Second Entry

I think that technology can be good in the classroom if it is used in a way that works well for students. After seeing the different sites about technology it does seem to be something that would help to engage students and even get them interested in class. Not only could it do this, but also make students who already enjoy class enjoy it more as well because they will be involved in doing something that they enjoy. They will be able to use computers were they can do a number of different things that involve their learning in the classroom. They could use blogs to show what they have learned in class by posting about it and then other students could commment on it giving feedback to them. They can also use the computers to type of essays that they have to do for class. Here they can learn how to write, but also how to use a computer at the same time like Mike Muir says in his blog (http://everyonelearns.blogspot.com/2006/04/do-something-disruptive.html). They can learn to write their essays and instead of printing it out they can learn to do many differnet drafts of it by changing things around easier on the computer. They will be able to learn many different skills at once.

However, I also see it as potentially causing problems for students and families to the point that students feel like they can not compete with other students. The different clips that we looked at expressed ways that teachers could use technology in the classroom that their students would enjoy and could also still learn at, but what about the children who come from poor families or from families that do not have different types of technologies that the teachers expect them to do assignments for in or outside of the classroom? What are those children and families suppose to do? It makes it unfair to ask them or tell them they have to have these things that their families may not want them to have or that they can not afford just because it seems to be the only way to connect with children or just seems like the best way for children to have more fun and want to learn in school. Cell phones are a good example of that, if we expect students to text and others to receive the information or to do an assignment in text writing we may have some who can do it and others who can not. Not everyone has a cell phone or can afford to have one, I certainly do not have one and not everyone knows how to write in text form. On the YouTube site we looked at, it said that you could have students find out the weather in other places by using the cell phone and give them bonus points for doing so (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEFKfXiCbLw&feature=related). Students would be learning through the use of their techonlogy of cells to complete it. I do not think that this is an apporiprate use of technology in the school. Not only is it that, but what happens to students grades who do not have them. There is no need that phones need to be in school. They just become a temptation and disrupt the learning on the classroom. They should not be allowed at all. Having assignments that involve certain things that seems unfair and should be considered whether you ask a student to do that or not. In the younger grades, some of these things even make less sence to be used. If you do use them you need to be careful though.

What if you ask your students to use the computer during your lecture that you are given? If you are in the younger grades more likly then not you are watching what they do to make sure that they are on task and using the computer for what you have asked. However, what do you do in the upper levels like high school. Many teacher by then expect their students to pay attention and stay on task, so you have them use the computer or web for what you are teaching. You are giving instruction in your class and having them work as you teach. You do not know that they are staying on task unless you pay attention to what they are doing, but more likely then not you do not have time to watch what they are doing. The computers for this may not be good. One YouTube site talked about all the hours students spend on the web and what if part of this time is spent in class doing something other than what they are suppose to do(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o). It also said that the internet cost more then some people in a year, but we still expect others to use it or find a way to get to it. What if it is impossible to do so no matter what we provide for them? Not all people can have the same changes as others or get students where they need to go even if the parents should be able to find a way to do it and as a parent make it happen. If this was a realistic world it could happen, but it is not so we can not expect these things to happen. Yes, there are good parts to it and I think we can and should use them even if there are some things we need to be careful about, but we do need to be realistic in what we ask and expect students and families to be able to do and provide.

Technology can be great in the classroom and at home for students especially if technology is something that they love to use everyday. It can help them to become more engaged in school and learn to love it in a different way. I also think that even if you are not a fan of technology it is still going to be great for you to use. I know myself I do not really like using computers, but at the same time I know that they can really help my life out and make things quicker to find and access and use then some of the ways of the past. However, I think we also need to be careful of how we use it. We will have some students who love and can not wait to use, while we have others who want to have nothing to do with it. It is just the same idea as doing anything in the classroom and for assignments some students like some of them and some do not. You can not please everyone in the same way and that is why you have to find many different ways to get students involved, engaged, and to learn to love school. It will be easier with some then it will be with others of course. Even with adding technology in the school as another tool, I think it needs to be within reason what we ask them to do, keeping in mind age and what people can reasonably afford to have and that not everyone will have what we want them to use.