Reflection on Technology

Through this course I have learned more about technology and how it can be incorporated in my lessons. I have always looked for new ways to use technology in the classroom, but I have very rarely learned how to appropriately incorporate it. I would just go through the lesson with the students and show them how to use the technology or what to do with the technology. This course has taught me how to be a little more hands off and let the students take control of the technology around them to learn.

The GAME plan that was presented in this course is something that I will be using for the rest of my teaching career. It is a wonderful tool to keep myself on track to complete the goals that I set forth, and it is also a great way for students to keep themselves on track. There is always a place for goals in the classroom, but the focus on attaining those goals often fall to the side. The teacher accomplishes them and the students learn them, but rarely is it presented to the students how they reached them. By letting students create GAME plans it allows them to see how to attain their goal in the classroom, and can help them in any aspect of their lives.

The last thing I took from this class is the confidence to show my district that technology is not such a scary thing. In every school I have ever been a part of there is a fear that if we let students use any technology they want they are not really learning the material and they will do "bad" things with it. For instance if we allow students to use the internet to look up solutions to a problem then they are just copying and not learning, and the students won't really do what is asked of them because they will be looking at other sites instead of doing the curriculum. This idea is completely false, and in my experience through the implementation of my GAME plan students who research and look up the answer to a question learn it much better than those who are just told what it is. I tell teachers all the time that if it is just copying that they are doing from the interent, aren't the students just copying from the board too? At least by using the technology they are finding the answer themselves which can lead to higher understanding.

Technology is a wonderful tool that can be used within a classroom setting. Many teachers and districts hesitate to allow the use of all technology out there, but the more we can show them how wonderful it can be the more they will allow to happen in the classroom. The use of a GAME plan and the appropriate technology in any classroom can only bring a learning advantage to all the students and teachers involved.