Week:2 Technology in the Classroom, Friend or Foe?

The momentum is forward when it comes to technology and it is imperative that we integrate this idea into our schools so that as a country we can keep up with the global economy and all its demands. We are a 21^st century society immersed in the world of Twitter, blogging, and pod casts.  Yet as the world moves towards a digital age we sit idly by while are school systems still practice learning techniques developed during the turn of the century.  We must as a country prioritize our futures by investing in our youth and their educations or we will forever be playing catch while other countries succeed.

Just as we as an educational system have recognized different learning styles, and the idea of multiple intelligences, we must recognize that our youth is immersed in technology.  This is an advantage that we are ignoring by not properly equipping our schools to keep up with our students interests.  If we could learn how to further engage our students into their educations by using tools and techniques they are interested in or already using we could really gain leverage in the teaching process.  From children with special needs to students with language learning difficulties, we as teachers should embrace the educational software that could really help with language development and cognitive advances.Students with Learning Disorders Using Computers  Tools like the Internet, educational gaming, and pod casts, can offer information to students that is much more engaging than lecturing or taking notes.  Students with ADD, or ADHD may perhaps find it easier to sit and play a math game on the computer than math problems off a board, and high school students may find an assignment about another country more interesting if they could Skype with another high school student from that place.

Watching this video has made me thin about how as teachers and students studying to become teachers it is important that we remain progressive in our ideas about technology in the classroom.  We cannot wait for society to catch up to our students, we must meet them where they are at and move them forward in their education using tools and programs in technology that they are already using and that they are interested in learning more about.  If we as teachers embrace technology and use it to our advantage we can help our students become valuable members of our society that have the chance to compete in this global economy and win.  

This video has given me new ideas and thoughts about how to integrate technology in my own classroom.  As an ELL teacher I may want to encourage my students to practice speaking English to students in other countries who are learning English themselves or perhaps trying to learn different languages.  

Using Skype I could perhaps develop relationships with teachers from around the world and help teach my students that we are all the same in our struggles as English language learners and that practicing speaking English can be fun! :)