Since my time in elementary school technology has changed significantly and improved by leaps and bounds. This change directly impacted my education and learning experiences. I feel that I have had the opportunity to learn more information than the generation before me- my parent’s generation did not have information at their fingertips like I do.
The growth of technology makes it easier for people to access and learn more information in a shorter period of time than ever before. When I was younger, if I wanted to know what the meaning of a word was I would have to go through the trouble of finding a dictionary and looking up the word, many times I would not go through the trouble. Now, however, I can type that word into Google and access the definition through an online dictionary. If the word is, for example, jetty, I will also be able to access a picture of a jetty in the ocean, which will enhance my knowledge of the word further. Because technology is now readily available and so helpful there are fewer excuses for not broadening one’s knowledge.
When I was very young I had a big electronic game to learn my letters and numbers. In order to play the game I had to place plastic letters in a slot and an electronic voice told me the name of the letter. I could also change the modes and have the machine ask me to “find the N” and when I placed my selection in the slot it told me “good, this is an N” or “this is not an N”, if I chose the wrong letter. When I was a little older my parents bought our first computer. It is amazing to think about how big it was, yet how little it could do. The first computer learning game that my parents bought me was Reader Rabbit. The game was on CD Rom and although it was an amazing learning tool then, it was archaic by today’s standards.
When I was in elementary school computers were almost never used, and when my classes did use them they were very slow. Because computers used to be so expensive and took up so much room, each classroom would have two or three computers at the most. For this reason it was impossible for my entire class to work on a computer activity at the same time. Also, at this time the internet was not utilized in my classrooms.
I was in middle school I truly began to use the internet. My teachers would have us research background information in our history classes or search sites they selected for information that we had not covered to present to our class. During this time, AIM became increasingly popular, and while it may not seem educational, it helped me and my friends significantly in relation to our school work. When we were studying or doing homework assignments and one of us did not understand how to do something we would use that chat feature of Instant Messenger to have study sessions. This instant exchange of thoughts and ideas helped me significantly.
Going into my freshman year, my high school had just built a brand new science wing. Not only was every classroom equipped with a smart board but the technology was so advanced that my biology teacher hooked up a microscope to a projector and our class could see the individual blood platelets flowing inside of a goldfish. At the time this seemed like a big deal, but now that type of technology is common in high school classrooms as well as in elementary and middle schools.
One thing that is important to note is that as technology advances it become increasingly easy for our students to find ways to cheat and get away with it. When I was in high school my peers would save answers in graphing calculators and type notes into text messages to use during tests. Now many students have cell phones that are not only text message enabled but also are equipped with internet access. As teachers we need to be cognoscente of this and monitor their activity during class.
I am a very visual learner and get bored easily, because of this it is easier for me to learn in classrooms that utilize technology. If my professors simply put overhead notes on the screen and told me to write them down I find it very hard to understand the material and stay focused and engaged in the lesson. Something as simple as a PowerPoint presentation can solve this problem. A PowerPoint presentation can incorporate pictures, music, videos and graphics into a lecture which not only help students stay engaged but also present the material in multiple ways that cater to many different types of learners.
In the future, I feel that paper will eventually become obsolete in the classroom. Soon enough schools in affluent communities will have pop up computers in every desk, maybe even touch screen mechanisms with stylists to write on instead of typing, these could even be used in math classrooms. Hopefully the computers in my classroom will eventually have software that can track what students do during tests to make cheating next to impossible. Office referrals will be done on the computer in a more discrete fashion that will result in less embarrassment for students and enable more organized interventions.
The Internet makes research available like never before but, with the internet, however, comes the necessity of students being able to recognize what sources are accurate and what sources may be flawed. Multitudes of information are posted on the internet on a daily basis, but not all of the information is accurate. As an educator I am going to have to teach my students to question sources instead of believing everything on the web. One day there may be a technology to tell students which sites hold accurate information and which are biased.
Throughout my time as an educator I am going to see a great amount of changes in the field of technology. I will also be able to introduce my students to some of these technologies that will help their learning experiences. As an educator I have to keep learning new technologies, specifically the types of technology that are going to help my students learn and solve problems. I believe that technology can make learning fun and learning new technologies works our brains without us even realizing it. I hope that I will have the opportunity to fill my classroom with tools that will enhance their learning experiences.
Personal Computer PC. Digital image. Free Clipart Pictures. 2008. Web. 5 Apr. 2010.
No comments:
Post a Comment