#4~ Technology in My Classroom

I've pretty much realized in my 3 years and 2 months of teaching that students seem to be WAYYYY more engaged when a screen, remote, or video type game is being used during instruction.  Kids learn differently than they used to, and its up to us as their teachers to change what we do to reach them.

I use a lot of technology in my classroom.  Smartboards, Student Response Systems, and iPads are used when possible.  Smartboards, when used correctly, are a wonderful tool that can reach a variety of different types of learners.  They present information as well as allow for interactive elements that cannot be used with other presentation software.  According to Homes (see citation below)  Glover, Miller, Averis, and Door conducted a study examining fifty lessons using an interactive wipe board.  Of those fifty lessons, 28% were teacher centered, 30% were considered interactive, but on a basic level, and 42% were using the interactive capabilities to their full potential.  By examining this data, it should be noted that fewer than half of the teachers studied were not using the technology including interactive elements to their full potential.  If interactive features are not used in the presentations, the interactive wipe board has been compared to an updated chalkboard of sorts, simply another clear area in the classroom to project information on.  My goal is always to teach a lesson using many different learning styles and the Smartboard allows for that if it is used how it is intended to be used.

Want to make taking a quiz the most exciting thing ever? Easy!  Type up the quiz using Student Response System Software.  Not only do the kids LOVE and BEG to use the SRS, I like the fact that I don't have to grade the quiz, and the kids and the teacher get immediate feedback.  At the conclusion of the quiz, I always go back through each question with my students and we discuss the answers together.  If a large number of students answer the question correctly, then I know I can move on.  If a large number of students miss a question, I know I need to reteach the concept. And I love the fact that my classroom erupts in cheers when they see that 100% of them answered the question correctly.   

Technology also makes it easier for me to help my students build background knowledge and understand difficult concepts.  Videos, simulations, virtual field trips, models, songs, and others make so many hard concepts easier to understand.  Some days I don't know what I would do without Annie and Moby from Brain Pop Jr. and their easy to understand videos. 

Technology is a wonderful thing! :)

Holmes, K. (2009). Planning to teach with digital tools: introducing the interactive wipeboard to pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 25(3), 351-365.