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Sunday, October 3, 2010

The infiltration of technology in K-12 classrooms

Think back to your classroom learning experiences when you were a student in K-12 schools. What type of teaching tools sticks out in your mind? Those of you that may be of the baby boomer generation might say chalkboards with the occasional overhead projector. Possibly for your science you might say a microscope with knobs adjusting magnification and focus. My generation (28 yr old) has memories of marker boards, overhead projectors and TVs with VCRs either on carts or mounted on the wall. Our science classes had, yes, the hand microscope, but we also saw a few other electronic gadgets like a pH meter (not litmus paper!) as well as the graphing calculator. So that brings us to today’s generation. Students that are in the K-12 classroom right now have a wealth of new supplementary learning mediums. For instance, SMART boards are now common in classrooms, ceiling mounted projectors with DVD players have replaced the TVs with VCRs on carts, and various media like the internet have expanded student resources. Moreover higher technological devices are used in chemistry and physics labs.

Throughout my posts I intend to take a look at some of these pieces of technology as well as how to integrate them into a science classroom. I’ll also try to evaluate how important the inclusion of the technology is in a classroom. Does it really position a student to learn more? Everyone in this Science Methods course has a solid educational background and probably most of us haven’t had all the technology that students encompass today.

The below video is a nice short (2-min) video clip of how technology is infiltrating the schools.

4 comments:

  1. I am also very interested in this topic- integrating technology into the classroom. Being about the same age as you, I also remember some of those same classroom technologies during the 90's that you mentioned. I was shocked when I walked into my first practicum classroom to see the SMART board and the ELMO projector- to name a couple. As a whole it is amazing to see how commonplace technology is becoming in the lives of young children. My 18-month old son even knows how to open apps and flip through my iPhone. So, I guess what I'm getting at, is that as a teacher we can't choose to ignore or dismiss technology.
    I am interested to hear more about some of the technologies that are appearing in classrooms. As a future teacher, I want to embrace technology in some aspects more than others; such as in science and less as a part of reading instruction. At this point, I think there needs to be a delicate balance between technology and actual, tangible objects (books, models, etc.) for student learning. I like the edutopia video- it's so neat to see students applying the more "complex" technologies to their actual lives, which is great for engagement.

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  2. Brandon,

    Great topic!! My clinical time was in a classroom that had a SMART board, and this was the first time I saw this technology in action. I immediately thought of all the great stuff you could do to present topics to the class. I look forward to seeing how you evaluate the application and determine it's value (or lack of value) in presenting the material. All the technology in the world can't replace a good teacher, but it can make a good teacher better.

    My daughter (8th grade) really enjoys when her class does distance learning projects with schools in other parts of the country. It's a great way for kids to connect across barriers that otherwise would not be possible.

    I enjoyed the attached video.

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  3. I recently wrote a research paper about how technology does benefit the K-12 math classroom. One of the strong points of my research noted that the technology is only a benefit if it enhances the content learning rather than serves as a distraction. The research showed that technology can be a strong tool to use, but in order for students to use it effectively we as teachers need to show them how to use it effectively.

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  4. Brandon-
    This is a key topic in today's classrooms! It makes me feel old when I see second graders that know more about ipads and computers than I do. I'd really like to hear if you find any good resources for teachers that struggle with learning about the latest technology. I think websites for teachers to go to or conferences are so crucial for teachers and can help them to stay in the loop with the latest technological advances.

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