Blog post #A-chapter 1

In today's day in age, technology plays a vital roll in our everyday lives. Chances are that regardless of your age, young or old you use some form of technology every day. It is estimated that children between the ages of 8-18 use the internet in one of its many forms for a total of one third of their day. Technology has become so influential that most kids know how to use an I pad or play games on a phone at a very early age. Due to this increase in technological proficiency the age group of 8-18 has become known as the igeneration. With this sudden increase in the use f technology in everyday life it is n wonder that teachers are finding the need to incorporate technology into the classroom setting. "Most 8 to 18 year-olds are using technology, experiencing a "digital childhood" and becoming an iGeneration of technology users in their teens." (Pg.17, Maloy, 2014.) 

Throughout my last few years in college I have had numerous experiences in the classroom setting. One in particular was very eye opening and relates well to this chapter in our text. I was observing a sixth grade American government class that had spent the last few days in a lecture about the branches of government and how the US government works. As soon as the students came into the class on this particular day they were given a short five question quiz asking basic questions on the US government. Most of the students failed this quiz. Next each student was allowed twenty minutes on the computer to play an interactive game in which they ran their own government. After the twenty minutes was up they were given the same quiz again, this time the majority of the students were able to pass. I thought this was a very neat exercise, and a great example on ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. By adding the game into the lesson plan the students were able to have a fun and enticing lesson in which they also retained the lesson that was being taught to them.

Using technology in the classroom is not only beneficial to the students but also the teachers. I have had many teachers tell me how much easier it is to plan a lesson now that they can use their laptops to find ideas for lesson plans and share their lesson plans with other teachers across the country. A great site for this is Sharemylesson.com. Teachers also can use technology to help students in and out of the classroom, and to stay in contact with the parents. Many classrooms now have Smart boards in them which I think are an amazing asset to any classroom. They allow the teacher to display information from the internet, any worksheets they want to use, and even allows them to interact with what they display by writing on the screen. Integrating technology into the classroom  has had a positive effect on both students and teachers.

Throughout this course I hope to be able to build my "digital identity" and learn new concepts that I will be able to integrate into my future classroom. I really like the idea of the class being able to interact with each other through a clicker system (as my video shows). I also would like o be able to create a fun and easy game/review session to help my students study for tests, which can be done through power point or other various sites.

In conclusion we live in a technological age, and in order for the teachers to engage the students they have to adapt to the times. When I become a teacher I will recognize the importance of using technology in the classroom. This will be beneficial to both the students and myself, and hopefully it will lead to a thriving, fun and educational classroom environment!


References:
Maloy, R. (n.d.). Transforming learning with new technologies (2nd ed.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYowyQ-o4oQ


http://www.sharemylesson.com/home.aspx