Educational Technology Week 1

Technology is all around us. We use it in our everyday lives to the point that we often take it for granted. When I was a high school student, very few kids had their own cell phone. Actually, few adults I knew had a cell phone. (I graduated in 2000, by the way). Internet at home was rarely heard of. I live in a very small, rural town. My area just got DSL a couple years ago, and there are still places in the county that use dial-up. Despite my community being relatively behind in some areas of technology, since graduating high school, I have witnessed tremendous advances in technology in our everyday lives and in our schools. I have worked as a case manager for a mentoring program in my county's middle school for the last three years, and the majority of the students have their own cell phones and access to internet at home. Today's students live in a time when they cannot imagine not having these things. I went to school in a time when their commonality was just emerging. My students are often shocked when I tell them I did not have a cell phone or internet at home until I went to college. My own children, ages 21 months and 3 years, can already use an iphone to play games on. We live in a digital age, and it will only become more so as time passes.

What I have learned so far from the assignments we have done for this class, is that the use of technology in education is only going to increase, and as educators we must learn how to effectively utilize it. I am not currently teaching, but I am working towards an MAT in Special Education, and I have learned several things this week that I will be able to use in my future classrooms. I have learned that students have different learning styles or ways that they prefer to learn new information. By taking the time to discover each student's individual learning style, I can find ways to present new concepts and ideas in the most effective way for each child. Some children have an auditory learning style, while others have a visual learning style . It is not fair to expect every student to learn in the same way. In order to implement this in my classroom, I will need to learn how each of my students prefers to learn and create lessons that adhere to those preferences. This will be a challenge because many times in our schools, we have too many students and too few teachers. It will be difficult to find time to learn each and every student's individual learning style, but I feel that it will be worth the effort. One way that I could overcome this challenge is to present material for each lesson I teach in a variety of ways. For example, I could use lecture to cater to the preferences of students who prefer the auditory learning style. Then, I could use visual aids such as charts, graphs, etc. for students who prefer the visual learning style. Finally, I could have the students do a hands-on activity to engage students who prefer the kinesthetic learning style. I could use technology to further implement this plan. I could have students watch a video on the subject we are covering, which would utilize both the visual and auditory learning styles. I could involve the students in the use of the technology itself, which would serve the kinesthetic learners, and allow all my students to gain experience using a new technology.

What it all comes down to, is that as an educator, I must learn my students individual needs and try to meet them the best I possibly can. As an educator in today's digital society, I must learn to utilize the technology available to me in a way that will help my students reach their potential and achieve what they are capable of achieving.