Blog Post #1

I believe that computers are an important part of the educational experience because they are necessary in order to ensure the success of all students. Especially in large Universities, such as Florida State, where some classrooms can have over two-hundred people, it's important that every student gets the same opportunity when it comes to learning. Have large projectors that display informative powerpoint presentations are much more effective for large lectures, instead of a tiny blackboard that the professor may put a couple of key words on. Although I think it is necessary to use technology in order to receive the best education possible, I do have some concerns about the requirement listed in the No Child Left Behind Act that says that by the time a student finishes the eighth grade, he or she must be technology literate. I understand that we live in an Information Age where technology is just going to continue to progress, but it worries me that the school system is going to get children hooked to computers at too young of an age. I never needed a computer during elementary school and I rarely used a computer during middle school. I don't want the future generation to constantly rely on their technology and always have their faces in their computers because the school system taught them at such an early age how the Internet works. However, I do agree that teachers who are employed in high school classrooms do need to be literate in educational technology, and I like the fact that teacher certification includes the aspect of teachers having to fulfill basic requirements of technology in order to be a licensed educator.

When I think about how I'll use technology in my classroom, I immediately think that I want to use it in the most effective way. I don't want to overload it into my curriculum, but I also don't want to use too little and not provide my students with the best opportunity to learn as possible. From the textbook, I learned that there are many different types of ways that students think and learn. So in my classroom, I would probably use technology to have students take a survey online that would figure out the type of learner each one is. This way, I can adapt to their different learning styles and know what way of teaching would work best in my classroom. I would most likely use Powerpoint Presentations and informative videos, including visual and audio components, in order to ensure that every student is learning the best way possible. In this class, I hope to learn effective ways on how to present curriculum in a way that is easiest for all of my students to learn. I would also prefer to use the least amount of technology possible in my lesson plans, so I hope to learn simple, but effective, ways to integrate technology in with the old-school methods of teaching.

I agree that the youth today are digital natives. Many young people, including myself, have a hard time remembering a time where technology, like cell phones and computers, didn't exist. Most children today get a cell phone or a laptop at a very early age, so by the time they are young adults, they are practically professionals on how media technology functions and are able to use it with ease. Digital immigrants on the other hand are just late bloomers in the technology world. They still use technology, they just learned how to use it at an older age, so it doesn't come as natural for them. One can really see the differences between digital natives and digital immigrants in a classroom setting as there have been many times where a young student has had to assist an older teacher in some type of technological difficulty they were experiencing, such as playing a video or downloading a presentation. I think that there will be differences in the ways that my future students and I will use technology because of the rapid growing expansion of technology. I will most likely stick to the type of educational technology I will learn and master in present time. But, as the world of technology advances leaving me behind, I know in the future my students will be the ones helping me in my classroom to present information in a new and innovative way.