Chapter 6
I would definitely prefer to teach in a classroom that has more digital technologies. The possibilities that are out there are endless and make each lesson more interactive and intriguing for the student. Being a middle childhood major I will be working with students who are in the stage where they are very curious about everything. Having the technology to scan leaves on nature walks and have them share pictures from their fieldtrips help them to feel more involved in the classroom. The use of digital cameras would help the students to take pictures of their projects, what they saw on their field trips, or share any information with their classmates that pertain to the lesson at the time. Using storage devices for these pictures or documents helps the student to learn organizational skills and could help them for a possible final project at the end of the term. Touch screens also help the younger students to experience learning in a more hands on environment, which would hopefully motivate them to participate more in the classroom. There are so many possibilities that there is something that could be beneficial for any classroom and subject.
Chapter 11
Audio Technologies:
One form of traditional audio technology is audiocassettes. These may be old school for some teachers but when I would listen to these in my classroom I always enjoyed it. One way that I would use this in my classroom is to have the audio version of a poem or short story that we would be reading for our English lesson. Having anything that is read specifically by the author helps the student to grasp the meaning of the poem and the importance of specific words or lines. For some students this may be boring so it is important to not make the entire lesson this, but to intertwine it with your daily routine to spice things up a bit.
One form of an emerging audio technology would be Internet radio. It is not something that has been around for many years but is very beneficial in the classroom. There are many websites that offer historical data and information that would be very useful in a History class. A way that I would use this would be to find an internet website that had to do with current events that I could use in the classroom. If there is an event going on in the local media or country wide, I believe that it is important to keep the students up to date as much as possible. Without exposing them to the terribly depressing parts of the news.
Visual Technologies:
One form of a traditional visual technology would be the overhead projector. It is still used often in the classrooms and if used correctly can be very beneficial. One way that I would use this in my classroom would be for going over the students’ math homework from the night before. Some students find it difficult to read the white boards from where they are seated but if the projector is used it makes it readable for everyone. When using the projector I can work along with the students to break down difficult problems and go through them step by step so that there is nothing left out.
One form of emerging technology that I would use in my classroom would be the Smart Boards. This form of technology would help tremendously in the history classes to get the students involved. I would have them do specific presentations where they would be using the Smart Board. They would be more eager and interested if they knew that they got to use the new technology in the classroom. They could make powerpoints interactive, do website presentations or even play games generated for the specific topic.
