assigment #1

If I were to define educational technology in my own words it would be; expanding the learning experience through means of new and useful technology tools. As a student in public schools from kindergarten through high school I experienced technology in several different forms. Of course as time went by the technology improved and more and more tools were being introduced to the classroom. In elementary, I found myself hand-writing papers more frequently than typing on a word document. I’m not sure if this was because of my age, or the current role of technology being used in the classrooms, but the most prominent form of technology I remember using in elementary was in the form of computer reading tests, or games. I learned how to put together a PowerPoint presentation in middle school, when more and more projects demanded one. I high school I remember the state attempting to work in several new technologies. In my math class our teacher would write a problem on the board, and then pass around an electronic piece of paper with a writing tool, and whatever you wrote would show up on the board. We also used clickers in a few of my class’s senior year. I believe technology is a great way for allowing everyone to participate in learning, and it really helps for making sure everyone comprehends the material.
Being new to the education major, I had had very little experience in a teaching position, other than peer helping in high school. I found that not a lot has changed in the lower grades of elementary school. I believe technology is a very important thing to integrate into schools today, seeing as though our world becoming more and more computer reliant, however, I do think there are some things that especially young children should still learn how to do manually. For example, I would never have students in first or second grade put together a power point, or have them type all of their paper because they are still new to writing in general, and it is important to know how to write manually. If I were to integrate technology into my classroom it would more than likely be in the form of a device similar to a clicker allowing me to check the progress and comprehension of the material. I also think it would be interesting for students to have a chance to communicate with students from other countries though an online program like e-mail. I believe technology is a great think to incorporate into the classroom, just in different forms depending upon age.