EDTC 5010 - Chapter 1

In today's society, the focus of our education program has changed.  Students are now learning information using modern technology more than ever.  My feelings on the use of technology is mixed.  I feel students should know how to use technology, but I do not think technology should take the place of books and teaching in the classroom.  I feel the 2 should be combined to help the students be well rounded.  I noticed if the students are given a choice, they select the technology and forget about everything else.

An idea classroom setting for me would be to have an inquiry based class with technology used secondary.  The technology would be used to explore in depth the concepts being taught in the classroom.  The technology will be used to complete projects, but the students would have to be able to answer specific and create thinking scenarios created based on the concepts being taught.  While in the classroom, I find I can get a better understanding of what the students are misunderstanding by having them ask and answer questions.

I think the tutorials and drill practice software is wonderful when helping the students.  It is an opportunity for the students to practice what they are learning.  If the software or worksheets being used are computer based, it will give the students an opportunity to receive feedback immediately.  Hopefully, it will help them to ask more questions and understand better where they went wrong while doing the exercises.

For each exercise, it is a work in progress.  No matter how effective a project or exercise is, there is always room for improvement.  Depending on the class being taught, the teacher should be flexible enough to make adjustments in order to be able to reach ALL the students in the classroom.  If a student does not complete the work because they do not want to do it, that will be the problem of the student, parent and teacher.  If a student does not understand the work because of the teaching strategies or a learning disability, the teacher needs to think of other ways to communicate with that student to help them understand the concepts.

Although it may seem strange in this day and age, not all students are able to have access to computers.  Every exercise created will need to be computer accessible, as well as written.  If a final project will need to be completed on the computer, the teacher must allow class time for students to use the computers at school to work on the project.  By doing this, students whose family cannot afford computers or internet service will be able to complete their work without causing embarrassment among their classmates.  Middle school is hard enough for students without adding their situations.