My Beliefs

I feel that technology is so import to incorporate into a classroom. On the other hand I was students to be able to think for themselves as well and not lean on technology and use it as a crutch. I think that including technology in the classroom will continue to be more of a necessity and will benefit the student in the years to come. And it is important that I, as the teacher, am up to date and aware of all that is available to me. I think that not only will it help the students and prepare them for the future, but it also makes learning fun. Incorparating new technologies makes a boring research paper fun and when the student is enjoying themselves then they are more likely to get something out of it rather than just fulfill the requirement.

On the other hand, I feel that sometimes students will hide behind this new technology. Students need to learn to balance technology with face-to-face interaction. In the "real world" students will be required at some point or anther to work with other people in some way, that is why I feel that that interaction with others is important. I feel that there is a balance that needs to be met when it comes to incorporating technology in a classroom.

With this new wave of information also comes it's risks. Internet research has brought a whole new set of challenges to teachers. As a history teacher, research is something that needs to be taught at the beginning of a course. This now world of technology now makes research so much simpler for students. However, students also need to be taught about what is a reliable source. If these rules of reliable sources are taught early then including technology in research will make a large research project seem a lot less daunting and more of a fun activity for the students and they in return may enjoy learning about something that without this technology may have lost interest in at the start of the project.

Lessons Learned

I think that the biggest lesson that I learned is how much there really is that is available to students now a days concerning technology. The resources seem to be endless. I remember when I was in high school and I was assigned a research paper, my resources were limited to a short time spent in the library where there were only a few books on obscure topics and the encyclopedia set that my parents had at home. Today research is at the touch of a button.

There was one video that I watched that gave statics of technology today, the question was asked "where would we be without Google?" How true this is! Research has already been done. Now students need to sift through this research and find what works for there needs and learn from that. There is no need to "reinvent the wheel". The problem now is teaching students where to find credible resources on the internet.

Strengths & Weaknesses

I feel that when it comes to technology I have many weaknesses. The fact is is that a lot of in depth technology is very new to me. Before I took this class my knowledge on technology was limited to practically only Google research and email. When I was in high school we still hand wrote our papers out and now everything is done on the computer. Instead of reading a book version of the encyclopedia it's all on the inter net now. I need to learn so much to more for technology to be effectively used in my classroom

I feel that a strength I have is that I want to learn so much more about technology so that I can use it more often in my classroom. There is so much that is available to help one learn to become better. The online tutorial are endless that will help you with internet research and even tutorial with computer terminology. Both are so important and I plan to do partake of to better myself. I wish to a great asset to my students and by becoming more technologically incline is the best way to star.

Digital Camera/Picasa Collage