This reading has truly made me think & analyze how technology can impact the classroom. Although I have had experience with some technology, a lot of the things that we are learning & reading about are new to me. Therefore, I have many mixed views & many questions about technology in schools. One quote that really struck me read “People around the world are taking their education out of school into homes, libraries, Internet cafes, and workplaces, where they can decide what they want to learn, when they want to learn, and how they want to learn.” This quote really stuck out to me because one of the many things I hope to always have in my classroom is choice. I want my students to be interested, motivated, & eager to learn; one of the ways students learn best is by making their own choices. Another thing that really encouraged me to use technology in the classroom was the explanation of the various technological advances that have supported our schools for many years now. A direct quote from the reading said “The technologies undergirding this system are the textbook with its scope and sequence, the blackboard and overhead projector to support teacher explanations and display student work, the copier machine to reproduce handouts and worksheets, and most centrally, the paper and pencil for recording and assessing student work.” I personally had never thought of many of these things as technological advances because all of these things have always been present during my life. This idea has opened my mind & has made me wonder what future advances we can make that can enhance our classrooms even more!
On the other end of things, I do have some concerns about technology in the classroom. I fear that technology (more specifically the internet & world web) will take over our schools. The book describes how various jobs have changed with technology. Collins & Halverson quote “The work has changed from hands-on to inferential, or from concrete to abstract.” I believe a hands-on experience is the BEST experience a student can have & I fear that will be taken away or forgotten in the future.
Although I still have many questions about technology in the classroom, there is one main thing that I have taken away from this chapter that will impact my future as an educator. I am eager to learn about the different ways that we can move away from the original blackboard, overhead projector, textbooks, worksheets, and paper & pencil. Already I am learning about things such as Interactive Whiteboards that I will certainly use in my classroom. I am already imagining myself using the SMARTBoard to actively use the internet during my classroom activities & lectures. There are so many other things that I am learning about that I would like to use in my classroom & I am eager to hear even more!
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