill and use. How can you as a teacher, if you use technology, ensure that your students are using the technology at a fair advantage to everyone? How can the educator use technology to ensure everyone is able to understand it?
Commenting on the second question you raise, I believe that if technology is every going to become second nature to a student, it must be introduced early on in the child's schooling career, if not even earlier, in the pre-schooling portion of their lives. As one of the articles we read last week discussed, learning technology is similar to learning a language, and for complete integration, it must be learned early on. I do not believe the amount of technology used in a classroom should wain much based on age. Older students, though probably presumed to be able to use technology more fully, may be at a loss in their technology skills compared to the newer generations of students. Regardless of age, there are appropriate classroom technologies that can aid the student in their learning. Everyone can benefit, so why deprive anyone, no matter what age, of using technology to their fullest advantage.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that technology if used appropriately can be used with students at any age. I like that you used the word "aid" and not the word teach with technology. Technology should aid and not be the lesson.
DeleteAddressing the third question raised, I believe that we should first identify the socioeconomic factors that contribute to these numbers before accepting the textbook's finding. I would first want to know if these students all come from the same income group, whether they are residents of urban or suburban areas and, from that information, identify and evaluate their school districts' funding for new technologies. I resist making it a question of race from the outset when there are so many factors that come into play beforehand, factors that play a much more significant role in determining the gap between these students in computer use.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, from my own experience teaching in highly diverse urban and suburban schools, most students seem to have the same access and usage of smartphones regardless of race or ethnicity. Almost all of them were observed with or presented their phones in class when prompted during instruction.
Hte question is giving the numbers from the book. My question however states what would a teacher do to ensure everyone has the same access, or how can the teacher teach the lesson if students have different amounts of access.
DeleteIn regards to your first question I agree with you that technology in the classroom should be used as an enhancer rather than the main teaching form. In the past I have used powerpoints, videos, and educational websites as well. One lesson that I really enjoyed and was able to give my after school students a visual to our lesson was when I was teaching them about bridges and the different types of bridges. Rather than just teaching them facts I had my students create their own structures and bridges out of various materials such as straws, paper, toothpicks, gumdrops, paper clips and then we tested them out using books to see how many books could actually stay on their bridges before collapsing. At the end of this mini unit I brought in the Magic School Bus episode on structures and bridges and showed it to my kids. They were able to name the styles of bridges being built and were even able to see how some of the ideas they themselves had used were also demonstrated in the episode and for those who weren't as successful they were able to see what they could have changed to create a more sturdy structure. Therefore, by using a video the students were able to see an actual example of what they had learned, but it wasn't the main focus of my lessons it just helped tie in everything together, which in my opinion is what technology in the classroom should be about.
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