Final Reflection Paper
Jane Henley
It 3210
After nearly completing this course, I have learned quite a bit of technology that will be useful both in and out of the classroom. Before the commencement of this course, I had several misconceptions concerning technology. I viewed technology as a cumbersome and time consuming discovery. While a lot of fun for young people, it appeared to take too much time and too much money to stay current in this area. Now my view has changed.
Beginning with our first lesson on blogging, I discovered an entire network invented for the dispersion of ideas and communications. With this new information, I began to realize that failure to embrace this technology is tantamount to isolation from knowledge. Teachers, particularly, cannot afford to remain cut off from this knowledge base.
It 3210 has prepared me adequately for the classroom. I say adequately because this technology is moving so rapidly that one year from now (before I enter a classroom), every program I have learned may already be obsolete. It has done a good job of making me realize this and had also done an excellent job of teaching me the programs that are in use today. As a result I know that it is up to me from this point to stay current on new programs and integrations. I plan to become best friends with the technology support professional at whatever school employs me. This person will be essential in learning to operate the systems in the school as well as keeping me abreast of new programs and integrations. Hopefully, this person will keep me apprised of workshops and seminars available for teachers in our district as well as nationally.
I certainly plan to integrate technology into my classroom as much as possible. IT 3210 has also done an excellent job of producing confident students in the technological area and has made us realize that this technology is a tool just like the blackboard and eraser. With technology, a teacher can bring the world into the classroom. He/she can also make the lecture much more interactive and student driven. Students today are more visual learners than they were even a generation ago and that needs to be recognized. The students we will teach do not know a time when computers, IM, cell phones, and Power Points did not exist. To not use this technology would be equivalent to asking me to write with quill pens—it can be done but why would you want to do it that way?
My only concern centers on the availability of these technological resources in the classroom. This technology becomes obsolete quickly and requires a great deal of expert maintenance to work properly. Programs are expensive and continually require faster and faster computers to run them. I know there are no easy answers to this problem. Even with more and more schools actively spending funds for this technology, the constant expense of replacing obsolete equipment is mind boggling. Much as the United States had, as a nation, to mandate education for every child and not just ones that could be spared from work, the time may come when technology for every classroom ( not just ones in affluent districts or states) may too need to be mandated and supported on a federal level. As we leave the industrialized economy for an information based one, we owe our future generations an education based on the technology and work environment that they will use.
This has been a very enjoyable and educational class. Its content will be very beneficial in a classroom as well as at home and other areas of the workforce. I look forward to using this base throughout my teaching blocks and integrating it into my lesson plans for my substitute teaching.
It 3210
After nearly completing this course, I have learned quite a bit of technology that will be useful both in and out of the classroom. Before the commencement of this course, I had several misconceptions concerning technology. I viewed technology as a cumbersome and time consuming discovery. While a lot of fun for young people, it appeared to take too much time and too much money to stay current in this area. Now my view has changed.
Beginning with our first lesson on blogging, I discovered an entire network invented for the dispersion of ideas and communications. With this new information, I began to realize that failure to embrace this technology is tantamount to isolation from knowledge. Teachers, particularly, cannot afford to remain cut off from this knowledge base.
It 3210 has prepared me adequately for the classroom. I say adequately because this technology is moving so rapidly that one year from now (before I enter a classroom), every program I have learned may already be obsolete. It has done a good job of making me realize this and had also done an excellent job of teaching me the programs that are in use today. As a result I know that it is up to me from this point to stay current on new programs and integrations. I plan to become best friends with the technology support professional at whatever school employs me. This person will be essential in learning to operate the systems in the school as well as keeping me abreast of new programs and integrations. Hopefully, this person will keep me apprised of workshops and seminars available for teachers in our district as well as nationally.
I certainly plan to integrate technology into my classroom as much as possible. IT 3210 has also done an excellent job of producing confident students in the technological area and has made us realize that this technology is a tool just like the blackboard and eraser. With technology, a teacher can bring the world into the classroom. He/she can also make the lecture much more interactive and student driven. Students today are more visual learners than they were even a generation ago and that needs to be recognized. The students we will teach do not know a time when computers, IM, cell phones, and Power Points did not exist. To not use this technology would be equivalent to asking me to write with quill pens—it can be done but why would you want to do it that way?
My only concern centers on the availability of these technological resources in the classroom. This technology becomes obsolete quickly and requires a great deal of expert maintenance to work properly. Programs are expensive and continually require faster and faster computers to run them. I know there are no easy answers to this problem. Even with more and more schools actively spending funds for this technology, the constant expense of replacing obsolete equipment is mind boggling. Much as the United States had, as a nation, to mandate education for every child and not just ones that could be spared from work, the time may come when technology for every classroom ( not just ones in affluent districts or states) may too need to be mandated and supported on a federal level. As we leave the industrialized economy for an information based one, we owe our future generations an education based on the technology and work environment that they will use.
This has been a very enjoyable and educational class. Its content will be very beneficial in a classroom as well as at home and other areas of the workforce. I look forward to using this base throughout my teaching blocks and integrating it into my lesson plans for my substitute teaching.
posted by Jane at 10:01 AM
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