September 8, 2014
Hello All,
Thinking back, all that comes to mind is change. Over a twelve year span, students went from using floppy disks to online services such as a google drive or the cloud.
In elementary school, I remember sitting down at a large grey computer and having a floppy drive I kept in my backpack. It seems that we never really used the computers that were located in a lab in the library. Although we used the computers infrequently, I remember a student accidentally printing out hundreds of papers and the frazzled librarian battling the overwhelmed, and likely overworked, printer. As the years went on we began using computers more. Around fifth grade, our school got the COW, computers on wheels as teachers called it. In fifth grade we were all expected to complete a PowerPoint. I was so excited! I always loved using computer and I knew how to place noises in my PowerPoint.
Middle school started involving even more technology. The library computers were slow, but we were expected to use them to work on our reports and projects. Each year we had a technology course. The technology teacher uttered the most memorable words from middle school, "Okay students, take out your typing books and began -- A-S-D-F-;-L-K-J-H". For eight weeks we all endured the wrath of memorizing the school keyboards. This was by far the most boring class.
By high school newer inventions became popular. The school had carts filled with iPads and students were expected to complete research papers and have a better understand of how to appropriately use technology. Classes were offered such as "gaming and apps" or "journalism", which allowed students to create newspapers or create their own computer games. The opportunities technology brought on seemed endless.
I've always had an interest in technology, but not enough to pursue it as a job. In the future, I'd love to have a classroom where students used multiple mediums to complete creative and thoughtful work. My hope is to work with younger students. My expectations won't include having them complete research papers, but they could all take lessons learned in class and create an online e-book that could be sent home to their parents showing how they've mastered spelling words. Additionally, online services could be utilized to further a student's education. This could be used for gifted students who need a challenge.
Overall, technology in the classroom has endless possibilities. Teachers, or pre-teachers, in this
modern age should be preparing for the technologically advanced classroom they're about to be apart of.
