Week Two: What's the Buzz Over Technology in the Classroom?



Technology in the classroom 

   The use of technology in the classroom has been creating a lot of buzz...but why? "It seems, however, that people are either branding [technology] as a "fix-all" or as a nuisance and are not trying to actually find its best and most appropriate uses," and I agree (Wolfe, 2010). As great as technology is and as many purposes as it serves, it never has and never will be (at least in my opinion) a "fix-all" for learning and education. And for those believing technology in the classroom to be a "nuisance" I say, "You have to get with the times." As society changes, we must create an education system that reflects our current society and at this present moment, technology is what's happening in our society. While the form of technology may have changed (and continues to change), it certainly is not new. There has always been new and innovative technology created to "make our lives easier." Although, we don't want to use technology as a way of making things easier for our students necessarily, but rather as a way to aid in making learning creative, fun, and relevant.

     Our children are making use of the many social media platforms that are available such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. They are using cellular phones and tablets and some even an array of video games. Why not use some of these forms of technology to implement learning? Whether they are being used in the classroom or not they are still being used. I think it's smart to use technology as a way to appeal to our students. The key is finding a balance between what technology to use and how much of it to use to conduct learning in the classroom. 

     In addition to learning, technology can also be used as a way to monitor and control behavior in the classroom. We all know how important classroom management is. If we don't have classroom management, then we may as well kiss learning goodbye because there will not be any as long as the classroom is out of control.

     The school district that I work for makes use of a behavior tool called, Class Dojo. As a substitute teacher I must admit that students behave much better in the classrooms where the Dojos are being used as opposed to the classrooms that are not using them. The Class Dojo is displayed on the Smartboard in front of the classroom. Throughout the day students can be rewarded for positive behavior and making good choices as well as "dinged" for making poor choices. The Class Dojo encourages students to make good choices (especially when there is a guest teacher). You can simply add a point or take a point away. When students see other students making good choices, they learn from them and want to make good choices as well. I especially like that the Dojo has a personal profile for each student and allows the parents to see how their students are behaving throughout the day.

     Once again, technology in the classroom promotes learning and helps students to make use of the technology that they are already using in an educational way-- it can even be used to monitor behavior! It's a smart idea to get on board with using technology in the classroom. The key is finding and understanding how to make technology work for you and in your classroom.