Niehaus,+Alexandra

Allie Niehaus ISTC301-Wood Dec. 10, 2010 ISTC Final Response: The Importance of Technology in the Classroom

Students have become accustom to technology in every part of their live. So why not use that to our advantage, and teach them how to use it for educational purposes? Using technology in the classroom benefits more than just the students. Technology allows teachers to appeal to a variety of learners in order to address their individual needs. In doing so it gives teachers the power to guide students in their own self discovery rather then teach them hard facts about a certain subject. It provides a variety of learning materials, giving students more flexibility and creativity in the projects. The creative aspect of technology is my favorite part about using technology in the classroom. Students can take a boring current event report and turn it into something fun to make and interesting and engaging to view. Also using things like a class wiki, or website gives them access to class information from anywhere. Using technology does not only benefit students and teachers but parents as well. Having access to the classroom via a class wiki or web page keeps parents up to date on what their child is learning about. They can view assignments, grades and upcoming activities in order to enforce concepts learned at school, in their own home. This also helps prevent students from falling behind in assignments. Using these tools also makes it easier to identify learning problems that a student might have. If a student is consistently struggling with reading assignments or spelling assessments parents and teachers can decide together on what is best for that student. Familiarizing students with a wide variety of technology will also benefit them in the future outside of schools. If students don’t use technology in lower level education they will definitely use it on the university level. Also, many jobs require a general understanding of technology and we need to make sure students are prepared to operate in this type of atmosphere. **During my training and education to become a teacher I had to privilege of working with some great professors to familiarize myself with the benefits of technology. I always knew that technology provided a more entertaining and organized way to teach students but I never realized the educational difference it provided. I learned how to create a web page where I could post all my assignments and projects in one easily accessible forum. Technology also allows students to work together and give each other positive feedback. In this way they teach each other about important concepts while developing their social skills. Technology offers many opportunities and it is important that teachers use these benefits to provide students with a rich and engaging education.**