You Can Be an Effective Teacher Through Technology!

Have you ever noticed that sometimes in a classroom it is so hard to get students interested in what you are learning about? Sometimes they really just don't care what you have to say. That's why as teachers we need to understand what interests our students so we can "hook" them into the content we need to teach them. What are all students interested in today? Technology of course! I found a wonderful article that stressed the importance of technology with academic achievement. I feel that in science we feel that everything we do needs to be hands on through experiments and out-of-school field trips. Now, don't get me wrong I totally agree that science needs to be hands on because what student doesn't love doing hands on activities. However, in this day in age we need to be thinking on our students' level, what else can we do to make science more interesting?

A section of the article stated,
"after using computers for educational purposes, students often rated their academic performance higher, felt that subsequent class assignments were easier, and had a greater desire to study the subject."

What teacher doesn't want to see their students perform well academically and have a desire to learn? I think technology can be a great attribute to any content area, especially Science. Just from being in our science methods class I realized that for me personally I am more alert when Professor Brunsell plays video clips for us to introduce a topic he wants us to focus on. You can do so much with technology! Another great example that we did in our methods class was skyping with an expert on what we were focusing on in class. Imagine doing that with a group of young children. I know I was amazed that we could talk to someone from New York about what we were doing in class; I thought it was the coolest thing.

The picture shows a teacher using a SmartBoard in her classroom to teach math concepts. You can see how all the students are eager to participate in class because the learning is interactive and the class is engaged in what they are learning. The site from where the picture was taken from also stated that teachers can use the SmartBoard for Science as well. It really is up to you, the teacher, to decide how you want to use technology in your classroom to be an effective teacher.