Sunday, November 7, 2010

Technology in the classroom

Technology in the classroom

    It is very interesting to see how technology has increase over the years.  Technology can be a very powerful tool to reach all students in the classroom if used correctly.  I found a lot of useful techniques to use technology in the classroom.  I am going to list the most efficient or more useful to use in the classroom.  
Podcast
    I found out that teachers are recording books and creating podcasts.  Podcast is a video file that you can easily download into your computer or another device.   I can easily integrate this into my classroom by having each one of my students create a podcast over a book they read.  At the end of the week we can see all the podcasts that they created and we would have over 20 book reviews.  Using the video cameras would get them excited about reading even those students that do not like to read.  I cannot wait to use it in my classroom.  As Bafile says, “Students encouraged their parents to complete podcasts on conference day and gently prodded teachers and staff members to get involved” (2010).  Even the parents got involved in podcast.  It gives the students an opportunity to teach their parents as well and reinforce what they know.
IPod Touches in the classroom
    IPod touches can be a useful resource for students to play and learn at the same time.  You can download applications to your IPod from the internet.  There are all kinds of games starting from math, reading, language arts, social studies, science, problem solving and more. IPods can be used as a center while the teacher is with a small group.  It can also be used as a reward for completing their work and bringing their homework every day.  IPods can be used to reinforce what was previously taught.  It benefits all kinds of learners.  MagaƱa & Frenkeil point out that, “Contextualizing information allows students with varied learning styles – auditory, visual and kinesthetic – to categorize new information in a way that makes sense, identify similarities and differences, and build meaning and understanding” (p.4). It can also be use as a teaching tool.  
Interactive Whiteboards
    Interactive whiteboards is another wonderful technology that we can easily integrate in the classroom.  Interactive whiteboards are replacing the old dry erase boards.  The teacher can save lessons in the interactive whiteboard and may show later to the students that were absent or maybe for re-teach.  With the Interactive Whiteboard there will be higher chances of having 100% student engagement.  Student s will be more enthusiastic about learning and it is more hands-on.  Like all other types of technology the Interactive Whiteboards benefits all kinds of learners.  The visual learners benefit from seeing the notes on the whiteboard or watching a video.  The kinesthetic learner would benefit from getting the opportunity to get up and do the activities that would involve touching the whiteboard.  
Smart technologies point out that, “Greater classroom enjoyment and motivation – particularly on the part of extrinsically motivated learners – can in turn lead to fewer student absences. Interactive whiteboards are captivating enough to successfully compete with a student's favorite consumer technologies (e.g. game devices, cell phones and MP3 players), focusing them on task, garnering enthusiasm and providing additional motivation to attend class. More than a diverting gadget or game, interactive whiteboards successfully promote the computer-usage skills students require for success in the twenty-first century” (p. 7).  As classroom teachers we need to prepare our students for the 21st century world.  We need to start by integrating more technology into our classrooms to help our students become familiar with the technology.





More information can be found in the following website:

http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/technology/dede1.htm