There have been several classes throughout my teacher education program that I felt I was just merely jumping through hoops. There have been, however, a few classes which I have found to be very beneficial. Within the first two weeks of Instructional Design and Technology class, I have created a Portaportal, a KWL chart, and have raised my awareness of how U.S. students are falling behind technologically.
The Portaportal I created will be a very useful tool in the classroom. This could be used for multiple purposes, but one that stands out is having these sites readily available for extension exercises. This is also a good way to allow students involvement with technology. The KWL chart is something that could be used to get an understanding of your student's knowledge on a very specific subject. This would be very useful in knowing where to start your lessons and what to include in your lesson plans. Having been made aware of the deficiencies of technology in our country, I will try to incorporate as much technology into my teaching as possible. While these are not the only useful tools I have learned, they are some of the ones that jumps out at me.
Technology has the power to teach, motivate, captivate and transform a classroom into a training ground for the next generation of artists, entrepreneurs and leaders. It's amazing how the lack of technology can inhibit school systems and teachers from teaching and learning new things. I think there are many reasons that implementation of these devices and programs are not taken advantage of. Equipment may not be placed in easily accessible locations. Hardware and software probably often pose problems for teachers in the classroom, and just-in-time technical support may be unavailable. Teachers may lack the time and the motivation to learn technology skills. Professional development activities may not provide training for teachers or practical uses for implementing technology into lesson plans. Technology funding may not be persistent and thus not capable of providing upgrades, maintenance, and ongoing professional development. This is an ongoing issue and I believe that we, as teachers, can do something about it. Don’t get me wrong, one can teach without using technology, however, there is an abundant amount of technological resources that we can learn from and help our students learn from. I believe that if more money was spent on technology, we would be preparing our students for the future and help them to be able to keep up with the world and its technological advances.
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