TechnologyTeachingPhilosophy

Mytechnologyteachingphilosophyisbasedonmythreeyearsteachinginaschoolthat
has1:1laptops.Ihavetaughtboth5thgradersand7th/8thgradersinsubjectsincludingScience,
Math,Reading,andSocialStudies.ThereareseveralthingsIhavediscovered,orlearnedalong
theway,thathashelpedshapemyviewontheuseoftechnologyintheclassroom.
Mypersonalviewpointontheusetotechnologyineducationcentersaroundtheteacher.
Ibelieveitistheteachersjobtoprovidethestudentsopportunitiesinvolvingtechnologythatare
purposefulandthoughtthrough.Theteachermustbeopenandwillingtotrysomethingnewin
theclassroom.Thatbeingsaid,technologyisadoubleedgedsword.Theplussideistechnology
isalwayschanging,soifsomethingisntworkinganymoreyouareusuallyabletofind
somethingnewtotry.Ontheflipside,withthepacetechnologyismoving,keepingupwiththe
latesttrendsissometimesdaunting.Theworstthingateachercandoistoimplementnew
technologybeforetheyarereadytoanswerquestionsofvaliditytothestudents,administration,
andparents.
Tobetrulyeffectiveandnotjustawaytosaveonthenumberofpapersprinted,teachers
mustmodelhowtousetechnologyforeducationalpurposes.Toomanytimesdotechnologically
inexperiencedteachersusetheinternetjusttoshowavideotheyfoundorhavestudentsturnina
paperelectronically.Howmuchtimeisactuallyspentteachingthestudentshowtoformata
paperonline,composeanemailorresearchatopicandfindvalidsources?Bosner(2013)stated
inhisarticle,
AreSchoolsGettingaBigEnoughBandforTheirEducationTechnologyBuck?

Wefound,forinstance,thatmorethanathirdofmiddleschoolmathstudentsregularlyuseda

computerfordrillandpractice.Incontrast,only24percentofmiddleschoolstudentsregularly
usedspreadsheetsacomputerapplicationfordataanalysisfortheirmathassignments,and
just17percentregularlyusedstatisticalprogramsinmathclass.Thesearetheskillsthefuture
generationsaregoingtoneedinordertosucceed.Studentstodayarereallygoodatplaying
videogamesorwatchingfunnyvideosonYoutube.But,areweteachingthemtheskillsneeded
forthefutureoftechnology?
Knowingthis,howdoIwantmyclassroomtolookgoingforward?Simple.Iplanon
implementingtechnologyearlyanduseitoften.NowthatIhavetaughttheseclassesforatleast
oneyear,IhaveabetterideaofwhatIwanttodoandhowIcanstarttoimplementmore
technologyintomycurriculum.Beingina1:1schoolwithlaptopsIwillobviouslylookatways
tousecomputersversusiPadsinmyclassroom.OurstudentsallhaveGoogleaccountsthrough
theschool.IplanonhelpingthemsetupfoldersontheirDriveforalloftheassignmentsthatare
doneonlinesothereisnoconfusionofwherethingsendup.Iwouldliketoshowthemhowto
useChromeappssuchasClearlyandScreenshottotakeinformationfromonlinesourcesand
savethemtoreferencelater.OnethingIwouldliketolookintoisEvernote.Ihaveheardgood
thingsaboutit,butIhavenothadthetimetofigureitoutandseehoweffectiveitwouldbefor
middleschoollevelstudents.
OtherpiecesoftechnologythatIuseinmyclassroomincludemydocumentcamera,
SmartBoard,andprojector.ThedocumentcameraallowsmetoshowstudentshowIexpect
themtofillcertainthingsoutandhelpsthosethatareinthebackoftheroomtosee.Itrytouse
mySmartBoardformymathlessonssoIcansavethenotesandputthemonlineforthose

studentswhoareabsentorifastudentforgottowritesomethingdown.Ibelievethispieceof
technologycouldbeusedformanymorethingsthatIhaveyettodiscoveraswell.
Allclassroomshavediverselearners.Thisresponsibilitydoesnotfallonthespecial
educationteacheralone.Regulareducationteachersmustalsothinkofwaystoengagethose
studentswithspecialneeds.AccordingtoHobgoodandOrmsby(2011),Studentswithspecial
needsmaybenefitfromtechnologiesthatassistthem,allowingthemtokeeppacewiththeir
peers.Forexample,astudentwithdyslexiawhomightnormallystrugglewithareadingpassage
couldbenefitfromreadingthetextwhilelisteningtoanaudiorecordingthroughheadphones.
AnotherresourceIhavefoundisawebsitecalledNewselathathasarticlesforstudentsonmany
topics.Onespecialfeatureistheabilitytochangethereadinglevelwiththeclickofabutton.
ThisseemstobeoneofthebiggeststrugglesIhavecomeacrosswhenlookingforinformation
aboutatopicforallthestudentsinmyclassroom.
AnothergroupofdiverselearnersareourEnglishlanguagelearners.
Englishlanguage

learners(ELLs)arethefastestgrowinggroupofstudentsintheUnitedStatestoday
(Spellings,2005).Technologyisagreatwaytoassistthesestudentsbridgethelanguage
barrier.Withsomanydifferenttranslatorsonline,itiseasyforateachertogive
informationinastudentsnativelanguage.Thiswillremovethebarrierandallowthe
studenttogettheinformationandnotmissoutonlearning.
Ibelieveitistheteachersjobtoprovidethestudentsopportunitiesinvolvingtechnology
thatarepurposefulandthoughtthrough.Theteachermustbeopenandwillingtotrysomething
newintheclassroom.Technologyisbothagoodandabadthingdependingonhowitisused.
Usedproperlyitwillengagestudentstodomorethantheyeverthoughtpossible.

References

Boser,U.(2013,June14).AreSchoolsGettingaBigEnoughBangforTheirEducation
TechnologyBuck?RetrievedJanuary27,2015,from
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/education/report/2013/06/14/66485/arescho
olsgettingabigenoughbangfortheireducationtechnologybuck/

Hobgood,B.,&Ormsby,L.(2011,January7).Inclusioninthe21stcenturyclassroom:
Differentiatingwithtechnology.RetrievedJanuary30,2015,from
http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/everylearner/6776

Spellings,Margaret.FromEssentialElementstoEffectivePractice.Addressatthefourth
annual"CelebrateOurRisingStarsSummit"sponsoredbytheDepartmentsOfficeof
EnglishLanguageAcquisition(OELA).Washington,D.C.1Dec.2005.
http://www.ed.gov/news/speeches/2005/12/12012005.html