I just started taking the courses to earn my reading endorsement yesterday. I student taught in the fall and my last placement had limited access to technology for all students. I tried to do as much as i could with the class as a whole and my computer projected, but I feel they would have gained more as upper-elementary students if they had access to their own computer.
I am extremely excited to be taking a technology course. I have been looking forward to it because I think there are so many things that we have access to if we use technology. Just in the first couple of days of class I have been introduced to a couple of programs that I had never heard of and would really like to use in my own classroom! Along with the positive aspects of technology, negative aspects come along. There is always fear of the unknown when you are trying something for the first time. There is always a chance that something won't connect or work. I do believe that as long as you have a backup plan, you can always recover even if something doesn't work. Even when you aren't using technology, problems are still going to occur. If something doesn't work out, I usually just resort to my backup plan and then fix the problem when I get the chance. The students aren't going to notice if you planned to work on a project in the morning and you work on it in the afternoon instead. Students are going to notice if you bring in an exciting new way to look at things! Students are always up for a challenge if it is presented to them in an interesting and enthusiastic manner. Technology is going to be a great way to draw in students!
This is exactly what I think too! I am more excited about using technology than I am about the fear of failure. There is always a back-up plan and no one ever died from using an overhead projector instead of their digital projector. I also understand about knowing the technology but not knowing how to use it in your classroom. I struggled with this in student teaching and understand how exciting it is for us to figure out how to put this all together. I"m glad that I am not the only one who is focusing more on how to use technology and not stick to old methods!
ReplyDeleteI hope this course will add to your knowledge about technology use in the literacy classroom. There is so much out there - but as you say, we must be critical as well. As long as we mindfully think about ways that technology can benefit student learning - I think we will be OK.
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